Creating a Safe Environment for Youth (Part 1) : Empowering youth workers to identify and respond to child abuse & exploitation
There has been an increase in number of reports of all types of youth maltreatment. In 2021, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline received 29.3 million reports, up from 21.7 million reports in 2020. With this increase, it is critical that all youth workers are prepared to prevent, identify, and respond to all types of abuse and exploitation.
Join us for this interactive presentation focused on empowering youth and youth workers to respond to the increase in abuse/exploitation. Build your knowledge and learn about key tools available to identify and respond to abuse/exploitation. Learn key warning signs and identify how current apps and internet tools can be used to harm youth. Explore with us the everchanging ways in which children can be exploited.
This interactive presentation is for parents, educators, foster parents, youth workers, and program administrators.
- Outline current data related to child abuse/exploitation in your state.
- Identify ways to use developmentally appropriate strategies to empower youth.
- Discuss the challenges of working with exploitation, online sexual abuse imagery, sextortion, and human trafficking.
- Identify ways to support the mental health of adults caring for abused/exploited youth.
- Create a list of online resources to support your specific youth population.
CYC Certification Competency Domain: Professionalism
Created by
Deborah Getz, Re. D., CYC-P
Deb is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Applied Health Science at Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington in Bloomington, Indiana. She is also the Secretary for CYCCB (Child and Youth Care Certification Board) as well as the Chair of the Higher Education Committee.
Dr. Getz is committed to supporting the professionalization of youth work in the U.S. She led the development of the IU APHS major and minor in youth development, actively engages in efforts to support national certification through the Child and Youth Care Certification Board and works to support awareness of issues critical to protecting child safety.
