New policies on youth activities and child safety will affect you

If the middle-schooler next door wants to job shadow you ...

If the student club you're advising is planning an event for children ...

If your university work involves direct contact with children who are under 18 ...

... You'll need to review a newly enacted set of university policies. 

Policies regarding reporting of misconduct have been tailored to require reporting of suspected physical and sexual child abuse.  In addition, a new policy on Youth Activities, Pre-Collegiate Programs and Camps, and changes to the policy on Children in the Workplace  set safety standards for university programs and for less formal activities -- academic, athletics or recreational -- that involve youth.

The policies are, in part, a response to Iowa legislation that requires university employees who work with children to report suspected physical or sexual abuse. The legislation was passed last session in the wake of the sex abuse scandal involving former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Background screenings

While some Iowa State policies regarding children have been around for a while, many have been updated recently by a university task force.  For example, background screenings have been conducted for potential 4-H staff and volunteers for many years. In 2009, the university began running criminal background checks prior to hiring new employees (with the exception of post-doctoral scholars, graduate students and hourly student workers).

Under the new set of policies, background screenings will become more commonplace, extending, for example, to paid staff and volunteers in university youth programs or a faculty member who offers private music lessons to a child who is under 18 and not a student at Iowa State.

University counsel Paul Tanaka noted that the focus is on programs specifically offered to youth, such as organized precollegiate programs  and the less formal visits by elementary and secondary students who are on campus and not supervised by their parents or teachers.

"We encourage all university faculty and staff to familiarize themselves with the new policies," Tanaka said.  "These policies aren't just for those who regularly work with youth under 18 or are involved with youth programs.  It is important to recognize that the child abuse reporting policy applies to all of us.  And even if we only occasionally encounter youth in the workplace, whether it's a colleague's child temporarily hanging out in an office, or a group of sixth graders touring a facility, these policies represent our shared commitment to provide a safe campus for children."

For example

The following scenarios illustrate a few of the many ways these policies may affect Iowa State employees.