Youth Protection Update: Spring 2020

The Board approved the following changes to the Youth Policy Statement:

• Replaced all previous references to the male gender (men, his) with the gender-neutral (persons, their)
• Added a clause prohibiting personal interaction between youth and adults and personal interaction defined
• Included an additional section instituting background checks for all staff members, board members, and those having regular contact with youth and regular contact with youth defined

In November of 2018, BHS enacted new procedures under the existing Youth Policy which checked all new members against publicly available sex offender registries, and for all members to affirm their absence from such registries annually. The goal of those updates was to do the right thing by modern standards with regard to the safety of all of our members. While those updates were an excellent first step, more would be required to meet the modern standard.

At the end of 2019, after discussions with our insurance partners and legal counsel, an outline was created of those additional steps to protect the youth in our Society and our members. Every change described in the new policy documents was created with the goal of maintaining the traditions at the heart of our Society, while continuing to make this an organization that is safe for our young members, who are the next generation of barbershop.

Under the new policy, all BHS staff and the Society Board of Directors will undergo background checks as part of their onboarding process. All current members of the staff and the board have been screened.

Additionally, any member who will have regular contact with minors as part of their role in the Society will receive a background check. Roles affected may include but are not necessarily limited to chorus directors, section leaders, convention staff, clinicians, teaching quartets, and judges.

Previously, only new members were checked against those public records. Any member that renewed annually affirmed that they do not appear on any federal, state, or provincial sex offender registries as part of that renewal process.

Under the new policy, all members will be checked against the registry on an annual basis. Because registries cannot be checked in bulk, we ask that current volunteer leaders check members at the local level. BHS staff will continue to check members with no district or chapter affiliation.

The job of checking membership against these registries will fall to the Chapter Compliance Officer, which may be any current chapter leader or a separate role, and appointed by the Chapter President. Specific instructions are forthcoming and will be provided according to the state of residence and incorporation of the chapter.

Communication and training will be implemented throughout the remainder of 2020 and BHS compliance auditing will begin in 2021. More detailed information will be coming to affected individuals (e.g., chapter and district leaders, youth camp leaders, etc.) through direct email communication.

Members residing in countries without publically available sex offender registry information will be required to continue to affirm that they do not appear on any federal, state, or provincial sex offender registries as part of their renewal process. Additionally, those in chapters with youth will be required to fill out a voluntary disclosure statement annually.

A voluntary disclosure statement is a statement signed by the chaperone, member, or other such party attesting, at the minimum, that they have not been convicted of any violent crimes or crimes against children. This statement is legally binding and will be used in lieu of a background check.

The overall goal of these new procedures is to make our Society safe for all of our members, and that includes our prospective members. We want any chapter to be a safe place for anyone who may want to join in the future.

Additionally, as part of the 2018 updates to Youth Policy procedures, the Society Board of Directors defined anyone currently appearing on federal, state, or provincial sex offender registries in violation of the Code of Ethics, specifically the passage regarding “persons of good character.” Given that directive, we have instituted procedures to ensure that all members meet that definition as provided by the Society Board of Directors.

The intent of the Skillful Screener Webinar training is to train volunteer leaders about behaviors of potential volunteers which may indicate that an individual is not suited to volunteer roles that involve the supervision of or interaction with minors. The training will be taken by anyone whose role in the Society has them regularly selecting and/or managing volunteers. Since many volunteers who interact with us at various events are not Society members, this allows those in the Society who manage volunteers to be better prepared and equipped to handle those situations.

The most valuable takeaway from this section of the Policy is that in keeping with the best practices of organizations that work regularly with youth (e.g., YMCA, Boy & Girl Scouts, SNAP Program, etc.), it is BHS’s policy that minors never be unsupervised or alone with an adult who is not their parent, legal guardian, or approved sponsor. There are many ways to educate the next generation that do not involve having minors alone with non-parent/guardian adults, and the Society requires that those safer methods be used.

The indemnification clause or “hold harmless” language in the updated youth forms essentially states that, given that the Society is acting in good faith to prevent any untoward behavior at our events, individuals who choose to act outside of our Code of Ethics and Youth Policy will be considered free agents, and not actors on behalf of the Barbershop Harmony Society. Put more simply, BHS cannot be held responsible for the actions of those who do not follow these new rules and procedures.