Besides public and private schools, several other organizations and agencies owe a reasonable duty of care and supervision to the children and youth in their custody and care. These agencies may not be state-registered or licensed but must still comply with reasonable and commonly accepted child supervision and safety standards and relevant state, federal, and local laws. Such steps safeguard the health and well-being of the children and can protect these organizations from costly litigation issues.
School Liability Expert Group works with defendant and plaintiff attorneys, parents, schools, and other child—and youth-oriented organizations, providing expert witness services and consultation in agency negligence and liability cases. Hundreds of law firms have enlisted our expert witnesses to review and analyze cases, provide deposition and trial testimonies, and issue comprehensive expert reports.
Parents come to us when seeking the best educational placements for their children or to work with their attorneys on negligence claims against an agency that has a duty to keep their children safe from harm. We help schools and other child and youth agencies assess their quality and safety standards and practices, identifying gaps and weaknesses that could compromise student safety and expose the agency to litigation.
OTHER AGENCIES WITH DUTY OF CARE
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
Scouting programs, such as those offered by the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA, play a vital role as child and youth community organizations, promoting valuable skills and leadership development. These national councils have established strict policies and guidelines designed to safeguard scouts from harm. However, despite these efforts, breaches in the standard of care can and do occur, often in an attempt to protect the organization’s reputation, resulting in incidents of child abuse.
In litigation cases involving such failures, our expert witnesses bring extensive knowledge and experience to assist parents, schools, and attorneys in handling complex cases related to scouting organizations. These experts can evaluate whether the necessary protections were implemented and adhered to, including background checks, leader training, mandatory abuse reporting, and youth supervision protocols.
To avoid liability claims, scouting programs and other child and youth-oriented organizations must rigorously enforce their guidelines at all levels of management. This includes ensuring scout leaders and volunteers undergo proper training on youth protection, maintaining strict supervision protocols such as prohibiting one-on-one adult-youth contact and implementing comprehensive emergency management procedures.
Additionally, organizations that sponsor scouting programs, like religious organizations and churches, have a legal duty to provide safe venues and ensure that all activities are age-appropriate and conducted with proper oversight. Expert witnesses can help assess whether these obligations were met in cases involving scouting-related harm or negligence.
YMCA
In YMCA centers where large numbers of youth engage in a wide variety of activities, liability issues like personal injuries, bullying, and sexual abuse are established and commonly recognized potential risks. Our experts can evaluate these other child and youth-oriented organizations’ practices to ensure they align with established standards of care and best practices for the protection of children and the YMCA’s child protection code of conduct. Recommended measures include comprehensive policies and regular training of employees on those policies, frequent staff screening and training on abuse recognition and reporting, supervised staff-youth interactions, youth training and sensitization on personal safety, and inclusivity. Safety procedures like age-appropriate activities and facility inspections are also critical.
Little League
Little League International has strict standards to guide league managers, coaches, umpires, volunteers, and athletes on safety and athlete protection. In sports injury-related litigation, our expert witnesses can determine whether other child and youth-oriented organizations like local Little Leagues took appropriate precautions and measures to prevent or address injuries, including potential sexual abuse and other maltreatment.
These include regular playfield and equipment checks and maintenance; staff screening and background checks; annual training of coaches and volunteers on detection of sexual and physical child abuse, injury prevention, emergency response and first aid; enforcement of Little League’s zero-tolerance policy on any form of abuse; observable staff-player interactions; immediate medical attention to emergencies; mandated abuse reporting; and consistent athlete supervision. Coaches should also form teams based on age and skill levels.
Amateur Athletic Union (AAU)
AAU has guidelines governing its competitive and wide variety of sports, much like the Little League’s policies. AAU’s local clubs and teams should appropriately implement the Athlete Protection and Abuse Prevention Policy and any additional safety recommendations. AAU provides handbooks to direct each game. AAU expects coaches to undergo SafeSport training and certification, equipment, gear, and playing surfaces to meet safety standards, minimal one-on-one interactions, two-deep leadership, observance of concussion protocols, and proper emergency response.
Youth Dance and Art Programs
Dance studios and art programs are other child and youth-oriented organizations that can immensely benefit from our expert services. Since these programs lack oversight organizations that govern their practices, they can easily overlook some important safety and supervisory requirements and risk lawsuits. We can help such agencies develop and implement written policies that are at par with the best professional standard of care within their respective industries. Our experts also understand the federal, state, and municipal standards these agencies must adhere to. In matters where athletes suffered injury or harm, we can review case materials and determine whether the staff was adequately trained to properly perform their supervisory duties and recognize and stop dangerous activities or detect and report any red flags of possible child sexual abuse and maltreatment.
Self-Defense Schools
Injuries are an inherent risk in intense programs like self-defense and martial arts. With the help of our expert witness company, these other child and youth-oriented organizations can develop stringent safety and supervisory policies and regulations consistent with those of national organizations like USA Karate, USA Taekwondo, and more. Our experts can review cases involving child injury and harm and assess whether the organizations’ policies, training, and supervision to provide continuous education to self-defense instructors was adequate to ensure diligent supervision of children to protect their safety, whether they complied with emergency-response protocols when accidents happen, whether misconduct was reported in a timely fashion, whether the equipment and protective gear safety standards were in effect, and whether they have appropriate martial arts certifications like SafeSport, and compliance with state, federal, and local regulations for running these sports.
Religious Summer Camps
Religious organizations like churches and mosques tend to assume that their moral and ethical teachings are enough to instill appropriate practices and behaviors among all its members. For this reason, they may not appropriately train or supervise their volunteers, religious teachers, or parents on proper engagements with children. Such lax attitudes can result in child abuse and harm exposing religious organizations to liability and costly litigation.
Our expert witnesses can assist with the review and analysis of cases involving these other child and youth-oriented organizations and can determine whether they adhered to accepted safety and supervision standards and numerous resources guiding best practices, like the SafeChurch training programs provided by GuideOne Insurance. Such training resources include guidelines for facility safety, transportation safety, child abuse prevention, incident management, and more. These organizations should also develop proper child safety policies, including volunteer screening, hiring, and supervision processes, and ensure appropriate hiring and supervision of employees who have regular contact with children.
Do You Need Help With a School or Agency Liability Matter?
You can count on School Liability Expert Group for prompt, reliable, and individualized consultation and expert witness services involving other child and youth-oriented organizations in matters related to accidents and child injury, wrongful death, negligent hiring and supervision of employees, child sexual abuse and harassment, child physical abuse and maltreatment, special education matters, and school evaluation and comparison in custody matters. Contact us today to discuss how our experts can help you or your organization.