Watertown Human, Social & Leisure Services
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Minor Abuse Prevention Policy Acknowledgement


MINOR ABUSE PREVENTION POLICY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Please read the Minor Abuse Prevention Policy (MAPP) and fill out the acknowledgement form below. (Please note: after your acknowledgement submission, the confirmation number will appear on the bottom of the page.)
 
Minor Abuse Prevention Policy Acknowledgement (MAPP)
 
OVERVIEW: All of Watertown Parks and Recreation Department’s staff, instructors, coaches, and volunteers commit to our Minor Abuse Prevention Policy annually. Watertown Parks and Recreation works to make our programs a safe environment. We follow the guidance given by the State of Connecticut and train our employees, instructors, coaches, and volunteers on the do’s and don’ts for keeping a child safe and how to identify and prevent “grooming.” For all families seeking information on this topic, you can read the following policy along with the information on the State of Connecticut’s website.
 
THIS POLICY APPLIES TO: All paid and volunteer staff members and program instructors; All parents and/or guardians of participating patrons who are under the age of 18; Any other adult authorized to have regular contact with minor participants of any Parks & Recreation programming.
 
GENERAL REQUIREMENT: The Watertown Parks & Recreation Department (“SPRD”) is required to implement this Minor Abuse Prevention Policy in full. It must be reviewed and agreed to in writing by all patrons, parents, guardians, volunteer and paid coaches, counselors, lifeguards, program instructors and any other person coming in regular contact with minor participants on an annual basis with such written agreement to be retained by the SPRD.
 
ONE-ON-ONE INTERACTIONS: One-on-one interactions between a minor participant or minor staff member and an Applicable Adult (who is not the minor’s legal guardian) must occur at an observable and interruptible distance from another adult unless under emergency circumstances.

MEETINGS
 
Meetings between a minor participant and an Applicable Adult may only occur if another adult is present and where interactions can be easily observed and at an interruptible distance from another adult, except under emergency circumstances.
 
If a one-on-one meeting takes place, the door to the room must remain unlocked and open. If available, it must occur in a room that has windows, with the windows, blinds, and/or curtains remaining open during the meeting.
 
Meetings must not be conducted in an Applicable Adult’s car, or an Applicable Adult’s or participant’s hotel room or other overnight lodging location during program travel. Meetings between a minor staff member and an Applicable Adult may only occur if another adult is present and where interactions can be easily observed and at an interruptible distance from another adult, except under emergency circumstances.
 
Meetings with Health Care Providers and/or Mental Health Care Professionals
If a Health Care Professional and/or Mental Health Care meets with a minor participant or minor staff member in conjunction with participation in a SPRD-offered program, which may occur during the program, or at a practice or competition site, a closed-door meeting may be permitted to protect patient privacy provided that:
 
The door remains unlocked; Another adult is present at the facility;
The other adult is advised that a closed-door meeting is occurring; and
Written legal guardian consent is obtained in advance by the HealthCare Provider and/or Mental Health Care Professional, with a copy provided to the SPRD.
 
Individual Program or Training Sessions
Individual program or training outside of the regular program schedule is permitted if the training is observable and interruptible by another adult. Legal guardians must be allowed to observe the training session.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA AND ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS
 
CONTENT: All electronic communication from Applicable Adults to minor participants or minor staff members must be professional in nature.
 
OPEN AND TRANSPARENT: If an Applicable Adult needs to communicate directly with a minor participant or minor staff member via electronic media, the minor participant’s or minor staff member’s legal guardian must be copied. If a minor participant communicates to the Applicable Adult privately first, the minor participant’s legal guardian must be copied on any electronic response. When an Applicable Adult communicates electronically to program minor participants or minor staff members, another adult must be copied.
 
REQUESTS TO DISCONTINUE: Legal guardians may request in writing that their minor participant not be contacted through any form of electronic communication by the SPRD or by an Applicable Adult subject to this Policy.
 
HOURS: Electronic communications must only be sent between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., unless emergency circumstances exist, or during competition travel.
 
PROHIBITED ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION: Applicable Adults are not permitted to maintain private social media connections with unrelated minor participants or minor staff members and are not permitted to accept new personal page requests on social media platforms from minor participants or minor staff members. Existing social media connections with minor participants and minor staff members must be discontinued.
 
TRAVEL

LOCAL TRAVEL: Local travel consists of travel to off-site programs: field trips, training, practice, and competition that occurs locally and does not include coordinated overnight stay(s). Applicable Adults must not ride in a vehicle alone with an unrelated minor participant or minor staff member, absent emergency circumstances, and must always have at least two minor participants or two minor staff members, or another adult in the vehicle, unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the minor participant’s or minor staff member’s legal guardian.
Legal guardians must pick up their minor participant or minor staff member first and drop off their minor participant or minor staff member last in any shared or carpool travel arrangement.

TRAVEL: Travel is travel to an off-site program, field trip, competition, or other group activity that the SPRD plans and supervises.
 
During such travel, when doing room checks two Applicable Adults should be present and observable and interruptible environments must be maintained. When only one Applicable Adult and one minor participant or one minor staff member travel, the minor’s legal guardian must provide written permission in advance and for each event the minor is to travel alone with said Applicable Adult.
 
Unrelated Applicable Adults must not share a hotel room, other sleeping arrangement, or overnight lodging location with any minor.
 
Minor participants or minor staff members should be paired to share hotel rooms or other sleeping arrangements with other minors of the same gender and of similar age. If a minor and an adult share a hotel room or other sleeping arrangement, the minor’s legal guardian must provide written permission in advance for each instance for the minor to share a hotel room or other sleeping arrangement with said adult.
 
Meetings during travel must be conducted consistent with the One-on-One Interactions section of this Policy. Meetings must not be conducted in an individual’s hotel room or other overnight sleeping location.
 
LOCKER ROOMS AND CHANGING AREAS
 
REQUIREMENT TO USE BATHROOMS, LOCKER ROOMS OR CHANGING AREAS: The designated bathroom, locker room or changing area must be used when a minor participant, minor staff member, or Applicable Adult changes, in whole or in part. Extra emphasis is placed on swimmers changing into or out of a swimsuit when wearing just one suit. Deck changing is prohibited.
 
USE OF RECORDING DEVICES: Use of any device’s (including a cell phone’s) recording capabilities, including voice recording, still cameras and video cameras in bathrooms, locker rooms, changing areas, or similar spaces by a minor participant, minor staff member or an Applicable Adult is prohibited.
 
UNDRESS: An unrelated Applicable Adult must not expose his or her breasts, buttocks, groin, or genitals to a minor participant or minor staff member under any circumstance. An unrelated Applicable Adult must not request an unrelated minor participant or minor staff member to expose the minor’s breasts, buttocks, groin, or genitals to the unrelated Applicable Adult under any circumstance.
 
ONE-ON-ONE INTERACTIONS: At no time are unrelated Applicable Adults permitted to be alone with a minor participant or minor staff member in a bathroom, locker room, or changing area, except under emergency circumstances. If the organization is using a facility that only has a single bathroom, locker room, or changing area, separate times for use by Applicable Adults must be designated.

MONITORING: Regular and random monitoring of bathrooms, locker rooms and/or changing areas must be performed to ensure compliance with this Policy. Bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing areas may be monitored by use of the following methods:
 
Conducting a sweep of the locker room/changing area before participants arrive; Posting staff directly outside the bathroom/locker room/changing area during periods of use; Leaving the doors open when adequate privacy is still possible; and/or Making occasional sweeps of the locker rooms or changing areas with women checking on female facilities and men checking on male facilities. Every effort must be made to recognize when a minor participant goes to the bathrooms, locker room or changing area during a program, practice or competition, and, if the minor participant does not return in a timely fashion, to check on the minor participant’s whereabouts.
 
LEGAL GUARDIANS IN LOCKER ROOMS OR CHANGING AREAS: Legal guardians are discouraged from entering bathrooms, locker rooms and changing areas. If a legal guardian does enter a locker room or changing area, it must only be a same-sex legal guardian and the legal guardian should notify a coach or administrator in advance.
 
MASSAGES AND RUBDOWNS/ATHLETE TRAINING MODALITIES

DEFINITION: In this section, the term “Massage” refers to any massage, rubdown, athletic training modality including physical modalities (e.g., stretching, physical manipulation, injury rehabilitation, etc.) and electronic or instrument assisted modalities (e.g., stim treatment, dry needling, cupping, etc.).
 
GENERAL REQUIREMENT: Massage performed on an athlete or minor must be conducted in an open and interruptible location and must be performed by a licensed massage therapist or other certified professional. However, even if a coach is a licensed massage therapist, the coach cannot perform a rubdown or massage of an athlete or minor under any circumstance.
 
ADDITIONAL MINOR ATHLETE REQUIREMENTS: Written consent by a legal guardian must be obtained in advance by the licensed massage therapist or other certified professional, with a copy provided to the coach.
 
Legal guardians must be allowed to observe the Massage.
 
Any Massage of a minor athlete must be done with at least one other adult present and must never be done with only the minor athlete and the person performing the Massage in the room.
Any Massage of a minor athlete must only occur after a proper diagnosis from a treating physician and be done in the course of care according to the physician’s treatment plan.
 
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENT - SIGNATURE REQUIRED
(Note: All fields are required. A typed name will substitute for a handwritten signature.)
 
MINOR ABUSE PREVENTION POLICY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
 
 
EMPLOYEE/VOLUNTEER STATEMENT OF CONSENT
By writing my name in the fields below, I acknowledge that I have read and understood the Minor Abuse Prevention Policy. I further acknowledge and understand that agreeing to comply with the contents of this Policy is a condition of my involvement with the Watertown Parks & Recreation programs.
 
 
 
_____________________                         ___________________
    Employee Signature                                            Date
 



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