1 min read
Managing High Risk Locations and Activities
What do bathrooms, field trips, aquatic activities, transition periods and free-play have in common? They are all associated with high-risk. While...
1 min read
How is your organization handling free and transition times during summer programming?
Brooke Pratt : Updated on November 25, 2025
For many youth-serving organizations, the arrival of summer signals the beginning of a whirlwind season of youth programs and events. Often, organizations follow formalized monitoring procedures during structured programming. Staff understand defined ratios, engage in zone monitoring, and follow dictated bathroom procedures.
However, outside of structured programming, organizations sometimes do not have similar procedures in place to monitor transition times or free times. During these times, Praesidium finds that staff and volunteers are less likely to be assigned to particular groups of youth to supervise, and as the saying goes “when everyone is supervising everyone then nobody is really supervising anybody.”
To decrease the risks inherent in transition times and free times, Praesidium recommends that organizations:
- Require youth to remain in line-of-site of staff at all times.
- Specify the staff-to-youth ratio.
- Specify narrow geographic boundaries in the program areas.
- Ensure that all staff are assigned specific areas to supervise (“zone monitoring”).
- Include bathroom procedures.
- Require periodic roll calls for each age group.
- Require supervisors to conduct periodic check-ins and sweeps of the entire activity area.
3 min read
Maintaining a Culture of Safety and Preventing Child Abuse in School and Beyond: School Administration Guidelines for Managing Extracurricular Activities
Jackie Burnes : Feb 1, 2024 10:13:08 AM
Youth of all ages often spend most of their time throughout the week at school and in school activities such as music programs, sports programs,...
4 min read
Red Flag and Grooming Behaviors: Research on Preventing Child Sexual Abuse
Jackie Burnes : Jan 30, 2023 8:05:19 AM
Identification of red flag child sexual abuse grooming behaviors Praesidium is excited to share research on sexual grooming behaviors conducted by...