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3 QC CHILDREN'S <br />zy d HERAPEUTIC AUS <br />2215 North Broadway, Santa Ana, CA 92706 (714) 547 — 5468 www.occtac.org <br />YOUTH PROTECTION POLICY <br />These OCCTAC Youth Protection Policy Guidelines are designed to help protect our youth in a <br />proactive manner against verbal and sexual abuse (hereinafter "abuse"). OCCTAC prohibits any <br />form of harassment of applicants, visitors, organization members, employees and especially <br />YOUTH. All persons, including youth are to be treated with courtesy, dignity and respect at all <br />times. Sexual harassment is defined as unwanted sexual advances or visual, verbal or physical <br />conduct of a sexual nature. The definition encompasses many forms of offensive behavior and <br />includes gender -based harassment of a person of the same sex as the harasser. <br />QCCTAC Staff and Volunteers must be able to identify abuse when they see it, know their <br />responsibilities to report suspected abuse, and provide a quality of leadership that will ensure that <br />no child becomes the victim of abuse through willful act while participating in OCCTAC. <br />Definition of Abuse <br />Abuse is defined as verbal and sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and inappropriate sexual <br />verbalization. <br />The OCCTAC program requires OCCTAC staff and volunteers to provide good supervision, <br />maintain safe surroundings, and ensure a safe and secure environment that eliminate and <br />prevents opportunities for abuse. <br />Touching Youth. <br />Employees and Volunteers need to be mindful that an affectionate ("harmless") gesture towards <br />a child could be construed as inappropriate by the child or the child's parent. <br />Complementing Youth. <br />A supportive comment or words of encouragement serve as positive reinforcement from the <br />OCCTAC Staff and Volunteers for the youth's accomplishments and good behavior are safer <br />than those comments related to appearance. <br />Rewarding Youth. <br />Should an employee or volunteer wish to give a reward or token gift to a youth, it should be <br />something that is given to other youth in the same circumstances. Otherwise, the youth or the <br />parent could misconstrue the gesture. <br />Photos of Youth Members <br />OCCTACT policy prohibits the posting on the Internet of photos of youth identified in any way, <br />such as by name, region, or club affiliation. The publication of photos of youth, identified or not, <br />is permitted in OCCTAC and related publications whose distribution is limited primarily to <br />OCCTAC staff. <br />