District 5170

We need to protect all youth involved in Rotary Youth Programs, for example Interact, RYLA, Youth Exchange, Children at Risk, Mentoring Programs, ELC, and local club projects. RYLA Photo

ROTARY DISTRICT 5170 ABUSE AND HARASSMENT PREVENTION POLICY
Rotary clubs place great emphasis on their work with people in the community, including young people, through its many Youth Services programs including Rotary Youth Exchange, RYLA, Rotaract, Interact, Speech Contest, and mentoring. These volunteer efforts are vital to the quality of life in our communities and to the good reputation of Rotary and Rotarians. For these good works to continue it is extremely important that our Rotary clubs protect the interests of everyone involved, and create and maintain a safe and respectful environment for all participants in Rotary activities. Fulfilling this duty safeguards the interests of Rotary Clubs and Rotarians by minimizing their risk of liability, including legal liability, should any participant in a Rotary activity become a victim of abuse.

There is a Youth Protection Certification process for individual volunteers. Click here to get a checklist and information on this process.

Clubs with involvement in any youth program must complete these minimum requirements for Club Certification:

At least three club members must be completely screened and trained to respond to problems or concerns that might arise, including responding to and reporting allegations of abuse or harassment (this requirement is met by completion of the four steps in the Youth Protection Certification process).
The club's fully certified volunteers must include at least one member of each gender.
The Club Youth Services Certification Application must be viewed online and acknowledged by the Club President, Youth Services Chair and Youth Protection chair. The Club President is sent a link to the Youth Services Certification page and they select the Rotarians who are the Youth Services and Youth Protection chairs. All three individuals receive an email link to the document and agree to comply with it.

Click here to view Club Youth Services Certification Application.
Click here for the 2012 Club Certification Status.
Click here for the 2013 Club Certification status.

If a club receives an allegation of abuse or complaint involving a youth in any Rotary sponsored program, the club should immediately contact the District 5170 Abuse Prevention Coordinator (DAPC), Ron Hyde, for assistance with resolving the situation.

We want each club to have a Youth Protection Officer (YPO). Click here for the YPO Job Description.

Links on the left side of this page provide online training links, forms and instructions for New Generations' volunteers.