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F� WOC <br />333 <br />THERAPEUTic ARTs <br />4 3 <br />2215 N Broadway • Santa Ana, CA 92706 • 714.547.5468 • Fax 714.564.9690 • www.occtac.org <br />501(c)3 Federal TaxID# 33-0930891 <br />YOUTH PROTECTION POLICY <br />2019-2020 <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 form <br />of harassment of applicants, visitors, organization members, employees and especially YOUTH. All <br />persons, including youth are to be treated with courtesy, dignity and respect at all times. Sexual <br />harassment is defined as unwanted sexual advances or visual, verbal or physical conduct of a sexual <br />nature. The definition encompasses many forms of offensive behavior and includes gender -based <br />harassment of a person of the same sex as the harasser. <br />OCCTAC 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 no <br />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 verbalization. <br />The OCCTAC program requires OCCTAC staff and volunteers to provide good supervision, maintain <br />safe surroundings, and ensure a safe and secure environment that eliminate and prevents opportunities <br />for abuse. <br />Touching Youth. <br />Employees and Volunteers need to be mindful that an affectionate ("harmless") gesture towards a child <br />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 OCCTAC <br />Staff and Volunteers for the youth's accomplishments and good behavior are safer than those comments <br />related to appearance. <br />Rewarding Youth. <br />Should an employee or volunteer wish to give a reward or token gift to a child, it should be something <br />that is given to other children in the same circumstances. Otherwise, the child or the parent could <br />misconstrue the gesture. <br />Photos of Youth Members <br />OCCTAC policy prohibits the posting on the Internet of photos of youth identified in any way, such as <br />by name, region, or club affiliation. The publication of photos of youth, identified or not, is permitted in <br />OCCTAC and related publications whose distribution is limited primarily to OCCTAC staff. <br />