FIRST Youth Protection Program

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by who716

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

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.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Mr V

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.

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.

[Mastonevich]

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.

[Libby K]

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

Everyone on a team, or working with a team, is able to talk about, and listen to, discussions of the Code of Conduct in age-appropriate terms, and is committed to complying with it.

Everyone working with a team understands acceptable boundaries and behaviors, as well as the actions necessary if these are not honored.

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.

[g_sawchuk]

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.

[Zebra_Fact_Man]

Originally Posted by GrifBot

...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.

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?

[Libby K]

Originally Posted by Zebra_Fact_Man

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

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.

[EricDrost]

Originally Posted by Libby K

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.

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.

[g_sawchuk]

Originally Posted by Zebra_Fact_Man

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.

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.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by Zebra_Fact_Man

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?

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.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Zebra_Fact_Man

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?

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.

[treffk]

Originally Posted by Zebra_Fact_Man

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.

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.****

[FrankJ]

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)?

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

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)?

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

[Libby K]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

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)?

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.