Editor’s note: April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and the following open letter written by Kishwaukee Family YMCA CEO Mark Spiegelhoff was written in response to the recent sentencing of a local former gymnastics coach, Joseph R. Hannon, who was sentenced to 32 years in jail in exchange for a guilty plea for sexual assault and abuse of his former students in the DeKalb County community. You can read the Hannon coverage at www.shawlocal.com/daily-chronicle.
A top priority of the Kishwaukee Family YMCA has always been to create safe environments where children can learn, grow and thrive.
No community is immune from those who would wish to harm a child, and child sexual abuse is a serious and common crime in the United States today. One in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused by the age of 18, and while these numbers are staggering, the good news is child sexual abuse is preventable.
The recent conviction and 32-year prison sentence of a local gymnastics coach, Joseph R. Hannon, 25, for abuses he perpetrated on young girls underscores how it can happen anywhere, including the Sycamore and DeKalb community.
The Kishwaukee Family YMCA has always taken child abuse prevention very seriously. Y of the USA (the YMCA National Office) partnered with Praesidium over 5 years ago to make sure that the children in our care were protected to the fullest extent possible. Praesidium is an expert in the field creating the Praesidium’s Safety Equation®. Praesidium’s Safety Equation®identifies eight organizational operations that provide opportunities to decrease the risk of abuse by employees, volunteers or other program participants.
Using current research and root cause analyses of thousands of cases of abuse, Praesidium has identified best practices in each operation and created products and services which help organizations implement these practices.
Following the Praesidium’s Safety Equation®, here are things the Kishwaukee Family YMCA has committed to doing to keep our children safe:
-We have created policies that support our commitment to keeping children safe.
-Our comprehensive screening and selection process of staff and volunteers is designed to discover and consider everything we can about an applicant.
-We train our staff and volunteers to recognize suspicious or inappropriate interactions or policy violations and suspected abuse and how to respond effectively.
-We supervise and monitor individuals who come into contact with our children. We know that potential offenders are less likely to act on their impulses because they face detection. And when children are adequately supervised, they, too, are less likely to engage in inappropriate interactions with others.
-We gather information and monitor our programs and facility and respond immediately to concerns brought to our attention by staff, volunteers, members or program participants.
-We provide age-appropriate education to children and families to empower themselves from abuse.
-We will take swift and determined action, including reports to the authorities, when necessary.
-Our administrative practices maintain consistency and prevent drift in our standards.
I am proud of our staff, board, volunteers, members, and program participants who continue to support our efforts to keep our children safe from potential abuse.
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. During this specific month ,communities are encouraged to increase awareness about child and family well-being and work together to implement effective strategies that support families and prevent child abuse and neglect.
I encourage area residents, area businesses and organizations to support this effort in any way they can.
One abused child is one too many.
Mark Spiegelhoff, CEO Kishwaukee Family YMCA