Training

Education and awareness are critical to creating safe environments for minors at USC, and we aim to increase the number of trained adults who can recognize and respond to inappropriate behavior or abuse by making youth protection training available to the USC community.

Training requirements

In an effort to assist covered activity staff and employees carry out their reporting responsibilities and understand their role in protecting minors, all covered activity staff and employees are required to complete youth protection training aimed at the prevention of child abuse and neglect, the recognition of signs and symptoms of child abuse and neglect, and applicable reporting requirements and procedures.

Specific training requirements are as follows:

• All employees will receive training related to their obligations under the Protecting Minors Policy.
• All covered activity staff and all employees who qualify as Mandated Reporters must complete youth protection training* before having direct contact with minors and on an annual basis thereafter.
• Third parties (non-university organizations and entities) that operate programs or activities on campus involving minors must provide training to their staff consistent with the university’s requirements, and must complete and submit a certification form to our office during the registration process, attesting that such training has been completed.
• Covered activity staff may not begin work in any covered activity or have direct contact with minors until documentation of completion has been received, reviewed and approved.

*Note: An updated mandated reporter course for covered activity staff and employees designated as mandated reporters is currently in development. In the meantime, Praesidium’s mandated reporter course entitled Duty to Report is currently available (instructions on how to register for and access the course can be found by accessing the training user guide linked below). Alternatively, the California Department of Social Services has a mandated reporter training available for free, which can be accessed by visiting their website.

Additional training offerings

The Office of Youth Protection and Programming also offers additional training opportunities for those looking to expand their knowledge and ability to provide safe environments for youth.

Learn more about our training offerings, or contact minors@usc.edu for more information.