Child Abuse Prevention for Municipal Operations 

Tragically, children suffer abuse while in the care of organizations where they should be protected. This abuse has serious costs. It can scar the victim for life and destroy trust in the organization.

These cases are highly public and have a repetitional cost to the organization that may exist for decades. In addition, financial costs of abuse cases are staggering. The average national payout for jury verdicts in child abuse cases from 2013 – 2018 was $7.24 million. In Montana, a $9 million settlement was recently reached in a school district child abuse case.

Municipalities must work to reduce the risk of child abuse from occurring on our watch. We need to understand how perpetrators operate within organizations to gain access, privacy, and control with children so we can prevent it from happening.

Municipalities need to assess their exposure to risk for child abuse. Areas of concern include, but are not limited to: pools, libraries, parks and recreation programs, law enforcement, and municipal sponsored special events.

Utilize these powerful resources to enhance your prevention efforts.

Because abuse prevention efforts take an ongoing commitment, the Praesidium Assessment Tool is designed to help organizations maintain the highest standards today, and over time. The online self-assessment tool:

• Helps you identify your current prevention practices;
• Allows you to quickly learn the strength of your policies and practices designed to keep those in your care safe from abuse;
• Provides custom action plans identifying next steps;
• Provides cost/benefit analysis tools; and,
• Provides sample resources to address potential abuse prevention gaps.

The Praesidium Academy offers online training for:

• Staff directly involved in providing services to youth;
• Those who supervise others directly involved with youth;
• Those who manage or oversee youth programs.

Participants will learn how offenders operate, how to recognize warning signs, when and how to intervene to interrupt interactions that may foretell of abuse, how to prevent youth-to-youth abuse, mandated reporting requirements, and how to manage high-risk situations in their programs.

Online courses are 25 – 45 minutes in length and include actionable learning objectives, research-validated content, engaging graphics, frequent interactivity, a content mastery quiz, and course completion documentation. In addition to the online courses, learners are supported with a variety of tools including:

• Action Plans;
• Coaching Guides;
• Discussion Guides; and,
• Mini Minders Learning Segments.

To access these resources, complete our online form, and an MMIA representative will contact you with the access information.