Child Safety Policy

1. Purpose

Parents enroll their children in PG PONY expecting them to be safe. This policy sets out how Pacific Grove PONY Baseball and Softball ("PG PONY" or "the league") screens and trains the adults who work with players, the rules those adults follow, how to report a concern, and how the league responds. It is written to meet California's requirements for youth service organizations and the requirements of PONY Baseball and Softball and USA Softball, and to follow widely accepted youth sports safety practices.

2. Who this policy covers

This policy applies to every adult who volunteers or works for PG PONY. In this policy:

• Covered adults are all board members, managers, coaches and assistant coaches, umpires and anyone else the league pays, and any other volunteer age 18 or older who has direct contact with or supervises players more than 16 hours in a month or 32 hours in a year (a "regular volunteer" under California law). Team parents, scorekeepers, field crew and concessions volunteers become covered adults if they reach those hours, or if the board decides their role requires it.
• Cleared means a covered adult has passed every background check and completed every training this policy requires, and their clearance is current.
• The Child Safety Committee is the President, the Vice President and one other board member appointed by the President. It runs this policy. If a committee member is involved in a matter, the board appoints a replacement for that matter.

Volunteers under 18, such as junior coaches and bat helpers, are not background checked. They may help a cleared adult but may never be the adult in charge of players.

3. Background checks

No covered adult may work with players until they are cleared. The league pays for all required checks.

• Application and disclosure. Every covered adult completes the league's volunteer application, including a self-disclosure of criminal history, and authorizes the checks below. A false or incomplete answer is grounds for disqualification on its own.
• California fingerprint check (Live Scan). Before first serving, every covered adult completes a Live Scan fingerprint background check through the California Department of Justice. Where the Department of Justice offers subsequent arrest notification, the league enrolls in it. Otherwise, the Live Scan is repeated every three years.
• Annual national check. Every year, before the season, every covered adult also completes a name-based national criminal background check through the league's screening provider, including a search of sex offender registries in every state.
• Sport requirements. Softball managers and coaches also meet any background check and training requirements of USA Softball, and all covered adults meet any requirements of PONY Baseball and Softball.
• Every year, every person. Checks are required regardless of position or years of service with the league.

4. Training

Under California law, PG PONY's covered adults are mandated reporters of child abuse and neglect. Before first serving, and every year after, every covered adult must complete:

• California mandated reporter training, using the free online training from the California Department of Social Services, and give the league a copy of the completion certificate.
• Abuse prevention training approved by the Child Safety Committee, covering how abuse and grooming happen, the rules in section 5, and how to report.
• A review of this policy, with a signed acknowledgment that they have read it and will follow it.

5. Rules for adults

These rules protect players and the adults who work with them. Every covered adult must follow them, and every parent is welcome to hold us to them.

No one-on-one time out of view

• No adult may be alone with a player, other than their own child, out of sight and hearing of other adults. One-on-one instruction, such as a pitching or catching lesson, happens in an open, visible place where another adult can see it and walk up at any time.
• Every practice and game has at least two adults present, at least one of them a cleared manager or coach. If only one adult is available, the practice is canceled.
• Managers and coaches do not hold private lessons or training sessions with players through the league. Private lessons arranged by families are outside the league's programs.

Arriving, leaving and travel

• At least two adults stay until every player has been picked up by a parent, guardian or adult the parent has named.
• No adult drives a player who isn't their own child without the parent's permission, and never alone with a single player. Carpooling between families is arranged by the families themselves.
• For any overnight travel, such as All-Star tournaments, players stay with their own parent or guardian, or with an adult the parent has named in writing. Adults never share a room or bed with a player who isn't their own child.

Restrooms and changing

• Players use restrooms in pairs or groups, or with their own parent. A coach who needs to check on a player waits outside and brings another adult if they must go in.
• Parents help young players with uniforms and catcher's gear whenever possible. Adults never change clothes or shower with players.

Messages, social media and photos

• Coaches communicate with players through their parents or guardians, or through group messages that include parents, such as the team's messaging app. No private texts, direct messages or calls between an adult and a player who isn't their own child.
• Adults do not connect with players on personal social media accounts.
• No photos or video are ever taken in restrooms or changing areas. League and team photos posted online use first names only, and the league honors any family's request not to post their child.

Physical contact and discipline

• Physical contact is limited to what's appropriate in public: high fives, fist bumps, a pat on the shoulder, a side hug, or hands-on coaching that the coach explains first ("I'm going to move your elbow").
• No physical punishment, hazing, bullying, threats, or exercise used as punishment that is excessive or humiliating.

Special attention and gifts

• No gifts, money or special favors to individual players, and no asking a player to keep secrets. Team-wide treats and awards are fine.
• Treating one player very differently from the rest of the team (singling them out for time, attention or privileges) is a warning sign of grooming and must be reported.

Alcohol, drugs and tobacco

• No adult may be under the influence of alcohol, cannabis or illegal drugs while responsible for players, and no alcohol, cannabis, tobacco or vaping at any league practice or game.

6. How to report a concern

If you are a covered adult

California law requires you, as a mandated reporter, to report whenever you know of or reasonably suspect child abuse or neglect, whether it happened at the league or anywhere else:

1. Report immediately, or as soon as practicably possible, by phone to the Pacific Grove Police Department or Monterey County Family and Children's Services. Call 911 if a child is in immediate danger.
2. Follow up in writing within 36 hours, using the form the agency gives you.
3. Then tell the league President, or the Vice President if the concern involves the President. Telling the league does not replace your duty to report to the authorities, and no one at the league may stop you from reporting or require you to tell them first.

Do not investigate, confront the person involved, or question the child beyond what you need to make the report.

If you are a parent, player or anyone else

You can report directly to the police or child welfare, and we encourage it. You can also tell any board member, or email the President at president@pgpony.org. Concerns about an adult breaking the rules in section 5, even if they don't amount to abuse, should go to the President.

No retaliation

No one will be penalized for reporting a concern in good faith. Retaliating against a person who reports, or against their child, is a violation of this policy.

7. How the league responds

• When an adult is accused of abuse or of a serious violation of this policy, the President immediately suspends them from all league activities and contact with players. A suspension is a safety step, not a finding that the person did anything wrong.
• The league cooperates fully with law enforcement and child welfare, and does not run its own investigation of possible abuse in a way that could interfere with theirs.
• The league notifies its insurer, PONY Baseball and Softball and, for softball, USA Softball, as each requires.
• Once the authorities have finished, the Child Safety Committee decides whether the person may return, may return with conditions, or is permanently removed. For violations of section 5 that don't involve abuse, the committee may issue a warning, require retraining, suspend or remove the person.
• The league shares information about an incident only with those who need it: the people involved, their parents, the authorities, and those who must act on it.

8. Who may not volunteer

In this section, "convicted" includes a guilty plea, a no contest plea, and a finding of guilt, even if the sentence was suspended or deferred, and, to the extent the law allows the league to consider it, even if the record was later dismissed, sealed or expunged. Charges that ended in acquittal or dismissal are not convictions.

Permanently disqualified

A person may never volunteer or work for PG PONY if they:

1. Are required to register as a sex offender in any state or country, or appear on any sex offender registry.
2. Were convicted of any sexual offense, at any time.
3. Were convicted of any offense involving a minor, at any time, including abuse, neglect, endangerment, exploitation or child sexual abuse material.
4. Were convicted of any violent felony or other felony against a person, at any time, such as murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, robbery or aggravated assault.
5. Were found liable in a civil case, or are or were subject to a court order, involving sexual or physical abuse of a minor.
6. Have been banned, suspended or found to have committed misconduct involving minors by another youth organization or sports body, such as the U.S. Center for SafeSport, while that ban or suspension is in effect.

Disqualified for a period of time

A person is disqualified if, within the period shown, they were convicted of:

7. Any other felony: within the past 10 years.
8. A misdemeanor against a person, such as assault, battery, domestic violence or hit-and-run: within the past 7 years.
9. A misdemeanor involving drugs or alcohol, such as driving under the influence or drug possession: within the past 5 years, or two or more within the past 10 years.
10. Any other misdemeanor that could put children at risk or relates to the role, such as theft for someone who would handle money: within the past 5 years.

After those periods, the Child Safety Committee may approve a person case by case, considering the nature of the offense, how long ago it was, evidence of rehabilitation, and how it relates to the role and the risk to children.

Pending charges and new charges

A person with pending charges for any offense listed above may not volunteer until the charges are resolved. A cleared adult who is arrested for or charged with any offense listed above must tell the President within 48 hours and is suspended from all league activities until the matter is resolved and the committee has reviewed it.

9. Notice and appeals

• Before a final decision. If a background check may disqualify someone, the President or their designee tells the person privately in writing, gives them a copy of the report and a summary of their rights, and allows at least five business days to explain or to dispute an error with the screening provider before the decision is final.
• Decision. The final decision is given to the person privately in writing.
• Appeal. Within 30 days of the decision, the person may appeal in writing to the Executive Board, by email to the President at president@pgpony.org, or by mail to P.O. Box 317, Pacific Grove, California 93950. The appeal should include their name and contact information, the name of anyone appealing on their behalf, why they believe the decision is wrong, what they're asking the league to do, and any supporting documents.
• Review. The Executive Board hears the appeal within 14 days of receiving it, may ask to speak with the person, and gives a written decision within 7 days after meeting. Changing or overturning the original decision requires a two-thirds vote of the Executive Board; otherwise the original decision stands. Members who were involved in the incident or the original decision don't take part. The Executive Board's decision is final.
• Limits. Appeals of a permanent disqualification (section 8, items 1 to 6) are limited to showing that the record is wrong or belongs to someone else.
• Errors in a report. It is the person's responsibility to have errors in their criminal record or background report corrected with the agency or screening provider.

10. Records and confidentiality

• Background check results, applications and appeal records are confidential. Only the Child Safety Committee and the people handling an appeal may see them. Coaches and team parents are told only whether a volunteer is cleared.
• California law strictly limits sharing criminal history from the Department of Justice. It is never shared outside those authorized to see it.
• Records are kept in a secure, access-controlled location set by the President, never in personal email or personal devices, for as long as the law requires or six years, whichever is longer, and then securely destroyed.
• The Secretary keeps a current list of cleared adults, with each person's check and training dates, and confirms that every manager, coach and board member is cleared before the season starts.

11. Following and reviewing this policy

• Any covered adult who breaks this policy may be warned, required to retrain, suspended or permanently removed.
• The board reviews this policy every year before registration opens, and whenever the law or PONY Baseball and Softball or USA Softball requirements change.

12. Non-waiver

Nothing in this policy limits PG PONY's discretion to decline or remove any applicant, volunteer or employee when, in the league's judgment, doing so is in the best interest of its players or programs.

Questions

Email the President at president@pgpony.org, or use the Get help page to find the right person.