Child Protection Policy

Generations Connection

Canandaigua, NY

Statement of Purpose

Generations Connection’s purpose is to help students in our Canandaigua schools achieve academic success and emotional health by being tutored and mentored by a volunteer professional retired teacher.

Children have been adversely affected by social isolation and cancelled and shortened instruction time in our schools.  Older adults have been kept from interacting with their own families and the young people in our community.  Generations Connection brings these two groups in our population together to strengthen and enrich the learner as well as the retired teacher.  At the heart of all education and nurture is the creation of a safe environment where children and retired teachers can get to know each other better and strengthen and encourage each other.   

Our group’s purpose for establishing this Policy and accompanying procedures is to demonstrate our commitment to the mental and physical safety of all children and youth, to maintain a safe environment for all children, and to model dignity and respect to all children.

OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR ALL VOLUNTEERS

The following guidelines apply to all individuals who work with children or youth at Generations Connection including volunteer administrative staff, volunteer teachers, student drivers, and visitors. 

1. The  Rule of Three:  During any Generation s Connection sponsored program, event, or teaching activity involving children and youth, tutoring and mentoring should not take place in a facility where there are only two people present. There shall be no fewer than three people in the building at any time. These three people must be unrelated by blood, marriage, or co-habitation. Examples include: one adult/leader with at least two children/youth or two unrelated adults/leaders with at least one child/youth.  For extended all day activities involving youth or children of both genders, there shall be at least one unrelated adult of each gender present.  
2. The Open Door Policy:  Each room set aside for children and youth tutoring or mentoring shall have a door with a window in it or a half door.  Otherwise, the door shall be left open.  If the door has a window, it is not to be covered.

Board Memebers, Tutors, and Other Volunteers

Volunteers wishing to work with children and youth as tutors and mentors must be retired from the Canandaigua School district.  In addition, tutors and mentors are required to pass a criminal background check once every four years and attend a child protection policy training once every four years.

Non teaching volunteers: non-teaching volunteers are required to undergo a background check, application and training in Child Protection Policies. It is helpful if at least one person in the tutoring facility has current CPR/First Aid training.

Adults who have been convicted of any offense involving a child or youth will not be accepted to work or volunteer in any Generations Connection sponsored program, event, or activity, without the express and unanimous approval of the Board of Directors in consideration of special facts and circumstances.

Procedures for Reporting Abuse or Neglect

Any person who receives a report of abuse from a child or witnesses the inappropriate treatment of a child or youth shall report the incident to the Child Protective Services of New York . To report child abuse or neglect, please call NY Statewide Toll Free Telephone Number: 1-800-342-3720; If you are deaf or hard of hearing, call TDD/TTY at 1-800-638-5163 .  It is recommended that the person making the report also contact one of the Board of Directors of Generations Connection as soon as it is appropriate or possible.

If the alleged abuse happened during a program sponsored by Generations Connection,  the family of the child or youth shall also be notified immediately.

Training and Education

Generations Connection will provide regular Child Protection Policy education training to ensure that all members of the Volunteer staff, all volunteers serving youth/children, all members of the Board of Directors, The Canandaigua School Superintendent’s office and anyone participating in Generations Connection programs, including parents, and youth and children of appropriate age, may be fully informed concerning the Policy guidelines and regulations. 

Appendix I 

• For purposes of the Child Protection Policy, the terms children and youth are deemed to describe anyone under the age of consent (18-years old). 
• Types of Child Abuse are described as:
  1. Physical Abuse, in which a person deliberately and intentionally causes bodily harm to a child.  Examples may include violent battery with a weapon or object, burning, shaking, kicking, choking, or breaking of bones.
  1. Emotional Abuse, in which a person exposes a child to spoken and/or unspoken violence or emotional cruelty.  Examples are sending a message to the child of worthlessness, badness, of being unloved and being undeserving of love and care.
  1. Neglect, in which a person endangers a child’s health, safety or welfare through negligence.  Neglect may include withholding food, clothing, medical care, education or affection.
  1. Sexual Abuse, in which sexual contact between a child and adult (or another older and more powerful youth) occurs.  It is implied that a child is never truly capable of consenting to or resisting such contact or sexual acts.  Examples include fondling, oral, genital and anal penetration, intercourse, forcible rape, incest, and the exploitation of and exposure to child pornography or prostitution.
  1. Ritual Abuse, in which physical, sexual or psychological violations of a child are inflicted regularly, intentionally and in a stylized way by a person or persons responsible for the welfare of the child.  Abusers may appeal to a higher authority or power to justify the abuse.
• Adopted by the Board of Directors 06/22