**IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Youth Protection and Adult Leadership Policy Impleme

[Merle]

[quote=David Kelly]A social security number is a number that each American receives at birth and uses for identification.


I didn't get mine until I was 5 (born in Pennsylvania). An American does not get it automatically at birth, one must apply... the driving force for it to occur at birth nowadays is that as a parent I can not take a personal deduction on my taxes for my children unless they have an SS number, and it is a form that the hospital hands out a birth. I'll be filling out another one in Jan. when little Grace is born (maybe on kickoff day ???)

Merle
Team Paragon 571

[Gabriel]

Originally Posted by Matt Leese

Perhaps I missed it on my quick read over of the documentation, but I don't believe FIRST put into place any sanctions in place in case a team doesn't abide by these rules. I wonder how many teams will end up simply ignoring them? Or, more likely, teams just won't understand how to implement them and do it incorrectly.
Matt

From the policy:

Audits to Determine Compliance
FIRST shall be conducting audits of a sample of teams on an annual basis to determine compliance with the Leadership Requirements. Accordingly, FIRST asks that teams preserve allrecords indicating compliance (i.e., names and addresses of all adult team members, copies of all applications, evidence of VolunteerSelect background screening and reference checks) for atleast three years following the conclusion of the year in which an adult participated on the team. The failure of a team to comply with the Leadership Requirements may result in FIRST takingappropriate action, including without limitation, disqualification from the program and events and referral to authorities.

I guarentee you that as a team leader I'm going to catch a lot of hell for this. There are going to be lots of mentors who are going to say "I didn't sign up for this!" and they'll be absolutely right. This is just a really bad decision on FIRST's part. I really think that teams should send letters to FIRST refusing to comply unless FIRST discloses exactly what a "red" finding entails and exactly what will get you disqualified as a volunteer. Thats the least FIRST can do to make this policy acceptable.

[Jeff Waegelin]

Originally Posted by M. Krass

Further down, under "Additional Resources," we find, "Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has kindly made its materials on child abuse prevention available to participants in the FIRST program."

I am not clear on the benefits found in working side by side with an organization (The Boy Scouts of America) that actively and openly promotes discrimination against homosexuals as a matter of policy. This is not something to broadcast from the rooftops, but something to be ashamed of, as far as I'm concerned.

The Boy Scouts of America has clearly demonstrated its inability to make informed decisions about the safety of its participants by implementing a discriminatory policy regarding homosexuality. It operates under assumptions garnered from bad- or no-science and thus, if the protections afforded to FIRST participants are based on the system used by the Boy Scouts of America, I have very little faith in the effectiveness this will have in enacting true protection. But again, true protection is a side-effect rather than a motivating factor, it seems.

Furthermore, given the lack of clarity provided regarding exactly what constitutes a "red flag" on a person's background check, I am very suspicious of what policies, procedures and assumptions have been borrowed from the Boy Scouts of America.

I am very interested in seeing FIRST disavow itself of any cooperation or involvement with the Boy Scouts of America in all regards, as well as with any other organizations that actively promote intolerance and baseless discrimination.

Having seen the materials the BSA publishes on child abuse prevention numerous times, I would not be too concerned. It's basically just a set of very generic videos and pamphlets on how to recognize and avoid child abuse situations. While you are entitled to your beliefs about the Boy Scouts of America, not all agree, and I personally do not see a need for FIRST to "disavow itself of any cooperation or involvement." Obviously, they do not believe what you do in what is a controversial issue. I do not think that borrowing a video and pamphlet series, which, to the best of my knowledge, does not even touch on such issues as homosexuality, is of great danger to FIRST.

[Gabriel]

Originally Posted by Jeff Waegelin

Having seen the materials the BSA publishes on child abuse prevention numerous times, I would not be too concerned. It's basically just a set of very generic videos and pamphlets on how to recognize and avoid child abuse situations. While you are entitled to your beliefs about the Boy Scouts of America, not all agree, and I personally do not see a need for FIRST to "disavow itself of any cooperation or involvement." Obviously, they do not believe what you do in what is a controversial issue. I do not think that borrowing a video and pamphlet series, which, to the best of my knowledge, does not even touch on such issues as homosexuality, is of great danger to FIRST.

Well the BSA uses its child abuse policy as a grounds for discrimination so considering how little we know about what FIRST is doing it seems like a legitimate concern to me.

[Jeff Waegelin]

Originally Posted by Gabriel

Well the BSA uses its child abuse policy as a grounds for discrimination so considering how little we know about what FIRST is doing it seems like a legitimate concern to me.

What does it have to do with the BSA's policies? If you've ever seen or read any of the materials in question, they're about as nondescript as you can get. They're designed to be used in a variety of situations by other organizations. FIRST can implement, and will implement, their own policies, not take someone else's just because of a silly video. I really think you're making too much of that one little minute point, when there are a lot more serious issues with FIRST's background check policies.

[Cory]

How on earth can FIRST make "referrals to the proper authorities" if a team doesnt submit background checks? Unless someone is actually molested, and that went unreported, FIRST does not have the authority to report an individual to the police...

Cory