Resources and Guides for Youth-Serving Organizations

Below are resources to assist youth-serving organizations in developing policy to prevent child sexual abuse and protect youth who participate in organizational programs. The resources are intended for any organization serving youth (including non-sexual assault service providers), but is especially pertinent for the following grantees:

Department of Children and Families (DCF) grantees

Department of Justice (DOJ) grantees – including all those receiving VOCA, VAWA STOP and/or VAWA SASP funding

The resources below include information regarding the Six Core Components, training opportunities, and supportive policy resources.

Highlights from this section:

Best Practices and Frameworks

  • Six Core Components – Policy Development Resources
  • WCASA 10 Core Concepts

Training Opportunities

  • Awareness to Action (A2A)
  • Darkness to Light
  • Stop it Now!

For DOJ Grantees: Federal Special Conditions Requirement for Youth Serving Organizations

  • Special Conditions General Information
Best Practices and Frameworks

Below are resources on the prevention of child sexual abuse, including research from WCASA on 10 Core Concepts to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse, and the CDC's Six Core Components.

10 Core Concepts to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse - WCASA

In collaboration with partners, WCASA developed these concepts to provide a comprehensive framework for child sexual abuse prevention |10 Core Concepts

Six Core Components for Preventing Child Sexual Abuse

Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Within Youth-serving Organizations: Getting Started on Policies and Procedures - CDC | A toolkit to guide policy development in youth-serving organizations to prevent child sexual abuse, specifically focusing on a core set of components recognized as best practice by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention

The Core Components – Awareness to Action (A2A) | An information sheet with a high-level overview of the six core components of CSA policy from A2A

  • Component One – Awareness to Action (A2A) | An information sheet examining the factors of the first component to CSA policy, screening and selecting personnel
  • Component Two – Awareness to Action (A2A) | An information sheet examining the factors of the second component to CSA policy, guidelines on interactions between individuals
  • Component Three – Awareness to Action (A2A) | An information sheet examining the factors of the third component to CSA policy, monitoring behavior
  • Component Four – Awareness to Action (A2A) | An information sheet examining the factors of the fourth component to CSA policy, ensuring a safe environment
  • Component Five – Awareness to Action (A2A) | An information sheet examining the factors of the fifth component to CSA policy, responding to inappropriate behavior
  • Component Six – Awareness to Action (A2A) | An information sheet examining the factors of the sixth component to CSA policy, training on child sexual abuse prevention
Resources for Policy Development

The Six Core Components: A Deep Dive with A2A - A2A and WCASA | This recorded webinar offers a closer look at the CDC's Six Core Components, featuring helpful insight and expertise from A2A on the implementation of the components in policy and procedure within youth-serving organizations

Creating Organizational Policies to Prevent Sexual Abuse – The Prevention Researcher | This article reviews the essential elements required for organizations to implement meaningful policy and practice to prevent CSA

Preventing Child Sexual Abuse, Overview and Statistics – CDC | A general resource providing snapshots of data on the prevalence, incidence, and burden of child sexual abuse, as well as links to additional tools and resources on CSA prevention

Training Resources

Awareness to Action (A2A) – A2A offers training to youth-serving organizations wishing to implement policy and procedures to ensure the protection of youth, and prevent CSA

Darkness to Light – An organization empowering people to prevent child sexual abuse by providing a framework for CSA prevention, trainings, tools for practitioners, media campaigns and more. Their training called "Stewards of Children" is for parents, responsible adults, and youth-serving organizations.

Stop It Now! – organization founded by Fran Henry, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse who learned first-hand that standard approaches to keeping children safe from child sexual abuse at that time did not respond to the complex relationships surrounding most abuse.

For DOJ Grantees: Federal Special Conditions for Youth-Serving Organizations: CSA Prevention Policy Resources
Special Conditions

Below are written and visual/audio-recorded resources on the Special Conditions requirement for youth-serving organizations (DOJ grantees) in addition to resources for developing policy and procedures within youth-serving organizations

Guidance on OVW Award Conditions – OVW | This is a written guidance from the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women outlining grantee award conditions for background checks

Special Condition on Background Checks, OVW Q&A - OVW | A recording of a Q & A session between OVW and coalitions regarding the new conditions for background checks (please note entry code: $pecia1Cond)

Suitability to Interact with Minors – OCVS | From the Office of Crime Victim Services, this PDF features the language from the Special Conditions mandate pertaining to the requirement of determining suitability to interact with minors, as well as how to fulfill the requirement

Child Sexual Assault Policy Recommendations and Requirements – WCASA, DOJ, and A2A | A collaborative webinar presentation from Department of Justice and Awareness to Action, this webinar presents information on the Special Conditions requirement in addition to contextual information regarding the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Six Core Components on developing policy to prevent child sexual abuse

Written Examples

Below are three different written examples of documents to meet the Special Conditions requirement. The examples include: 1) A sample draft of Suitability to Interact with Minors Policy, 2) a Consent Form for Criminal Background Checks, and 3) an example of Documentation of Required Searches to Determine Suitability to Interact with Minors.

While these resources are available to help guide programs in drafting their policy and meeting the Special Conditions, WCASA encourages programs to be mindful that the needs and contexts of each organization requires distinct considerations. For additional support in crafting your program’s policy, please reach out to WCASA (Ian Henderson, ianh@wcasa.org) or A2A.