Vanderbilt offers the following reminders for university offices and organizations that are hosting minor children and youth for programs on campus or in university facilities this summer.
- Register the program and add an event. Vanderbilt’s Protection of Minors policy requires programs and events for children and youth to be registered with the Office of Risk and Insurance Management in the Protection of Minors web application. This includes third-party programs that use university spaces. If your program is already approved, enter a new event date to track compliance of personnel. Programs are encouraged to review their risk checklist and the POM Policy Handbook to assess for health and safety practices.
- Assure that personnel and the program are compliant with university policy. For protection of minors, this includes training and background clearance requirements. It also may include contracts, participation agreements, IRB and EHS compliance, and that personnel receive additional training specific to the program.
- Assess for safety and risk before participants arrive. Facilities safety checks, space access, drop-off/pickup procedures, activity transitions, medication management, transportation, in-person and online engagement expectations, training needed for participants if interning in a research lab, social media polices, wellness procedures and injury response, participant conduct expectations, and how to address behavior concerns are all recommended prevention activities.
- Include health and wellness policies. All programs should have a participant physical and mental wellness policy in place. If a participant becomes physically ill, space away from others and a parent contact plan for pickup is necessary in a day program—within a two-hour window in most circumstances. Overnight programs follow the Conference Housing polices. Consider that staff illness might affect supervision ratios and plan accordingly.
- Report any safety concerns, misconduct, accident or injury that occurs during the program’s operations in the Origami Risk incident reporting system.
- Conduct a post-event review. Take a few moments after the event to assess from start to finish what went right and what could be improved.
Annual POM training renewal for 2022-23 will be active on July 1
For additional support and resources, please contact protectionofminors@vanderbilt.edu. Enhanced training, logistics management, templates for health history forms, registration forms and participation agreements are available.