Youth-serving organizations from across the country met with experts in youth protection to share the knowledge, tools and resources needed to safeguard young people

Scouting America, the nation’s largest youth development organization, hosted a Safeguarding Youth Symposium to underscore its unwavering commitment to creating a safe and secure environment for youth. The symposium brought together experts in youth protection and leaders and safety professionals in youth-serving organizations to discuss innovative strategies and best practices for safeguarding youth.

The symposium highlighted the complexity of the challenges facing youth safeguarding and emphasized the need for a multifaceted approach to keeping children safe from physical and online dangers.

“We are committed to providing a safeguarded environment for all Scouts,” said Roger Krone, Scouting America’s president and chief executive officer. “By bringing together experts from across the country, we can learn from each other and continue to improve our youth protection efforts.”

The symposium featured a variety of sessions, including:

• Organizational Culture: Participants learned that organizations must be led from the top, and that a culture of safety and accountability must be reinforced at all levels.
• Emerging Safety Challenges: Experts discussed current and emerging safety threats facing young people and how to address them.
• Technology and Safety: The symposium explored how technology can be used to enhance youth safety and prevent abuse.
• Survivor Insights: Protect Children Finland highlighted how Scouting America’s willingness to share a survivor survey proactively is crucial to understanding disclosure of abuse.
• Partnerships: Participants learned about emerging collaboration with law enforcement and how academia is crucial in an evidence-based approach.

Scouting America has a long history of implementing rigorous youth protection policies and procedures. These include:

• Mandatory Background Checks: All adult leaders are required to undergo comprehensive background checks.
• Youth Protection Training: All adult leaders and volunteers must complete mandatory youth protection training.
• Safe Environment Policies: Scouting America has strict policies in place to ensure that all activities and programs are conducted in a safe and appropriate manner.

“The safety and well-being of our Scouts is our top strategic priority,” said Glen Pounder, chief safeguarding officer at Scouting America. “This symposium was an opportunity to bring together industry-leading experts on youth safety with leaders from youth-serving organizations, including schools, sports programs, churches, and community programs, to develop new ways to provide a safe environment where young people can thrive.”

For more information about Scouting America’s youth protection programs, please visit https://www.scouting.org/training/youth-protection/.

About Scouting America

Scouting America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®”

Scouting America welcomes all of America’s youth into its programs. Our goal is to give them fantastic experiences in the outdoors, and elsewhere, where they can grow with us in a safe environment. More than 130 million Americans have been through our programs since our founding, and currently more than 1 million youth are served by 477,000 dedicated adult volunteers in local councils throughout the country.

To learn more about Scouting America’s mission, visit Scouting.org.