FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Those of you who are not aware of Youth Protection Program (YPP) that FIRST has implemented, please read the guide below. Kudos to FIRST for implementing this. Background check for criminal records and sex offender registery is checked for mentors, not sure if all mentors or just the main and alternate contacts of a team.


http://www.usfirst.org/sites/default...ogramGuide.pdf

FIRST, thank you for implementing this. We will continue to do school required background check for all mentors as well, it seems redundant, but it satisfies the school district requirement.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

At least 2 mentors for each team. FRC-Main and Alternate, FTC/FLLJrFLL Coach and one other. Reccommended ALL mentors/coaches register, like always, in TIMS.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

And most event volunteers for Jr.FLL, FLL, FTC and FRC.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Perhaps I'm missing something, but why is this considered a violation?

When I went through the FIRST program, I knew my head mentor really well. I saw him for 30 hours a week for about 10 weeks for FIRST, and usually had multiple classes with him each year for four years. We got to know each other really well, and he was a massive influence on my life. He was way more than a "robotics" mentor to me. I would consider him a life mentor and a life long friend. Our team encouraged getting to know the mentors better, and openly recommended in doing things with mentors "not related to the FIRST program, educational matters, or career concerns"

Don't get me wrong, I understand where they're coming for, but it would be a big change for my old team.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Welcome to the post "Sandusky" / "Catholic Church priest" world. People we trusted couldn't be trusted. So rather than define your own trust, we have swung the other way to a default of "no trust". I agree its a sad state of affairs, but we all code software for "this could never happen, but ...." and this is a real world case.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

don't want to turn this into political or religious fight....

just that even with YPP, these people (that you have listed) could not be stopped. We as civilized society must remember that bad elements exists and we need to be proactive in protecting our kids. Yes FIRST has taken this major step and sure many schools had some sort of background check done. Also I want to remind myself that I cannot rest with YPP in place, I need to educate our students and make sure that they are not in harm's way.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

It's sad to realize that people might join FIRST in order to get to kids. Two local teachers got in trouble for something like this. One teacher (a 70 year old woman) paid a kid $20 to clean the outside of his house, and the other became facebook friends with a student. It seems to me like common sense that a 70 year old librarian who worked at the school for the past 30 years and is respected and known by the town wouldn't try to harm a 18 year old kid, but common sense isn't that common :D .

True. IMHO, the reason that part was added was to help protect FIRST if something bad were to happen.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Change "woman" to "man" and you've just described Jerry Sandusky. Highly respected, nobody suspected a thing, until they found out he was a serial child molester.

Obviously I'm not trying to say the woman in your story was a likely child molester, but it certainly does happen.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

I'm very curious about the social media policies as well. I totally agree that above all students need to be protected but the wording seems a bit vague. I know Facebook has become an increasingly popular site for FIRSTers to connect on over the past few years for both students and mentors (myself included). Does this only pertain to just the students I directly mentor on my team or does it expand to all students in the FIRST family which I assume it would expand to every student? It looks clear that inside of FIRST related areas its okay as long as things remain appropriate (design feedback, strategy discussions, etc) but what happens if I post something non-FIRST related and that person likes or comments?

Like I said I'm totally on board with bringing in standard policies for engaging with students but I'm just curious how we handle some of these other issues. I think most of us would agree that FIRST mentors interact with students on their team (and others) more than your average student program between competitions, here on CD, and through social media. This area just seems a little loosely worded for me.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Does that mean we need to close the chit-chat forum?

(I'm being serious, btw)

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Honestly, the YPP doesn't affect my team at all - we already have all these policies in place. The basic idea is to try to prevent any situations that could even look funny from the outside.

I can understand how many people might think all of this is maybe a little extreme or draconian, but it's as much for our protection, as mentors, as it is for the students. It's important to avoid giving even the impression of any impropriety. All it takes is one incident, one accusation (even a fallacious one) to create a situation that could severely impact our lives as mentors, and the team for years to come. By following the YPP policies, we work towards preventing even the opportunity for such an event. If we have multiple mentors at each meeting, then we know nothing untoward happened. If we avoid connecting with active students over social media, we don't provide an opportunity for someone to say we're too friendly with a student, or suspect that something more is going on. If we keep all of our e-mails, texts, etc focused on team activities and career growth, they can't be pulled out later as "proof" that we were being to friendly or forward.

Maybe I'm a little over sensitive about the whole thing, but I think that's par for the course when you're a young male working with an all female team. Due to many crappy incidents in the past, society has almost come to the point of instant suspicion in those situations, and you have to spend a lot of time and energy proving you're there for the right reason. All it takes is one "incident" (could be real or imagined) to confirm the suspicions society already has. It's generally better to prevent any scenario where such an "incident" can occur.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

The part in bold especially applies to me. Maybe it's because I've always been an "old soul" but a mentor and I got along quite well. His been a significant influence in my life. We've joked that I'm his right hand (and sometimes his left too). When brought to a competition, his son knows that if he can't find his dad to come find me. I'm friends with his wife and at least passing acquaintances with some of his friends that have come to events/helped out the team.

Incidentally, I'm also vaguely related to his wife, but we didn't discover that until I was no longer a student.

Like magnets, had this been in place while I was a student, I wouldn't have become as good of friends with him as I did, nor would he have had the impact that he has. I understand the intent behind this policy, but the impacts it has saddens me.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

I used to work at a scout camp where we would have to follow YPP for these same reasons and this is the exact reason why. They are in place so that FIRST can say that this information was given out to make the mentors aware to look for these things so that they don't happen. And even if it does, FIRST can say that they did something to help prevent it.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Not sure if it strictly follows the YPP rules, but as it relates to something like the "chit-chat" forum...

(Disclaimer: This is a personal opinion on good practices, not any statement on whether they comply with the new YPP)

In terms of social media, email, forums, etc... just keep it either public or through a group email that several have access to. We commonly send email to our kids, either as a group or to a single student. We always copy our team Gmail account which is a record of the email, and it auto-forwards to 4 mentors (3 male, 1 female). The key here is to minimize strictly 1 on 1 interactions in off hours. In 99.9%+ of cases, it would be perfectly fine. However, in at least a few percent, it might look/sound a little funny, and human nature sometimes leads us to assume the worst.

A few "crazy" scenarios that can be avoided:
Imagine you are dropping a student off after a meeting on a regular basis. A parent in financial trouble decides to fabricate a story and raise a civil lawsuit claiming harassment. Can you defend yourself? Do you have any concrete proof?

A younger student has a crush on an adult mentor and begins talking to them in off hours. The mentor thinks the relationship is platonic/mentorship, but the younger student feels it is a "boyfriend/girlfriend" connection. The student decides to make a move, and it gets noticed by another adult who raises the flag. Now, all text messages between the two are subject to review. The older mentor never intended anything, but how would the text messages look in retrospect? Is there anything said that when looked at in a new context could appear inappropriate?

Or... you are on a team that just thinks "this could never happen to us" and doesn't place much value in the YPP rules. You unfortunately do get into a bad situation where an adult becomes involved with a vulnerable high school student. How much good is required to be done to offset such a bad thing? What does this mean for the future of your program?


Long story short, I think the right answer is somewhere between the written rules and ignoring the topic altogether. If you try to stifle any form of interaction, you lose much of what makes FIRST such a great program. However, don't put yourself into a situation that might be hard to explain. The simplest solution IMHO is to always have a second person involved (preferably in a documented way like email). In most cases, everyone says "I never would have thought that person would do ______". However, I can't think of many (any) cases where a child predator managed to pull something off with a 2nd person in the room.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

I understand completely what you are saying, and I think it is very important to be careful and have common sense when you're dealing with people to avoid bad situations.

It's just my opinion that it's not worth it to live your life in fear of something like this happening. Sure, you should be careful and make smart decisions, but I don't believe we need people making decisions for us about who we should and shouldn't be friends with.


If you start thinking like this, you have to consider everybody you know from the FIRST program as being a potential threat. People who you've known for the past ten years of your life that you care about are a threat. This is a dangerous line of thinking, and it leads to a really sad and boring team, and eventually life. There are people on my team who I trust.

Here's a quick story-
A student on my team who is a big FIRST enthusiast was having a hard time fitting in, both on CD and on the team. A very well respected mentor reached out to him over private messages on Chief Delphi, and helped show him how he needed to behave. After the conversation, the student became a much better team member, and I'm thankful for what that mentor did. If I follow YPP, I am required to report that "incident" to FIRST. I won't, but you get the idea.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

I went ahead and spent a few minutes reading through the YPP, and I don't see what you described as being an issue. I feel like the YPP actually leaves a little grey area for interpretation.

CD is a forum that is certainly used for "team activities and educational purposes". The mentor was not trying to keep anything a secret, just to protect the feelings of the student. The context of the conversation would likely be clearly interpreted by anyone reading it as appropriate.

You would only be required to report this interaction if you believed that abuse occurred, or if you simply had a question... clearly you don't.

Let's tweak the scenario. Same thing happened, but a less well intentioned adult sends a PM with a few choice expletives about a person's behavior on CD. The student feels threatened by it. The YPP simply provides a tool to report such interactions.

Or, a student becomes "friends" with a Chief Delphi adult. Can they exchange PMs... sure. However, a smart mentor might consider forwarding the PM to the listed adult for that team, especially if it is a repeated thing. Also, watch out for "out of bounds requests". A student might say something like "I'd like to meet up with you at competition." This is an innocent request in most cases, but you would be wise to let another adult know (such as their team's lead mentor) that a student on their team would like to say hello at competition. Then the other team's mentor can at least be aware of the situation, and tag along if they have any reason to suspect an issue. This of course assumes you're meeting them at their team's pit, the inspection station, something clearly in public view.

The purpose of this doesn't appear to be to severely change any behaviors, but to take an appropriate amount of precautions to be able to definitively say that "everything is ok"... instead of just assuming it is.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Any adult working with a FIRST team who is aware
of a violation of this Code, or who is in doubt about
whether or not a behavior is appropriate, is required
to immediately consult a team Lead Coach/Mentor (if a
team Lead Coach/Mentor is not the potential violator), or
the hosting school or organization, and if satisfied with
the guidance provided, to act in accordance with it.

and

Engaging in personal exchanges such as phone calls,
e-mail, texting, social networking, etc., with a child
outside the context of team activities, educational
matters, or career concerns.

The content of the messages had nothing to do with education, FIRST, our team, or a career. It was written as a response to a view a student had on something unrelated to robots.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Nothing in this says you have to think of people as threats... just keep your eyes open and follow common-sense guidelines. Two or more mentors at every meeting. Meet in public places. Keep communications as public as possible, and on-topic. You make it habit, and its something you don't think of anymore. The team still has fun and you still get to know the students and other mentors very well (after all, you see them more than your own family!). You're just more aware of how things might look to an impartial third party, and make decisions to make things more open and more public.

As an example, at the MN State Championship last year, myself and another mentor were the last to leave, along with two of our students. We walked them to their cars together (which weren't all that close to each other), and then both took the long hike to a different parking lot in the other direction to get to our cars. It wasn't a question of trust - I have complete and total faith in the mentor I was with, and know both of the students well enough to know nothing bad would happen. Despite that, we maintained the "two mentor" rule. It protects the students, and it protects us. Doing it with people you completely trust also makes it easier/more natural to do it with people you don't know as well or have a weird feeling about.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

As you said, the mentor used the PM to show the student how they should behave. I, personally, would classify that both career concerns (you need to know how to behave appropriately) and as a team concern, as the student is a representative of the team.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

For Team Main Contacts (and I'm assuming Alternate Contacts), when you log into TIMS, you are forced to watch the video before it will continue to the next page. Just a heads up.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

So I'm going through the process, and was not pleased by Pages 3 and 4 of the Privacy Policy (PDF) on the Verified Volunteers website.

I will most certainly be sending an opt-out e-mail and I recommend every else do the same. Pretty shady to involuntarily be opted-in to selling your information to advertizing companies and debt collection agencies.

Okay FIRST, can we now get a Mentor Protection Program that protects us from having our personal information sold by your volunteer verification company?

Also, it doesn't work in FireFox. Chrome seems ok.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

From page 4.

If I'm reading that correctly, by default people's information is being forwarded to third party marketers.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

That's how I read it, and I don't like it.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

I mean you guys are reading into this like your information isn't public already. Cell phone companies sell your info to 3rd parties all the time and pretty much everyone here has some form of social media. The real test will be to see if the opt out actually works. Meaning that FIRST is actually protecting your information rather then just covering themselves legally. Which at the end of the day is all the YPP and this other stuff is.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Sorry but, no. Even if other people are selling my information I don't have to like it or allow everyone else to do it.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

No, we're reading into it like it's our information and it should be private by default.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

There is no common sense when it comes to law and lawyers.Indeed. Protect yourself from false claims, protect your kids from real claims. Try really hard to avoid situations where it is one's word against the other's.

That being said, also read whatever it is you write and imagine how it could be re-interpreted in court. leave no room for later re-interpretation where possible.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Since the team I was working with back in 2012 did not have a teacher sponsor, I became the main team contact. The following year, the team did not compete (due to lack of teacher sponsor). I have since moved on to another team. This year, the original team has found a sponsor and wishes to compete. They sent me an email and asked me to invite the new sponsor as the main team contact. I figured it would be as simple as quickly logging into TIMS and making the invite. I was forced to watch a video that I didn't have time for, then allowed into TIMS. I was then forced down a long and winding path that eventually led me another website where I was asked for much personal information. When they asked for my social security number, I drew the line. This is becoming far too intrusive. I am already in violation of this new policy since I have contact with many current and former students through social media (including this website).

I resent being treated as a criminal or a child molester just because I volunteer my time to help these kids. I sent an email to FIRST and asked them to change the main team contact. I hope that works. I will have to think long and hard about whether I will become involved with FIRST this year if this is required. After the fiasco that was last years' game, I was already wondering if FIRST is heading in a direction that I don't want to follow. This new policy seems to reinforce that worry.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

For those complaining about the new Youth Protection Guidelines please ask yourselves the following:

How many students being molested by an Adult is too many? Do you really think that this has never happened in FIRST? Is it really not worth your time to further guarantee the safety of the youth involved?

Yes, the video is long and asking for your SSN in intrusive but the SSN is what is used to do a limited criminal history check. This has been done in other youth organizations for some time (Boy Scouts for example). Ask BSA how much it cost them when they did NOT have a solid youth protection program implemented.

For those concerned with the selling of data the opt out process is simple.

On an unrelated note....Last years game was GREAT (The best in the last three seasons)....It forced teams to work together

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Do realize that if you were being treated as a child molester you would not be allowed any contact with the kids or associated with First.

The primary & alternate contact is required to have a background check. Hence all the questions. Since you are dropping that position you don't need that & an email or phone call should work. Sort of a special case. Whomever takes up that mantle will go through the background check though.

Unfortunately the predators go where the youth are. So youth programs all need some sort of YPP. The First video is minimal. I have a three hour session this weekend for being associated with my church's youth group. I have to do two 1 hour different sessions every two years for scouting.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

"It's not me! I think it's the other guy!" or "It's not me! Oh! it's the other guy!"

Well, since this happens every time there is a bad situation, I would rather have that "other guy" checked out well before something bad happens! If I want the other guy checked out, what are the chances that the "other guy" must be thinking same about me? So why not check out everyone and make sure that the kids that we take responsibility to inspire and be a role model, are safe? I cannot suspect everyone, and also cannot trust everyone! End of the day I just don't want any kid to go through any kind of abuse.

About information sharing, yes, my personal information is all around the world, unfortunately! But I am not willing to give a blanket permission for everyone to share (not sure how to stop them sharing though). But I considered FIRST as our FIRST, and I expect them to not share personal info except for the third party background checking. I think that's what FIRST intended (I don't see any reason why FIRST will sell it to telemarketers or scammers), wording is probably coming from lawyer. Also I hope that FIRST ensures the third party is not going to misuse our information.

About team members signing up, did anyone notice that main or alt contact must invite the parents and they would in turn do some magic to allow students to sign up, or was it just me that got tired of reading that stuff?

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Yes one of the contacts has to invite kids & parents. Parent must register & consent before the kid can register. Every year. Not new. It has to do with the waiver not so much the YP.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

One is too many
I doubt many here believe that this has never happened in FIRST.
Nothing in the YPP guarantees the safety of the youths involved. The YPP protects FIRST from some lawsuits, nothing more.
SSNs are, by law, not to be used as a national ID. They are to be used only for tax and employment reasons.

And as far as selling of my personal information goes ... it is my information to give. I should inform someone when they can use it (opt in), not have to tell someone when they cannot use it (opt out).

I've had many background checks in my time. Never have I had one where I've had to opt out of allowing them to use it for solicitation. FIRST has, while trying to protect itself, sold out it's greatest resource ... the mentors.

JM(NS)HO

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Really? The training discusses safety for both the student AND the mentor. I suggest watching the video once again. YP training ALSO protects FIRST from some lawsuits and also provides you a small amount of protection as well. More importantly following the suggested guidelines will protect students and prevent you from being falsely accused of inappropriate behaviors. In addition, the youth protection programs makes it harder for known offenders to gain access to the youth.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

I'm going to join the cynic choir here:

The FIRST YPP is a largely redundant program designed to protect FIRST from lawsuits, as others have said. Most of the organizations that sponsor teams (schools, 4H, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc) have these programs and safety mechanisms already in place. YPP covers FIRST for things that may (but hopefully never will) happen at events and establishes those same guidelines for teams that don't have sponsoring organizations that already implement those practices.

I do agree the opt-out mechanism is really out of line. When I've needed a background check for employment or other legitimate reasons, every form I've signed includes some language like "the information you provide here will only be used to verify your background for the purposes of the offer of employment." I didn't have to check a box to tell them to not use it for other purposes. And until I had to fill out the W-4 and I-9, I didn't hand over my social security number either.

Practically speaking, YPP can't be doing nearly as thorough a job as the individual sponsoring organizations can do. If I had to guess, it's a cursory criminal and arrest record check. Organizations I have dealt with in the past both as an employee and volunteer had me verify addresses going back to my 18th birthday, and called up every job and educational institution I had attended to make sure I had actually been there. That's the value in the background check: Verify the person's story, and if it doesn't align ask more questions. The cost to do that at a FIRST-wide level would be huge.

So FIRST, please cover yourself legally. But don't pitch it to us like there's any benefit in it for mentors and volunteers.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

discussing safety and guaranteeing safety are two very different things.

Do I believe that a background check is a good idea? Yes, I do, and I'd be concerned if a team did NOT ask for one.
Do I think that the YPP training is a good idea? again yes, it provides a good starting point and informs novice mentors about things that they need to think about (and hopefully never have to deal with).
Does it guarantee a students safety? no, no canned program will.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

One thing that everyone needs to know is that you do not have to give your SSN. That is one thing that they covered in everyone of the sessions on the YPP at the Global Community Conference this year.

Also the secondary contact does not have to be someone who is present at all the meetings. In the case of teams that have a sole coach they suggested that the secondary contact could be someone like a vice principal if you are at a school.

Yes one of the reasons for the YPP is to protect FIRST but following the guidelines can protect us as mentors too. If you are one on one with a student it will be your word against his or hers if the student or their parents were to make unfounded accusations. It is also nice to know that your fellow mentors have also had their background checked.

YPP is long overdue so I welcome it despite the inconveniences it causes. I'd rather thousands of us be inconvenienced than one bad person slipping through and something happening. Will it prevent something from happening? No but it will minimize the possibility that something does.

One of the interesting things they shared at the Global Community Conference is that about 40% of the people who had signed up at that point were willing to pay the $2.50 themselves instead of letting FIRST do so.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

I will add to the chorus that the simple fact that FIRST has established a YPP program and requires mentors/volunteers to be screened does indeed have a small deterrent effect. Does screening make the risk = 0 not at all. Does it help, YES. Does the YPP program include more than screening = yes and more benefit comes from having all mentors and volunteers raising their awareness level.

Here is just one website which supports what FIRST is doing and my claims of just the fact of having a YPP is an overt act of importance.
http://www.mentoring.org/program_res...kground_checks

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

SSN are not even unique. So it's entirely possible that the check comes up wrong anyway.

I've gone through many background checks and I also second that there's never been a case where I have to tell them that they can't sell my information to people.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

If this applies to all mentors, then it will be extremely difficult for former students to come back and mentor their teams until all their friends have graduated.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Not necessarily, per the document linked in the original post:

also

Unless I missed something (I just quickly skimmed through most of the document), I don't see anything required that would forbid/restrict that.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

does anyone thing this will make some mentors walk and frankly step away from FIRST.. I know at-least one Mentor is

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

To a minimal degree, yes it will. Our team lost a lot of seniors this year. The ones that stayed in town for college definetly want to come back and mentor. As I am a senior now, i am very close friends with them. With YPP, i don't know what they'll do, but it's none of my business. If you ask me, it's just more proof that lawyers run the world, waiting to sue someone at every moment. Will alot of mentors leave FIRST?- probably not. I give them respect for keeping kids safe, but i just hope it doesn't get out of control. We'll see as time goes on.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Many teams already have something in place similar to YPP - I know the school ran a full background check on me and had required youth protection training I had to go through to become a mentor. When it comes to the mentors with my team (9 of us currently), YPP doesn't make a difference at all.

Will we lose mentors and volunteers? Yes. When you ask a large group of people for background checks, some will inevitably opt out, for a wide variety of reasons. They may feel the background check is too invasive. They may have something in their past they think would disqualify them. They may just be too lazy to fill out the paperwork. It may seem to them like doing it is a big hassle for everyone, and go back and re-evaluate their ability to commit their time.

I don't think we'll lose all that many, to be honest. Most mentors I've meet with teams are fully involved and really dedicated. They may grumble and groan, but they'll fill out the paperwork and then get caught back up in the build season and forget all about it. Where this probably comes more into play is with recruiting new members. Telling someone up front that there's a background check involved can be a deterrent, and one that people may find harder to overcome if they haven't already "drunk the cool-aid" by being involved for a season.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

The YPP is like going to the doctor to get your shots as a kid. It's going to sting a little and you'll go in kicking and screaming, but if you want to play with the other kids (larger, wider reaching organizations) and be healthy, you need to sit through it.

If anything going through the process as an alternate contact made me wonder a)why this hasn't been done sooner and b) why some people seem unaccustomed to these practices working in a school-based environment (which a lot of mentors do).

The idea of having to opt-out of my personal information is silly, but it is what it is. It's not something worthy of pontificating over when there are so many worthwhile topics directly, instead of tangentially, related to FIRST the community can easily beat to death. :rolleyes:

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Well I know some will think it is harsh but I have to saw what is that person hiding if they aren't willing to have their name run through the data base to check if they are a felon or a sex offender.

The reality is that only the main and secondary contact have to complete the YPP process. If the school or organization has their own vetting process the team is free to continue to use that.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Nothing, I am hiding nothing. Yet I refuse to consent to a check run by a company that thinks it is acceptable to sell my information by default. I value my privacy. If that makes you suspicious of me fine. But it's a sad world we live in where not wanting to be a product is considered worthy of suspicion.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

When an organization attempts to protect children and somehow combines it with privacy issues, it should be very concerning to us all.

If one chooses to mentor, they should expect the organization they mentor for to know a lot about them, but that should be as far as it goes. When they by default sell your information outside of that organization it is crossing the line way to far. It is respectable for people to leave under this premise.

The YPP is needed and I am glad they created it. While there may be a few minor negative outcomes like mentors leaving (unrelated to privacy issues), it seems like a fair trade if it protects even one child.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

I don't like this opt-out personal information thing, at ALL, but here's what I do love.

In my time as both a student captain and a mentor on teams, I've had to be involved with the horrible, awkward, intra-team discussions when someone crosses a line. It's important that the entirety of your team understands what is and is not appropriate behavior and knows what to do when it happens. Not all teams have a plan in place, and I think that's what some of this YPP documentation can help with.

Being able to openly talk about where the lines of appropriate vs inappropriate behavior are, both within your team as well as with those outside of the team at events or in any public venue, is a big step. It might be awkward at first, but that's a discussion that needs to be had. I'm glad FIRST is noting this as a priority.

Think about the thread a few months ago on mascot behavior. It's up to each team to encourage a safe, appropriate, and open culture - and it's on us to report when lines are crossed. Not every student will automatically know that another student or adult making them uncomfortable is cause to come forward. Having the lines of communication open through the YPP Code of Conduct discussions will help those who may not have known how to react finally be able to take action.

IMO, that's a very good thing.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Firstly, thank you to FIRST for applying this rule. Although the chance of having a mentor as an offender tends to be rather unlikely, the rule will indeed be beneficial when an offender wants to mentor a team for the wrong reasons. However, I personally feel like all mentors should have to undergo a criminal record check. For one thing, just making the lead mentors get a criminal record check is unfair. Plus, when anyone volunteers somewhere with kids they have to get a criminal record check. Why shouldn't everyone mentoring FIRST teams have to get a check as well? Any offender as a mentor (lead or not) could pose a threat to the youth on the team, and it is best to be safe instead of sorry.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Well, as was the case with the team I mentored, quite often you will have a series of parents who volunteer/donate their time for a single afternoon or only a couple of days out of the whole season (transportation, food, welding, etc). Should these 1-to-3 day people also be required to go through a background check before they can help?
If yes, you're going to make it substantially difficult for some teams to operate. A lot of good intentioned people I know aren't going to go through the trouble for a handful of afternoons.

In other news, how long do you think before HQ addresses (and corrects) the SSN/personal info sharing issue?

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

The answer to this is absolutely connected to how many people wrote to FIRST YPD, to share their (constructive) thoughts, as opposed to just voicing them on Chief.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

But isn't "FIRST reads Chief Delphi" canon now in The Age of Frank? /s

In all seriousness, my experiences in voicing concerns to FIRST have been extremely positive. Anybody with a legitimate concern that uses Chief Delphi as their primary means to vocalize it should try contacting FIRST directly.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

I understand what you mean in the way that the whole process could get complicated, and obviously that means that there would need to be set limits of need for a criminal record check. However, I feel for parents that as long as the parent is transporting multiple kids, or volunteering their time with multiple kids then it should be quite safe. However, any season long mentors who will consistently be with the team should have a criminal record check done at the beginning of the season.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

We have a distinction between mentors and parents. There are some parents who sign up as mentors and go through the school's process (which includes a full background check). Those individuals work with students and show up to meetings just like other mentors.

Parents who do not sign up as mentors, on the other hand, avoid the background checks. They do not come to meetings and work with kids like the mentors do. They do come to provide lunch on Saturday's, and we'll sometimes get a group of them for a small dedicated project (building field elements, building tables or rolling cabinets for the pit, etc)... but those projects are separate from the team functioning, and generally do not include student involvement. If students are involved, it's either with their own parent involved, or with a mentor directly involved as well.

I don't know of any youth organization that requires parents to have background checks if the parent is simply involved as a parent. If a parent is involved as a coach, then yes, they often are required.

The key with this sort of distinction is that the team is structured so that an appropriate mentor, one that has gone through the background check and training, is present to supervise anyone that has not gone through those steps. And at least for us, there are often times/meetings where the primary and secondary contacts for the team are not present. We need to have others there that have gone through the same training and are trusted at the same level by the school and parents, and having a background check helps develop that trust for a new mentor.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Only the main and alternate contacts are required to go through the FIRST back ground check by Verified Volunteers. It is up to the team whether they want FIRST to run the check on other mentors or to use something else that meets the minimum requirements. Every school district around here requires parents that are going to volunteer at school or in a school related activity to go through their back ground check. Those are often more strict with many around here requiring finger printing as part of the process.

Giving your SSN Is absolutely not required for the background check, the "no SSN provided" box is pretty clear right below the field to fill in with a SSN.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Pulling this quote directly from the YPP Program Guide, page 19 states "Alternative (non-FIRST) training may be accepted in lieu of FIRST training at the discretion of the team's Lead Coaches/Mentors if it is a comparable to or more rigorous than, the FIRST training. Adults who have not completed youth protection training may only work with the teams under the close direction of a Lead Coach/Mentor, or his or her designee." Emphasis is mine.

****For those who have not sat down and read the program guide I highly recommend it. Pay close attention to the forms at the end of the guide. I really like the "Notification of Parents/Guardians FIRST Guidelines for Parents" and the "Parent/Guardian Consent - Team Travel" form. Even if you do not take anything else away from the guide these forms can be useful to every team.****

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Aside from the primary/secondary contact, there does not seem to be a path for background checks through First. Mere mentors are required to watch the video & fully fill out the profile. So how is your team doing background checks. Who is judging what details in the background check are an issue (IE what details disqualify a mentor)?

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Ours is driven by school policy - all of our mentors have had required background checks every few years since the team was started. Honestly, I've never asked what would disqualify someone from mentoring.

*Edit after reading Libby's post... In this case I'm referring to disqualification from the background check, not stemming from interactions with the team. I think interactions leading to being asked to leave is a little more clear :)

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Our school background checks & fingerprints all registered mentors.

Our team parents are their own organization (like a Booster club), and since we draw the mentor/parent line very firmly, they do not require a background check.

Non-mentor parents are also only in contact with students when a registered mentor is present. All of our team parents, siblings, etc are of course welcome to visit the build site, come to our competitions - but parent volunteers that help supervise our students in any way are always overseen by a registered mentor.

Short version: We build in a site off school property (storefront in town), and a parent volunteer staffs the front desk, signing students in and out. At least two registered mentors must also be in the building. We never leave any area of our build site unattended (without an adult present).

We do not allow a mentor one-on-one time with any size group of students, almost ever if we can help it, but certainly not until after they have passed their background check. If for some reason the school deems that they fail the check, then they're not invited to be a part of the team. (This, thankfully, has not happened for us.)

Post-background-check disqualifying a mentor from working with our team would result from violation of the team's behavior rules from our handbook, or inappropriate conduct with a student. This could happen at any point during the mentor's time on the team- if we determine they have broken any one of the more serious behavior rules/guidelines - bye bye.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

I don't have time for all of this. I need to re-think my participation. We always use 2 rooms for our meetings. A computer lab for the programmers and the shop for the robots. The rooms are adjacent but not what I would call "In Sight" . We also practice out in the hallway. I need 4-5 adults to do this. I would have to manage the adults and also double the parent participation rate to achieve that. If I don't, I now have a risk of being accused of putting the kids at risk.

The Boy Scout YPP is better than this. FIRST YPP doesn't teach about "Grooming". FIRST YPP leaves out anyone whose parents both work evenings. That means the disadvantaged and minorities. We have a student whose mom can't drive because she is disabled, and no-one is allowed to give him a ride home. Were also going to loose our lead programmer. The only way to (maybe) be compliant is for two adults to run the kids home and then come back to school to drop the extra adult off to their car.

FIRST says that anyone over 18 is an adult. Most school districts treat any student as a protected youth. The conflicts that this raises make my head spin.

Sorry, I have not read this whole thread. Sorry if I repeated anything. Sorry for venting. I'm in a pretty sorry state.

Brian

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Having taught the Boy Scout YPP a number of years... I am not sure it is better. Maybe a little different & more mature. It too has a no one on one rule. Which means no closed rooms or taking a youth home solo.

The head coach/mentor defines how to implement the First YP program & how it integrates into programs already in place such as a school's.

Aside from the human cost, failures in this area will be very expensive. As the boyscout, Penn State, & the catholic church can attest to.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Do the two contacts have to be the "Main" and "Alternate"? For instance, our team has a school official listed as our Alternate contact, mostly for financial/sponsorship reasons, but as she doesn't really interact with the team, it seems odd that she should have to be the second person screened...

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

From what I see it just says the lead mentors/mentors who interact with the members the most. Unless you only have one mentor, I think it would be the mentor who interacts the most plus the mentor who interacts the second most. If the school official is not interacting with the members much, it seems like she would not require a check. It would be surprising if she was required to have one if she is one of the least involved (member interaction wise). However, she most likely has a non-FIRST screening done anyways if she is a school official, as I assume any adult working at a school would require a check. As FIRST said:

"Alternative (non-FIRST) screening may be accepted in lieu
of FIRST screening at the discretion of the team’s Lead
Coaches/Mentors."

Therefore, she could submit the one that she had to complete to work for the school, making it quite easy and simple.
Hope this clarifies things, and let me know if I got anything wrong.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Currently the screening is only available to her and our lead mentor. Are there instructions somewhere that I am missing as to how to open the screening to a mentor who is not Main or Alternate?

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Right now the TIMs automatically does the screening process for the primary/alternate contacts. If you where a event volunteer last year (registered in VIMs), you might already have been screened.

The process to screen other mentors is still in the works. From the 8/21 email blast:

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

We technically don't want to screen additional mentors, we just want to use a non-Main, non-Alternate mentor as our "Second screened mentor".
I'm guessing that the answer is the same though; that functionality is not yet implemented.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

The Main Contact would have to remove the Alternate Contact or the Alternate contact would have to remove his/herself. Then the main contact would be able to invite a replacement for the alternate contact. This has been present in TIMS for as long as I can remember.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

If I understand correctly, they want to keep the school administrator as the alternate contact, but have their 2nd official screening on another mentor rather than the administrator.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Right - but as it exists now, the YPP screening works with the official contacts in TIMS. So either they have to screen the administrator, or change their alternate contact. My guess is, they'd have to write to HQ for a more official answer or solution.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

I kinda skipped over that because I assumed they went through the FAQ.

I mean, FIRST allows this to happen within the bounds of its program. The school official only needs to take somewhere between 5-10 minutes to complete the necessary requirements.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Right, we wouldn't have done it if FIRST didn't allow it, it is just odd that the screening HAS to be those two people. It just makes more sense for an actual mentor who will be with the team frequently to be screened than it does an administrator.

On top of that, I know that I can do the screening tonight (for instance) whereas I have no idea when the administrator will be able to get it done.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

It's likely because they couldn't add the feature or didn't find it worthwhile enough to fix for this year, but I'm talking out of thin air now.

At least you caught it now, a month before registration. I think if you met with the official to talk it through it wouldn't be a problem, but i dunno.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Has there been any update on the opt out process? It seems totally wrong to have to opt out of having your information sold to third parties. Has first changed anything? Im curious, and after having conversations on the YPP recently, i thought id bring this up again.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

On October 17th we received an email from FIRST's YPP Screening account that said:

We followed the above indicated steps on October 29th, and followed up again on November 7th, but have yet to receive any communication from FIRST. Have any other teams had success with the Non-Lead Coach/Mentor Screening process? I'm sure they're very busy with screenings, but I always get nervous when this much time passes without a confirmation email.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Just wanted to note, I went to register in VIMS and sign up/apply for events today. It had me update my account before I can do anything, including my name (first, middle, and last). There is a check box for something along the lines of "no legal middle name" that seems to be checked by default. However when unchecked, the middle name text field is still not editable, So I was forced to register without my full legal name (which it specifically asks for).


tl;dr may or may not pass VIMS YPP screening because of a checkbox.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Your instinct was to post here first or to email HQ about it first? :P

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

I didn't have any issue with it... Maybe something browser related?

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

For issues like this try:
volunteersystems at usfirst.org

Resource page is here: http://www.usfirst.org/community/vol...ator-resources including Returning User Guides.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

Same here.

Re: FIRST Youth Protection Program
 

In case anyone has had the same difficulties as we did, try resending your email to the yppscreening@usfirst.org. It looks like they lost some emails. I got in touch with them today and they got our screening process started immediately.