Our Commitment to Safety

THE SAFETY & WELL BEING OF YOUNG PEOPLE IS OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY

Ensuring child safety is fundamental to the mission of Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club

We work every day to create a safe, fun environment so kids can have every opportunity to be successful in life. We have ZERO tolerance for inappropriate behavior of any kind, including child sexual abuse or misconduct, and we put resources behind that stance.

  • LICENSED CHILD DAYCARE FACILITY

    Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club is a Licensed School Aged Child Care (S.A.C.C.) Program through New York State's Office of Children and Family Services (O.C.F.S.)

  • MANDATORY ANNUAL SAFETY ASSESSMENTS

    The Organiztion completes an annual safety assessment to ensure continual improvements to safety at our Club.

  • SAFETY TRAININGS

    Ongoing training and supervision of staff is critical. We participate in a wide variety of child safety training conducted such as in-service learning, conferences, webinars. 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

  • SAFETY COMMITTEE

    Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club has a dedicated Board led safety committee to provide input and guidance on local policies and safety strategies.

  • STATE AND LOCAL LAWS

    We comply with federal, state and local safety laws, including those impacting facilities and vehicles.

  • CULTURE OF SAFETY

    Glen Cove Boys  & Girls Club continually updates robust safety policies, programs and training for our staff and volunteers that are designed to promote child safety and protect young people from threats that are present in our society. We implement layers of safety policies and guidelines to keep our kids safe including:


    -Criminal Background Checks


    -Annual Safety Assessments


    -Safety Training


    -Licensed School-Aged Child CAre (S.A.C.C.) Program through the New York States Offic of Children and Family Services (O.C.F.S)


    -Crisis Management Plan in place in the event of an emergency.


    -Practice routine fire, intruder and shelter in place drills

  • SAFETY POLICIES

    Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club has comprehensive safety policies in place that protect youth – including, but not limited to, supervision, transportation, communication and prohibiting private one-on-one contact.

  • 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, Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club members and staff have access to  a confidential 24-hour toll-free Child Safety Hotline, 866-607-SAFE (7233) or email SafeClub@Praesidiuminc.com.

  • MANDATORY BACKGROUND CHECKS

    Mandatory criminal background checks are required every year for every staff and board member  Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club. In addition, criminal background checks are required for any volunteer who has direct contact with children. All potential employees and volunteers are also run through the National Sex Offender Registry.

  • REQUIRED IMMEDIATE REPORTING

    Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club 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.

SAFETY PARTNERSHIPS
Nationally, Boys & Girls Clubs of America works with leading experts in the areas of safety, security and technology to develop state-of-the-art solutions for Clubs. Partners include:


  • National Child Safety Advisory Task Force, made up of leading experts and organizations
  • Blue Ribbon Taskforce, comprised of local Club leaders charged with providing input on the safety direction and key safety initiatives
  • Mental Health First Aid, a national program that teaches skills to recognize and respond to signs of mental illness and substance abuse
  • Crisis Text Line, a confidential text message service for youth in times of crisis


Local Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club partners:

  • New York State Office of Children & Family Services
  • Nassau County Childcare Council
  • Glen Cove Fire Department
  • Glen Cove Police Department
  • Glen Cove Hospital, Northwell Health
  • Nassau County Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T) Program
  • Long Island Crisis Center
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, Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club members and staff have access to a confidential 24-hour toll-free Child Safety Hotline, 866-607-SAFE (7233) or email SafeClub@Praesidiuminc.com.


Mandatory Employee Reference

Any employee interested in moving to another Boys & Girls Club is required to have a reference from the previous Club, even if the Clubs are within the same community.


Continued Commitment In July, 2020, all local Boys & Girls Clubs voted to adopt additional safety measures to further improve safety within our Clubs. Many of these practices were already in place, however, Boys & Girls Clubs determined these practices should be mandatory for all Clubs. These measures include more stringent reference and background checks, enhanced Club Safety Committee requirements for all Clubs, greater communication of key safety resources and information available for staff and members, and more. 


Nationally, Boys & Girls Clubs of America has advocated the passage of the U.S. PROTECT Act, which improved 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 contribute to 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 Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club. To learn more about our national safety policies and actions, please visit Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Child Safety page, here.