Committed to Safety

Franzine Potts

It is the policy of the YMCA of Grays Harbor that all necessary measures will be taken to insure a safe environment for all children and to insure professional conduct of all staff and volunteers.

If you have any concerns about how your child is being treated in any YMCA sponsored program, please call (360)537-9622

Franzine Potts x111 fpotts@ghymca.net

Dan Brown x109 dbrown@ghymca.net

Grievance Form

Safety and Background Checks

We require a complete criminal, personal, and professional background check for each member of our staff and our volunteers. In addition, all members and guests are screened through a local and national sex offender registry before being granted entry to any of our facilities. We regularly monitor and review all of these databases to ensure proactive action against any risk to our community.

Child Abuse Training

All staff and volunteers are required to participate in and complete training about inappropriate or suspicious behavior in order to prevent child abuse. This includes identifying signs of potential abuse and how to report suspected incidents. We ensure that all staff and volunteers understand the importance of this work and their mandatory responsibility to report any suspected abuse.

Program Policies

We carefully supervise and monitor all our programs to ensure the health and safety of youth. Our policies are designed to limit any circumstances in which staff and volunteers are alone with a child or teen where they cannot be observed. We also actively limit staff and volunteer contact with youth outside of our designated programs.

How You Can Support Abuse Prevention

There are three key habits the Y advocates and adopts as a part of a national initiative to prevent child abuse: Know, See, and Respond.

KNOW

KNOW and understand common practices of those who harm and how to prevent them.

SEE

SEE and recognize the warning signs or behaviors that signal abuse or risk for abuse.

RESPOND

RESPOND and take action in response to behaviors or signals that you’ve recognized as being inappropriate or questionable.

How You Can Support Abuse Prevention

There are three key habits the Y advocates and adopts as a part of a national initiative to prevent child abuse: Know, See, and Respond.

Our values

The YMCA’s partnership with Praesidium provides us with access to enhanced tools and services for strengthening Child Abuse Prevention efforts. These customized resources from Praesidium, an industry leader in creating safe environments for kids, can help YMCAs galvanize the culture, practices and behavior needed to prevent child sexual abuse.

Educational Videos and Information for Parents & Caregivers by Praesidium

At the Y, child protection is our number one priority year-round. During April – Child Abuse Prevention Month – we participate in a week-long campaign—Five Days of Action—to increase awareness of child sexual abuse and empower and equip our communities to prevent it. By taking part in this important campaign and through implementing abuse prevention practices year-round, we can all commit to the safety of all children in our care.