Sierra Service Project

Safety Policies

  1. Non-Harassment Policy
  1. Abuse Prevention Policy

Non-Harassment Policy

Adopted June 10, 2004

Revised March 28, 2013

Sierra Service Project is a spiritual community and we do not anticipate having employees, adult counselors, directors or participants who would harass, discriminate, or abuse others. Nonetheless, Sierra Service Project is committed to providing a safe working environment for its employees and all persons involved in its activities. This includes an environment that is free of sexual harassment or any unlawful conduct. Accordingly, Sierra Service Project prohibits sexual, racial & other harassment based on protected status and will not tolerate harassment of any of its employees, participantsor counselors by any employee, supervisor, director, vendor, counselor or participant.

Conduct prohibited by this policy includes unwelcome conduct, whether verbal, physical or visual that is based on the individual’s protected status such as race, color, sex, ancestry, religion, national origin, age disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation or other protected group as defined by law. Sierra Service Project will not tolerate any harassment, including harassment that affects benefits, affects anyone’s ability to work or volunteer effectively or creates an intimidating offensive or hostile environment. This policy forbids unwelcome sexual advances, and requests for sexual favors, including but not limited to when (1) submission to such conduct becomes an implicit or explicit term or condition, (2) submission to or rejection of the conduct is used as a basis for any decision, or (3) the conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s SSP experience.

Forbidden Behavior

While it is impossible to list all types of behavior thatmay violate this policy, some examples of behavior specifically forbidden by this policy are:

  • Sexually oriented verbal kidding, teasing or joking.
  • Repeated unwelcome sexual flirtations or advances.
  • Graphic or degrading sexually oriented comments about a person’s appearance or sexual activity.
  • Visual conduct including leering, making sexual gestures or the display of sexually offensive objects or posters.
  • Offensive physical contact such as grabbing, patting or pinching.
  • Suggestive or obscene letters, notes or invitations.
  • Bullying
  • Cyber-bullying or other forms of online harassment, even when occurring after return from Sierra Service Project.

Reporting Procedures

If you feel someone in our organization has violated this policy at any time, please notify Rick Eaton, the Executive Director, immediately either verbally at 916-488-6441 or in writing at Sierra Service Project, PO Box 992, Carmichael, CA 95609. If you are concerned about giving written notice to the Executive Director, you may provide such written notice to the Director of the SSP Board of Directors at the address below.

Kathryn Sanders Platnick(h) 310.377.7856

15 Horseshoe Lane(w) 213.430.6376

Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274(c) 213.479.6950

Abuse Prevention Policy

Adopted April 29, 2006 / Revised March 28, 2013

Our Commitment

Sierra Service Project is committed to creating and maintaining safe environments for young people and the adults and staff who work with them. This responsibility includes maintaining an environment in which youth are protected from emotional, physical and sexual exploitation, bullying and harassment of any kind.

Over the years, Sierra Service Project has developed a set of policies and practices aimed at creating this environment and reducing the risk to participants and staff. This policy document is a summation of those policies and practices.

Staff Selection and Training

SSP summer staff members are selected on the basis of their maturity, ability to handle a large amount of responsibility and ability to function as a leader to teenagers who may be only a few years younger than they are. To serve as a staff member, individuals must:

  1. Be at least one year out of high school.
  2. Have two references respond to an informational questionnaire.
  3. Undergo a criminal background check. Individuals convicted of violent crimes, sexual crimes, serious drug offenses or crimes involving children will not be hired.
  4. Provide a current copy of their driving record.
  5. Be certified in CPR and First Aid.

In assigning staff to site teams, we will insure that every team contains both male and female staff members.

During staff training, all employees will undergo the following training:

  1. Review of emergency procedures.
  2. Child abuse reporting requirements.
  3. SSP’s Non-Harassment Policy.
  4. SSP’s guidelines on appropriate physical contact as outlined within this policy.

Counselor Screening and Orientation

It is the responsibility of participating churches to select mature, committed and responsible adults to accompany their youth and participate in SSP. Sierra Service Project will enforce the following policies with regard to church counselors:

  1. All counselors must be at least 23 years old unless they have been specifically approved by SSP’s Director. In approving exceptions to this policy, SSP will make sure that the counselor is actively involved in the local church’s youth ministry program and is a mature adult.
  2. All counselors must submit to a criminal background check, to be done either by SSP, the local church or the counselor’s employer. To be valid, background checks must be done at least every two years. Individuals convicted of violent crimes, sexual crimes, serious drug offenses and crimes involving children will not be allowed to participate as counselors.
  3. All counselors will be strongly encouraged to attend an SSP Counselor Orientation Session where counselor expectations are carefully reviewed.
  4. At the beginning of each week at SSP, counselors will be trained on their child abuse reporting obligations, SSP’s Non-Harassment Policy and Abuse Prevention Policy (this document).

Youth Behavior

Sierra Service Project understands that maintaining a safe and harassment-free environment entails enforcing standards of behavior for teenage participants as well as staff and adults. When behavior on the part of youth takes place which is detrimental to creating a safe environment, SSP staff has the option of immediately terminating a youth’s participation in our program. Guidance on when to terminate a youth’s participation is contained in the Site Director Manual.

Non-Harassment Policy

The SSP Board of Directors has adopted a Non-Harassment Policy which is included in this Safety Policies document.

Safety Measures at Our Project Sites

The Open Space Rule

At Sierra Service Project we want to eliminate situations where abuse is possible and situations which make an allegation of abuse possible. The Open Space Rule involves the following:

  1. All gatherings of small groups of individuals will take place in open areas which are clearly visible to people not involved in the activity.
  2. Private conversations involving one adult and one youth will alwaystake place in an open area clearly visible to other people.
  3. A single adult (staff or counselor) will not transport a single youth unless there is another youth or adult present.

Sleeping Arrangements

Youth and adult counselors are required to sleep in separate sleeping areas, one for males and one for females.

Showers

Arrangements are made at each site so that youth and adults do not share group showers.

Guidelines for Appropriate Physical Contact

Appropriate and loving physical contact is very important to the healthy development of young people and is a powerful way to affirm youth. Teens are very often starved of this kind of contact. Therefore, this is encouraged at SSP. Examples of appropriate physical contact between adults and young people are:

  1. Shaking hands.
  2. High-fives.
  3. Sideways shoulder hugs.
  4. Touching the back, arms, hands and elbows.
  5. Hugging that is loose – touching shoulders, not chests and hips.

The following kinds of contact between adults and children are inappropriate, can be offensive and can easily lead to misunderstandings. These kinds of behaviors are not acceptable:

  1. Touching on the chest, legs or buttocks.
  2. “Butt slapping”.
  3. Lap sitting.
  4. Kissing.
  5. Any physical contact that an individual has expressed any level of discomfort with.
  6. Patting on the head.

These rules regarding touch apply regardless of the genders involved.

Reporting Process

Staff members and counselors are legally mandated reporters of child abuse allegations. Staff members, counselors and youth should report any incidents of harassment or abuse or suspicion of harassment or abuse to the local Site Director. If for some reason, the reporting individual is not comfortable bringing this to the Site Director, he or she should immediately contact either the Sierra Service Project Director or Associate Director or the President of SSP’s Board of Directors.

Executive Director:Rick Eaton(916) 718-5063

President:Kathryn Sanders Platnick (213) 479-6950

Last Revision Date: 27 March 2013