HEADS UP! How Sexual Predators Manipulate your Organization: Preventing Abuse of Children in your Agency Presented by: Cathy Reineke Executive Director, San Mateo County Schools Insurance Group Angelique Dale Account Manager of Schools, Praesidium Inc. Moderated by: Dr. Karla Rhay, Chief Administrative Officer, SCSJPA 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Agenda Scope of the Problem Trends in Sexual Abuse Within Organizations Five Steps to an Effective Abuse Prevention Program Leadership’s Role in Abuse Risk Management 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

About Praesidium “To help you protect those in your care from abuse and to help preserve trust in your organization” Two decades of experience More than 4,000 clients across diverse industries Completed thousands of root cause analyses Offer complete range of risk management solutions National safety partner with: – YMCA of the USA, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, USA Swimming, Church Pension Group, Child Welfare League of America, and others 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

About SMCSIG 23 School Districts and the County Office of Education 177 school sites 11,000 employees 3 billion in total insured values 95,000 ADA Sexual abuse claims – We have had our share Who are you? 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Is Your Organization Immune? Golf Coach, City Parks Program Social Worker, County Social Services High School Water Polo Coach Camp Counselor 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Organizational Awareness The Ostrich. It won’t happen to me! Naiveté My fellow workers would never do anything like that! Oh she is just having fun with the child. Skill at manipulation (They manipulate the child. They manipulate you) Defining appropriate boundaries (WIIFM) Protect your staff from false allegations Youth in your home Adopted policies and procedures Training and documentation “I have never been trained” syndrome when in depositions 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Scope of the Problem 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18 Most children are abused by someone they know and trust – 60% are known to the child but are not family members – 30% are family members – Only 10% are strangers 10% of school children Not all perpetrators are adults – an estimated 23% of reported cases of child sexual abuse are perpetrated by individuals under 18 Retroactive studies show that 80% of abuse does not get reported 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Effects of Abuse on Organizations Threat to the mission Awards in the hundreds of millions Evergreen School District - $15 million for 4 students Long-term damage to reputation Loss of financial resources for services Decreased productivity and employee morale Jeopardizes insurability Employees involved in the legal process (depositions, trial testimony) Reputational damage Ability of school districts to handle the fallout in the press 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Effects of Abuse on Victims Psychological Educational Behavioral Interpersonal Sexual 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Industry Trends Headline news Increased community expectations “I send my child to school and expect you to make sure they are safe” Lower community tolerance Increased “standard of care” Increased litigation Plaintiff attorneys who are well known Hold press conferences on the steps of the courthouse Send “extortion letters” and include their most recent successes Less immunity Moving to a strict liability standard Increased challenges to statutes of limitation Yearly challenge in legislature Erosion of statute in courts of law 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Common Claims in Litigation Negligent screening Negligent training Negligent supervision Negligent retention 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Have You Heard the Latest? City pool staff caught in sexual act with 12-year-old child in locker room 13-year-old girl admits to having sex with 15-year-old boy at community center, also disclosing to staff that she has a sexually transmitted disease from previous partner Volunteer soccer coach arrested after girl’s parents discover sexual messages and images on her cell phone School district hires teacher who was fired from previous teaching position after inappropriate interactions with a student 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

How Adult-to-Child Abuse Occurs Types of adult offenders – Preferential – Primary sexual attraction to a specific type of youth – Seeks out positions in every aspect of life to be around their “type” – Often seen as wonderful employee/ volunteer who is always willing to go the extra mile – Situational – Secondary sexual attraction to a particular youth – Perfect storm: stress, relationship problems, lonely, depressed – Indiscriminate – Stranger danger – Sadistic; intent to harm How offenders operate – Access – Privacy – Control (Grooming) 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Warning Signs Excessive texting, ing, and interacting online with children Secretly giving gifts to children Engaging in excessive physical contact with children Wrestling/ tickling children Showing favoritism Encouraging/ not stopping youth advances or inappropriate behaviors Bending your rules Ignoring policies Hanging out alone with children after programming 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

How Child-to-Child Abuse Occurs Opportunity Not manipulative like adult offenders Just need a lapse in supervision Sexual response to a non-sexual problem Children encountering stressors in life may act out in various ways Sexually acting out may be one of those ways Sexual curiosity Varies significantly depending on the age of the child Young children: body parts, touching self, touching others Older children: consensual sexual interactions that can become nonconsensual quickly Developmental delays Older children may exhibit signs of sexual curiosity for their developmental stage that is different and could be viewed as inappropriate for their age 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

What Increases the Risk? One-on-one situations After hours communications Off-site/ overnight activities Unstructured times Nudity/ partial clothing Mixed age groups 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

What Decreases the Risk? Praesidium Safety Equation ® 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

How Can You Decrease the Risk? Tennis tournament that requires two-night stay in hotel After-school activities (tutoring, athletic programs, unsupervised older students hanging around waiting for parents to pick them up) Open swim times at the community pool 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

5 Steps to an Effective Abuse Prevention Program 1.Implement and standardize policies. 2.Screen all adults. 3.Train everyone and track compliance 4.Emphasize the role of monitoring and supervision. 5.Respond consistently FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Step 1: Implement and Standardize Policies Interactions with children – Physical contact, electronic communications, outside contact, one-on-one interactions Formal and informal facility monitoring plan – Ex: locked doors, off-limits areas, etc. Contract workers and volunteers – If they aren’t screened, they should always be directly supervised! Communicate policies and procedures – Orientation – Meetings 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Step 2: Screen All Adults Best Practices: – Application What should you look for in an application? – Behavioral-based interviews What questions give you the best measure of the employee – Reference checks Professional Personal – Background checks DOJ Volunteers? 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Step 3: Train Everyone and Track Compliance On what? – Preventative vs. reactive – Actionable – Program specific Target the right people the right way (blended learning) Establish a process for determining access to children – Frequency – Duration – Supervision – Relationship Easy to verify compliance 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Step 4: Emphasize the Role of Monitoring and Supervision Facility monitoring plan High-risk locations: – Storage areas – Out-of-the-way locations – Outdoor areas – Locker rooms and bathrooms Don’t be predictable, unannounced visits Use initial violations as teaching moments 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Step 5: Respond Consistently Warning signs and inappropriate behaviors – Respond to tremors not earthquakes – Don’t respond in isolation – Use a continuum of responses Abuse – Follow mandated reporting requirements – Train staff on how to respond to a child that discloses – Train staff to immediately report to supervisor or designated administrator – Follow documentation requirements 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

The Role of Top Leadership in Promoting a Culture of Safety Communicate public commitment from the top Promote a culture of safety – Standards are clear – Standards are enforced – Everyone knows safety is part of their job – Everyone takes warning signs seriously – Everyone reports their concerns 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Questions You Should be Asking Do we have written policies that clearly define boundaries? Does our screening process assess for abuse risk? Do we require individuals working with children to complete training that is preventative, not just reactive? Do we have specific procedures for managing high-risk activities related to abuse? Do we have written procedures for responding to suspicious behaviors, suspected abuse, and child-to-child sexualized behaviors? 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Example of Specific Policy ©Praesidium, all rights reserved 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Lessons Learned – Pool Manager’s Perspective Encourage your members to report everything as soon as they know it. Pair your attorney and a Public Relations expert together to manage litigation. Plaintiff’s want to tell their story, we need to tell ours. Work with the Boards and Councils to make sure they understand the issues and know how to respond to the press. Understand the sophistication of the plaintiff bar. Managing claims is not our first priority. Managing the reputation of our members is! Read your late at night. Public Records Act requests by news media is usually your first indication something is brewing. Your agency personnel may not recognize this as plaintiffs looking for information There are no slam dunk defense claims for sexual abuse. Train, train, train. And then train again FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR

Contact Us Cathy Reineke, Angelique Dale, Karla Rhay, 2015 FALL CONFERENCE & TRAINING SEMINAR