Policy Checklist

Effective September 14, 2016, programs for youth are required to follow the University of Colorado Boulder Child Protection Policy and Procedures. This policy was created to protect Minors participating in programs both sponsored by CU and third parties that take place on University of Colorado property.

While not all youth programs are bound by the policy, it is best practice to abide by the policy and procedures to ensure the safety of all involved in your program.

A summary of the policy is helpful to review and the information below will assist you in navigating the Policy's Procedures for working with Minors while at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Each year, Youth Programs are required to register and upload their programs forms for review. Please ensure that all programs are registered and documents are uploaded at minimum 30 days prior to the start of the program.

Youth Program Registration

Youth programs are required to register their programs via the CU Boulder Youth Program Registration Form in accordance with the deadlines outlined above. For third-party programs, the hosting department will fill out the registration form and direct third-party program operators, to the Safeguarding Youth third party Program page.

Forms, Protocols and Guidelines

Each program needs to have written protocols for the following areas. These protocols and forms need to be submitted using the CU Boulder Youth Program Document Upload form. This needs to be done annually according to the Youth Program Registration and Upload Deadlines listed above. The following forms will be required.

Volunteer Plans
Transportation Plans
Registration Protocol
General Waiver (Including Medical Care Form)
Emergency Contact Form
Activity Specific Waivers
- If your program does activities such as a ropes course, swimming, rock climbing, field trips, etc., you’ll need an activity-specific waiver. Some examples are in the Forms section below.
Requests for Accommodation of health or disability issues form
Emergency Communications Plan (e.g. severe weather, illness outbreak, missing camper, etc.).
Emergency Management Plan (e.g. lock down procedures, active harmer plan, severe weather plan, reunification plan, etc.)
General Protocols and Guidelines for Program and the Staff
- Daily Sign-in/Sign-out procedures, which shall take account of participants’ age and maturity.
- Procedure to ensure the location of participating youth is known at all times.
- The programs procedure on guidance, positive instruction, supporting positive behavior, discipline and consequences.
- Policies regarding staff/volunteer interaction with participating youth that address issues such as prohibited contact, and that require that the staff/volunteer agreement with the university include an acknowledgment of the application of such policies.
- Participant Code of Conduct that addresses expected child participant’s behavior, establishes grounds for ejecting campers, and prohibits alcohol and controlled substances.
- Training for counselors, faculty, coaches, or volunteers running the camp.
- Management of medications and medical devices legally prescribed to campers.
- Recruitment of future students in compliance with university admission policies and NCAA rules
- Transportation of participating youth.
- Ratios of staff/volunteers to children.

Background Checks

Any individual (faculty, staff, undergrad student, grad student, volunteer, etc) working with youth, is required to get a background check each year they are with the program.

To start the background check process, email HR with the person's name, email and start date or if they're a current employee. You can email your entire staff list or new hires in one email.

Risk Management Consultation

Please visit University Risk Management to determine if you need additional insurance coverage for your program.

In addition to this information, please review the material in the Minor Participants tab for additional resources related to minors on campus.

Mandatory Training

All faculty, staff, students and volunteers working with youth need to take Youth Protection Training annually.
- Staff can take the training in three modalities.
  - In person session with the youth program coordinator.
  - Skillsoft.
  - Microsoft Form for those who don’t have access to the above options.
- If your staff is not able to access Skillsoft, please contact the Youth Program Coordinator.
Programs will submit a roster of their current staff so that the youth program coordinator can cross reference the training record to ensure all staff have taken the necessary training.

End of Program Report

Once your youth program is completed, please complete the CU Boulder Youth Program End of Program Report. This form will ask for a final count of participants, as well as a general question about incidences that occurred during the program. We are working to celebrate and share with campus the success of our Youth Programs and having accurate participant numbers will help us share our story.