Our Commitment To Safety
At Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura, child safety is job #1
Ensuring child safety is fundamental to the mission of Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura. The safety and well-being of young people is our number one priority. We work every day to create a safe, inclusive, and fun environment so kids can have every opportunity to be successful in life. We have no tolerance for inappropriate behavior of any kind, including child sexual abuse or misconduct, and we put resources behind that stance.
Report a concern form.
Staff/Volunteer Selection
Background checks are mandatory for every staff/volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura. We complete a comprehensive screening before their involvement in any club program. These background checks include local, state-wide and national background checks for criminal history and sex-offender registry through Live Scan, Safe Hiring/Visitor Solutions, including additional searches on Megan's Law and National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW). Background screenings are completed annually for every staff, volunteer, and board member.
Safety Committee
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura has a dedicated Safety Committee to provide input and guidance on
local policies and safety strategies.
Safety Policies
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura has comprehensive safety policies in place that protect youth - including, but not limited to, supervision, transportation, communication, and prohibiting private one-on-one contact.
Program Supervision
Club staff is the front line of defense for protecting our members and the safety of each member is our first priority.
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura staff receive on-going training to meet BGCA standards and guidelines regarding staff-to-member ratios, monitoring club activities, evaluating settings, enforcing personal boundaries and more crucial policies.
Safety Trainings
Ongoing training and supervision by staff is critical. We participate in a wide variety of child safety training such as mandated reporting, CPR & First Aid certification, on-boarding, on-the-spot training, department training, seminars & conferences, and behavior guidance training. We also engage leading third-party safety experts to provide guidance for our policies and approaches, including Praesidium,
the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and the National Children's Advocacy Center.
Required Immediate Reporting
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura staff and volunteers are all mandated reporters. We are required to report any critical incident/safety concern to local authorities immediately. We are also required to report any critical incident to Boys & Girls Clubs of America within 24 hours.
State & Local Laws
We comply with federal, state, and local safety laws, including those impacting facilities and vehicles.
In July 2020, Boys & Girls Club organizations voted to adopt additional safety measures to further improve safety within our Clubs. Though many of these practices were already commonplace across our Movement, this vote made them mandatory for all Clubs. These include more stringent reference and background checks, enhanced Safety Committee requirements, stronger communication of key safety resources and information, and more. With unprecedented majority, on July 26, 2021, local Boys & Girls Clubs voted in record number to adopt additional membership requirements that further enhance child safety, implementing recommendations from RAINN that began in 2020 and will continue over the next two years - a demonstration of our continued commitment to keeping kids safe.
Nationally, Boys & Girls Clubs of America has advocated for passage of the U.S. PROTECT Act to improve background screening systems and access. The national organization has also partnered with the FBI, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the Centers for Disease Control to support the development of safety practices that benefit ALL youth-serving organizations.
America’s young people deserve nothing less than our constant focus on their safety and our firm commitment to protect every child who is entrusted to our care at Boys & Girls Club of Greater Ventura. To learn more about our national safety policies and actions, please visit Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Child Safety page.
24-hour Toll-free Child Safety Hotline
We encourage all staff, members, and families to report any incident or situation they feel is unsafe. Through our national partnership with Praesidium, one of the nation’s leading safety experts, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Venter members and staff have access to a confidential 24-hour toll-free Child Safety Hotline at
866-607-SAFE (7233) or SafeClub@Praesidiuminc.com.
