IRVING, TX, Nov. 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CHILD USA and Scouting America are proud to announce their partnership to advance child protection by implementing CHILD USA’s Gold Standard Diagnostic Tool and Assessment. This groundbreaking, evidence-derived tool is designed to foster a culture of safety in youth-serving organizations by guiding systemic change across eight critical policy domains. It also educates members of the organization on the policies needed to protect children from CSA effectively.

Scouting America’s adoption of this tool underscores their ongoing commitment to child safety, ensuring their policies and practices meet the highest standards for preventing child sexual abuse.

“This partnership marks a pivotal moment in the fight to protect children in youth organizations from child sex abuse, which is a scourge across the United States and the world,” said Marci Hamilton, CEO and Founder of CHILD USA. “CHILD USA’s social scientists have spent years developing and refining the Gold Standard tool, which makes the assessment of CSA prevention programs more efficient and straightforward. By adopting our Gold Standard, Scouting America continues to take proactive steps to ensure the safety and well-being of every child in their programs.”

The Gold Standard Diagnostic Tool assesses and enhances organizational policies, focusing on critical areas like mandatory reporting, screening and hiring practices, abuse prevention training, and response procedures. It provides a roadmap for youth-serving organizations to implement meaningful changes that prioritize children’s safety. It’s all about meaningful systemic change.

According to Glen Pounder, Chief Safeguarding Officer at Scouting America, “As an organization, Scouting America is dedicated to becoming a leader in safeguarding youth, inside and outside of Scouting. We are impressed with CHILD USA’s Gold Standard not only because of its efficiency, but also what we have been able to learn from it. We would recommend this for any youth-serving organization dedicated to effective and comprehensive child sex abuse prevention.”

With this partnership, CHILD USA and Scouting America are setting a new precedent for how organizations can work together to protect children and prevent abuse.

Gordon Shattles
Scouting America
972-580-2119
gordon.shattles@scouting.org