It is estimated that, on an annual basis, more than 40,000 minors, age 18 and under, attend a program sponsored by the Institute or conducted on campus. A special duty of care and supervision is required to protect Tech’s youngest learners. To help ensure a safe and healthy environment for all who participate, intern, volunteer, or work in these youth programs, the University System of Georgia (USG) and the Institute are requiring that all minor-focused programs be registered at Georgia Tech’s Youth Programs website www.youthprograms.gatech.edu.
Youth programs are activities designed for minors who are not GT students organized and run by Georgia Tech individuals or units or third-parties utilizing GT facilities. These programs include but are not limited to working with minors in labs, internships, student organization youth events, camps on campus, and mentoring/tutoring in local schools. Campus/lab tours and school field trips to the Georgia Tech campus are generally not considered youth programs.
What do you need to know:
The phrase “program” is used broadly. It is basically defined as any program/activity designed for minors. So many internships or shadow experiences, regardless of the number of participants often can fall within the scope of the policy.
The goal of the requirements outlined in the Youth Programs Policy are twofold: 1. Understand who is interacting with minors as an employee or on-campus; 2. Set minimum expectations for those interactions to pursue promising practices in youth protection.
Youth Program Resources:
This information is pulled from Section 5.1 of the Youth Programs Policy which offers a nice summary of the action items required for program leaders.
Program administrators are required to register their program annually (beginning Jan. 1) and certify both compliance with this policy and that their youth program has considered and met the following criteria in the planning of the program (see http://youthprograms.gatech.edu/ for additional information about the below):
• Pre-screening, background checks, and training of all staff and volunteers who have direct contact with minors
• Appropriate staffing and supervision ratios by age range
• Safety and security planning
• Response protocols for injuries, illness, participant misconduct, and staff misconduct
• Transportation and housing needs
• Participation requirement forms: waiver, pick-up/dismissal authorization forms
How you can get more information:
Reach out to the Youth Programs Compliance Specialist at youthprograms@gatech.edu to learn more! Webinars occur regularly during the academic year, and presentations or consultations are available at any time.