Safety
The safety of the children that we serve at Royal Family KIDS Camp Lewiston is of the utmost importance! These children have come from rough backgrounds, and have sometimes not felt safe in their home environment. Many of the kids have suffered abuse and neglect, and some of the children are from the foster care system. Our camp is designed specifically with these children in mind, and all volunteers must go through training that helps them identify inappropriate behaviors and strategies that help them successfully work with abused children.
For The Children has created an extensive Child Protection Plan that all Royal Family KIDS Camps follow. This system is designed to find eligible volunteers to work camp, to protect the children and volunteers, and to limit the impact of abuse.
The Child Protection Plan includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- National criminal background checks.
- Written applications.
- 30-minute interviews with volunteers.
- Initial and annual refresher training for volunteers.
- Sexual abuse prevention training.
- Stringent policies and accountability designed to avoid one-on-one situations.
- Age-appropriate information for the children about safety, personal boundaries, and reporting.
- Training key leaders in screening and interview techniques.
- Educating all volunteers to report inappropriate or questionable behavior.
- Regularly update training of leaders through National and Regional events.
- Regularly updated training materials provided to local volunteers.
- Working closely with Social Services to follow their protective policies and procedures in addition to those listed by FTC.
