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Adult Youth Contact Policy

Added Aug 26, 2019 •

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A required yearly training video for PCS employees and volunteers regarding adult - youth contact.

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Child abuse is a reality in our society. However there are steps that the staff and faculty of Portland Christian Schools can take to protect the children and youth in our care. The goal of the adult youth contact policy is to safeguard our children while still promoting a positive nurturing environment for learning. This policy is also designed to protect our employees and volunteers from false accusations or the appearance of inappropriate conduct. The following guidelines outlined in this video apply to all employees, parent volunteers, cadet teachers and anyone who has contact with children and youth at Portland Christian Schools. At this time take out your adult youth contact policy and procedures video guide. The guide has fill in the blank sections to help you follow along. Mark 9:36-37 tells us, "He, Jesus, took a little child whom He placed among them. Taking the child in His arms, He said to them, 'Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.'" Matthew 18:6 and 10, "If anyone causes one of these little ones those who believe in me to stumble it would be better for them to have a millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that there are angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in Heaven." Everyone working with youth will be trained according to PC's Adult Youth Contact policy. You are also required to sign an agreement of compliance. If you are a new employee or a volunteer you must complete the full Adult Youth Contact training session. Volunteers include coaches, tutors, student nurses and parents. All volunteers for school-sanctioned overnight events must also attend an orientation event. All existing employees must annually attend an in-service meeting regarding PC School's Adult Youth Policies and Procedures. Appropriate touching is important for a child's development and is generally suitable in a school setting. All touching should be initiated by the child or youth. Touching should be a response to the child's need for comfort, encouragement or affection. It should never be based upon your personal emotional need. You should make sure your conduct is appropriate for the age group you work with. What is appropriate for what age group is not always appropriate for another.  Infants are crawlers may need to be patted, held, hugged or rocked. These forms of touch are appropriate and expected. Toddlers and preschoolers also need to be hugged or held from time to time. School-age children and teens may also require a caring or affirming touch. However extra care should be taken with this age group to avoid any contact that could be misinterpreted. Touching should be limited to hand shakes, a pat on the arm or shoulder or a quick side to side hug. Children of this age should never be held on a lap or knee or drawn to the chest in a hug or embrace. Your touching behavior should never even give the appearance of wrongdoing. Teacher and staff behavior must foster trust at all times and should be completely above reproach. All employees must refrain from kissing any child. If the child is your own it is better to avoid confusion by not kissing them during school hours. If you are involved with sports appropriate forms of contact include pats on the arm or shoulder high fives, side hugs and handshakes. Slaps on the bottom are not acceptable. Please do not undress in front of students or remain in the room when they undress unless you teach PE and it is required for supervision of the locker room. A child's preference not to be touched should always be respected. Never force affection upon a reluctant child. As an employee at Portland Christian Schools you are a mandatory reporter. You are responsible to protect children under your supervision from inappropriate touching from others. This include situations that need to be reported to the Department of Human Services. We will cover that process more extensively in a later section. If you see a student involved in a situation with inappropriate touching or other questionable behavior involving parents, relatives, friends, other workers or students, report it to your site administrator immediately. In the event that students need to be restrained or separated as a result of aggressive behavior and there is no other appropriate course of action you may intervene using the minimum physical force necessary to protect yourself and the students. The best way to do this is to use the yelling technique. Move as close to the students as you can without injuring yourself and repeatedly yell for them to stop. The loud noise surprises students allowing you to gain control and pull the students apart. You will also need to summon an administrator or other appropriate adult assistance in the most expedient manner possible. Employees may not have instant messaging, text messaging or other instantaneous unrecorded conversations with students of any age or grade without express written permission from the student's parent. Teachers are also not permitted to use social networking accounts such as Facebook to communicate with current PCS students.  Coaches may designate a "contact team member" for text messaging as long as they obtain parental permission. It is not intended that this policy restricts school-related email or posting to faculty websites regarding school work or school related activities. We recommend that parents provide their personal email accounts so that employees can copy parents with any email communication to their students. If you do phone a student, your call should be directed through their parents. If the call is initiated by the student you should request that the student's parents be put on the line so that you can request permission to continue the call. If the parent is not currently available ask the student to have his or her parent call you back to grant permission. You may not initiate and after school or non school event without written consent from a parent of each attending student. You must also have another adult present at the event. If your child hosts a personal social event such as a birthday party and wants to invite classmates this be an exception. However it is still required that you receive consent from the parents of each student. It is also suggested that you ask at least one other adult to chaperone and provide the names of all adult chaperones to the parents. The board has established discipline policies with the intent to train at students in the way they should go. Discipline is training that corrects, shapes, strengthens and completes a student. The goals of disciplinary actions are threefold. First to help each student develop a Biblical worldview, second to create a safe climate that facilitates maximum learning for each student. Third to help each student move from external control to self control and ultimately to Spirit control. The superintendent and on-site principals determine standards for disruptive and illegal behavior. These standards are defined in the Parent Student Handbook for each campus. Disciplinary actions include but are not limited to parent-conference, detention, suspension, loss of off-campus privileges for both juniors and seniors, probation, a request to withdraw and expulsion. The administration will inform and when appropriate invite the student's parents to be involved when disciplinary action is needed. Law enforcement officials may also be notified in the case of illegal activities. Portland Christian Schools does not practice corporal punishment. Any form of punishment that could result in physical harm is strictly prohibited. You should make every attempt to avoid being alone with an individual child. If a situation should arise where counseling or educational therapy are needed parents may sign a written consent form allowing their child to work one-on-one with an adult. Administrators must approve this arrangement. You should not be alone in a classroom with one student behind a closed door. All classroom doors must have a window or other observation access. Infant and toddler diapers should be changed in a public nursery such as the same nursery room with other workers. Two-year-olds through 4 year olds may still require assistance. Proper staff supervision will be provided for these students. Students in kindergarten and up generally do not need assistance except for in rare cases. Training will be provided for anyone dealing with this situation. It is the parent's responsibility to drop off and pick up their children at all school sponsored events. Reasonable effort will be made to avoid leaving a child on campus alone with an adult or unsupervised. Portland Christian Schools is directly responsible for the well-being and safety of all children and youth in its care. This applies at school and all school-sponsored off campus events. If you are sponsoring school sanctioned trip you will be held responsible for its organization. The site administrator must approve all field trips and extended excursions. Written details must be submitted and approved by the site administrator well in advance of the trip. Details include dates and itineraries, logistics, such as transportation, housing and meals, the cost of the trip and the names of all chaperones. We recommend one adult chaperone per 6 children in grades pre-K through 4 and one adult chaperone per 10 students in grades 5 through 12. Overnight excursions such as mission trips, international travel, choir, band, drama, class retreats, etc. Chaperones assigned to groups of students will be responsible to ensure that students follow all rules and oserve curfews. Chaperones may not share sleeping quarters with an individual student. Adults should not share a bed with a student. With the exception of athletic trips, published choir, band, off-campus concerts, ski club, etc. which must submit a parental permission form at the beginning of the season, all students must submit in advance the appropriate permission form signed by a parent or guardian. Students of all ages should be transported to and from school sponsored events by official transportation services provided by Portland Christian Schools. In the event that you need to provide transportation for students in your personal vehicle you must follow the following procedures. First get administrative approval. Use a standard permission form to get authorization from the student's parent for an adult to drive the student to and from a school-sponsored function. You must read and sign the Auto Safety Certificate. Then give all information regarding your driving record, vehicle and insurance information to Portland Christian Schools. Students must be transported in groups of two or more from the event. You may not drop a student off at their home without direct parental consent. Written agreements of carpooling between parents including employees after hours are not subject to these rules since this does not involve a school-sponsored event. You must not under any circumstances make any comments of a sexual nature in the presence of a student. Do not inappropriately touch a minor, watch a child in a restroom or expose yourself in any way. Avoid any action or comment which could be interpreted as sexually arousing or satisfying to you, a child or any other party present. Any accusations of misconduct will be taken seriously, investigated thoroughly and reported to legal authorities as required. If you or any other employee are accused of sexual misconduct you must comply with the investigation. Refusal to do so will result in temporary or permanent dismissal. If you see inappropriate conduct involving a fellow employee, volunteer, student or other person report it immediately to an administrator. Oregon state law mandates that all school and childcare personnel or volunteers must report if they have reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect. As a member of Portland Christian Schools you are a mandatory reporter. By law you must report suspected abuse or neglect of a child. If you see any evidence of physical injury, neglect, sexual or emotional abuse or financial exploitation report it to your on-site principal immediately. If your on site principal cannot be found please contact an administrator in the Portland Christian Business office. Then phone the Department of Human Services. The Oregon Child Abuse Hotline is available 24 hours a day. Please note this updated number. 1-855-503-SAFE (7233) 1-855-503-SAFE (7233) If you report a situation of child abuse you must immediately submit a completed Child Abuse Referral form to the principal. Your principal will give copies of the report to the counseling staff and the superintendent. This way the school has a record that a report was made to the proper authorities. Forms can be found in the employee handbook. Any persons calling the school to make anonymous reports of abuse should be referred to the DHS phone numbers listed above. Or to 911. Please do not investigate the situation on your own. This includes contacting parents or guardians. Once you have made a report it is out of your hands. DHS will determine the danger level and how to proceed with the investigation. Please cooperate with any and all DHS officials or law enforcement agencies involved with the investigation of the case. When a victim reports abuse let the child know he or she is not responsible. Do not look shocked or talk about blaming anyone. Tell the child you will get in touch with people who can help them and let the child know they will need to talk with them. Take any story of abuse seriously and report it according to policy. Do not force the child to tell more than he or she is ready to reveal. All you need to do is report your suspicion. You do not need to provide proof. This is a very difficult time for children and they need your understanding, support and patience. Portland Christian Schools may be in the media if there is a serious accident or case of abuse. In general the media and the public want to know about schools which appear to misuse their authority or contradict their own principles. When a law enforcement agency responds it often goes on public record which alerts the media. Since adverse publicity cannot be prevented, the school must be prepared to minimize and manage the damage. All inquiries regarding the incident must be referred to the appropriate spokesperson. The school has a qualified spokesperson or an attorney scheduled to serve on their behalf. If you are called on to testify, it is important that you speak the truth. Do not lie or cover up.  However this does not mean you have to answer or provide negative information. Thank you for your cooperation in this serious matter.  We understand that these issues are not pleasant for anyone. We appreciate your sensitivity and support for the students that we are seeking to protect.

Uploaded by Grace Dugger.

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