Child abuse prevention can fit into most organizations without requiring major changes in program activities or in values dear to the organization. Most adults working with children are parents and appreciate the efforts of organizations to protect the children they serve. Emphasizing that benefit can ease the process regardless of organizational culture. If an organization has never addressed the issue of child abuse, there may be a policy vacuum. Discomfort with the topic or concern about offending anyone may have prevented adoption of a clear, cohesive, and adequate plan for protecting children.
Many smaller organizations have few formal policies.
Developing and implementing child strategies may need to start with creation of a policy-making process to conduct the necessary work. An organization that has not developed its child abuse prevention strategies might begin by creating a task force consisting of employees, volunteers and parents to review the material in this Primer and the resources it lists, examine existing policies, and develop strategies appropriate for the organization. Not Assigned Sometimes organizations have policies to prevent child abuse, but no one has the responsibility of overseeing their implementation. A policy without oversight may be more damaging to the organization than no policy at all. By having a policy, the organization is giving lip service to its responsibility for prevention.