Youth Protection Guidelines

Youth Protection Program

The Kiwanis International Board of Directors issued new Youth Protection guideline on Feb 20, 2020.  For details, click here.


Background Checks

Kiwanis requires background checks for members who work with minor children.  That especially applies to the club members who advise SLP clubs.  The club Secretary advises KI via the Secretary’s Dashboard when the official background check has been completed.  Kiwanis contracts with Safe Hiring Solutions for prompt and inexpensive background checks.

Youth Protection Guidelines

Also Kiwanis offers a training program on working with youth.  A basic premise is two adults should be present whenever one is working with young people.  This also applies to transporting individuals.  

Kiwanis clubs are encouraged to download the Youth Protection Guidelines and Powerpoint from the Kiwanis website (linked above) for use by their members working with young people.  

Tiffany Ermeling is trained in the Kiwanis Youth Protection Program.  She is available to speak to groups or to advise on particular situations.

For the latest on Background Check requirements for SLP advisors, press here.

The latest update on the new requirement for background checks came from KI in November, 2016 as follows–

Greetings,

Several new features are now available for clubs to track and complete background checks through Kiwanis International.

As you may know, Kiwanis clubs are now required to have a clear criminal history background check—conducted and verified by Kiwanis International—for any member serving as a Kiwanis club advisor to any Service Leadership Program club (Aktion Club, Circle K, Key Club, Builders Club and K-Kids). Kiwanis International is currently in the process of sending all Kiwanis advisors an email with instructions and a link to complete their background check. These links are personal links assigned to the member and SHOULD NOT be shared.

Kiwanis International will automatically send an email with a background check link to every Kiwanis advisor who is listed in the secretary dashboard. The club secretary only needs to add the Kiwanis advisor’s information, specifically the email address, for the email to be generated.

For more information about Kiwanis advisor background checks, please visit http://kiwanis.org/clubs/member-resources/training/risk-management/background-checks.

Checking background check status:
On the club roster page of the Secretary Dashboard, the club secretary can see the status of the club members’ background checks. In the column labeled “background checks,” a box appears next to each club member’s name.

  • A green dot indicates a valid background check is on file.
  • If the box is empty, the member does not have a background check on file through Kiwanis International.
  • A “p” indicates that the background check through Kiwanis International is in process.
  • An “e” indicates an expired background check through Kiwanis International.

Sending background check links to individual club members:
If your club requires other members besides the designated SLP advisor to have a clear background check, the club secretary can send members their individual link to complete their background check. Any individual Kiwanis member who is required by Kiwanis International to have a background check (such as Kiwanis club advisors) will receive their link to complete the background check automatically from Kiwanis International. In the same column labeled “background checks” in which you can see the background check status, you can also send a background check link to any member. Simply click on the blank box or the “e”  icons to send a member an invitation to get a background check.

Please note: The email with the background check instructions and link will come from Safe Visitor, a program owned and operated through Kiwanis International’s vendor, Safe Hiring Solutions. All background checks are US$25 and payment needs to be submitted with the application. Thank you for your help in implementing this important policy.

Yours in service,
Kiwanis International

Kiwanis International
3636 Woodview Trace
Indianapolis, IN 46268 USA
Toll Free: 1-800-KIWANIS, dial 411 (US and Canada only)
Worldwide: +1 (317) 875-8755
Fax: (317) 879-0204
E: [email protected]

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