Child & Youth Protection Program

The State University of New York at Plattsburgh is committed to ensuring the health, safety, and general welfare of all members of our campus community, including children and youth who may be participating in campus events and activities, and who are entrusted to the care of the University, an affiliated organization, or a permitted third-party organization. This policy and accompanying procedure outlines the steps that the University will take in order to ensure that all children / youth participating in campus functions will be protected from harm.

Please note: This policy was renamed from “Child Protection Policy”.

All employees, agents, students, volunteers, and employees of the University, university-affiliated organizations, and third-party organizations permitted to operate on university premises.  

    5.1    Child / Youth – An individual who is under the age of 17 and who is participating in a covered activity

    5.2    Children’s Camp – A camp defined under New York Public Health Law §1392.

    5.3    University-affiliated Organization – An organization located on SUNY Plattsburgh’s campus, intrinsically linked to the University, and advances university interests. Such organizations include College Auxiliary Services, the Plattsburgh Alumni Association, the Plattsburgh College Foundation, and the Research Foundation. 

    5.4   Covered Activity – A program or activity sponsored or approved by the University or a university-affiliated organization, or an activity conducted by a third-party organization, occurring on or off campus, for the duration of which the responsibility for custody, control, or supervision of children / youth is vested by the University, university-affiliated organization, or third-party organization. This does not pertain to child-care centers located on university premises nor any instructional activity directly related to enrollment in credit-bearing university courses.

    5.5    Covered Persons – A person who is responsible for the custody, control, or supervision of children / youth participating in the Covered Activity and who is:

        5.5.1    An employee of the University or university-affiliated organization; or

        5.5.2    a student enrolled at the university; or

        5.5.3    a volunteer of the University or university-affiliated organization; or

        5.5.4    a vendor, licensee, permittee or other person, who is given permission to come onto campus or to use university facilities for Covered Activities; or

        5.5.5    an employee, agent, or volunteer of 5.5.4.

    5.6    Physical Abuse – Physical contact with a child / youth by a covered person which is intended to cause, or causes, pain or physical injury, including punching, beating, shaking, throwing, kicking, biting and burning, or directing a child / youth, outside the norm of supervised activity, to perform physical activity which is intended to cause physical injury.

    5.7    Sexual Abuse – Engaging in a sexual offense with a child / youth and/or encouraging or promoting sexual performance by a child / youth. Pursuant to the NYS Penal Law Articles 130, 263, and Section 260.10 and 260.25 sexual offenses include: sexual misconduct, rape, criminal sex acts, forcible touching, persistent sexual abuse, sexual abuse, aggravated sexual abuse, course of sexual conduct against a child / youth, facilitating a sex offense with a controlled substance, sexually motivated felony, predatory sexual assault against a child / youth, and sexual performance by a child / youth. This also includes Penal Law offenses relating to children / youth including endangering the welfare of a child / youth and unlawfully dealing with a child / youth in the first degree. Sexual performance by a child / youth, as defined by the Penal Law, is any behavior which results in the touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a child / youth for the purpose of sexual gratification and/or adult, including touching by the child / youth and/or adult with or without clothing, and all acts as defined by the New York State Penal Law Articles 130, 263, and Section 260.10.

    5.8    Responsible University Official – An employee of the University or university-affiliated organization who has been designated by the University to fulfill the responsibilities as listed in Section F of the SUNY Child Protection Policy.

    5.9    Student Organization – An organization that includes students enrolled at the University and is recognized by the University or the Student Association. Student organizations include the Student Association, any of its recognized clubs or organizations, fraternal organizations, hall councils, club sports, honor societies or university-recognized student organizations.  For the purpose of this policy, student organizations generally will be treated as a third-party organization.

    5.10    Third-party Organization – An organization that has been granted permission to operate on the University’s campus for a specific purpose and duration of time. May include vendors, licensees, or organizations granted a revocable permit.

    6.1    All Employees – Responsible for complying with this policy and SUNY Policy # 6504 – Mandatory Reporting and Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse and SUNY Policy # 6505 – Child Protection Policy including, but not limited to, mandated reporting for suspected child / youth sexual abuse.

    6.2    Child and Youth Protection Committee – Responsible for providing guidance and advice to the president’s designee on child and youth protection, and hearing appeals of decision by the president’s designee.

    6.3    College Auxiliary Services – Responsible for facilitating the revocable permit process for third-party organizations, appointing a responsible university official, and ensuring that third-parties are aware of the University's expectations.

    6.4    Covered Persons – Responsible for complying with all conduct standards listed in this policy and SUNY Policy # 6505 – Child Protection Policy. 

    6.5    Human Resource Services – Responsible for discipline of employees who violate this policy.

    6.6    President’s Designee for Child and Youth Protection >– Responsible for disseminating policy information, organizing meetings of the child and youth protection committee, reviewing policy effectiveness, providing guidance and support to responsible university officials, covered persons, and offices implementing this policy and maintaining records of searches for covered activities sponsored by the University or university-affiliated organizations.

    6.7    Responsible University Official – Responsible for complying with all conduct standards listed in this policy and SUNY Policy # 6505 – Child Protection Policy.

    6.8    Third-party Organizations – Responsible for completing revocable permits, complying with all terms in the revocable permit, including but not limited to, securing sexual molestation insurance and conducting sex offender registry checks on its covered persons, ensuring that covered persons are aware and adhere to the policies, and completing the written acknowledgment of policy compliance.

    6.9    University Police – Responsible for investigating allegations of physical or sexual abuse of children / youth on campus, and referring incidents that occurred off campus to the law enforcement agency with appropriate jurisdiction, and conducting sex offender registry checks.

    7.1    All university employees should familiarize themselves with this policy and SUNY Policy # 6504 – Mandatory Reporting and Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse and SUNY Policy # 6505 – Child Protection Policy and be prepared to act in compliance with reporting requirements mandated by these policies.

    7.2    Annually, the president’s designee for child and youth protection will be responsible for sending a notification to the campus community regarding events that involve children / youth and the need to comply with this policy.

    7.3   The child and youth protection committee will be convened by the president's designee as needed to provide advice and guidance to the president’s designee for child and youth protection.

    7.4    Any allegations of retaliation should be reported to Human Resource Services or the appropriate oversight office, which will conduct an investigation in accordance with its policies and procedures.

Child / Youth Protection Procedures for Covered Activities Sponsored by the University or an university-affiliated organization

    7.5   All employees or volunteers of the University or a university-affiliated organization seeking to hold an activity involving children / youth must complete the Request to Hold On-Campus Activity Involving Children and Youth form, which must be submitted to the president’s designee for child and youth protection. This form will provide information about the event.

        7.5.1    The president’s designee shall assess the activity to determine whether it meets the criteria listed in Section 4.3.

            7.5.1.1    If the event does not meet the criteria then the obligations of SUNY Policy # 6505 – Child Protection Policy would not trigger [procedure ends].

        7.5.2    If the president’s designee decides that the activity meets the criteria, he or she shall approve the activity, identify a responsible university official for approved activities, and communicate that decision to the event’s sponsor.

            7.5.2.1   Approval of the activity will be granted based on an assessment of the purpose of the event, the number of children / youth involved, the level of risk of harm to child / youth participants, and the precautions being taken by the department to ensure child / youth safety.

            7.5.2.2   In the event that the activity is not approved, the sponsor of the activity can appeal the decision to the child and youth protection committee, which shall review the facts of the case and make a decision to affirm or overrule the president’s designee.

    7.6    Once a covered activity has been identified, the president’s designee will work with the activity’s sponsor and the designated responsible university official to ensure that all covered persons are identified.

    7.7    The president’s designee will provide training materials to the responsible university official designated for the event and convey expectations regarding the event.

    7.8    The responsible university official will convey the expectations of this policy and SUNY Policy # 6505 – Child Protection Policy to all covered persons and ensure that all covered persons understand their responsibilities. 

    7.9    The responsible university official will notify the covered persons that they will need to clear New York State and national sex offender registry checks in order to participate in the event, provide an opportunity for those individuals to opt out of the event, collect names and birth dates of all individuals, and submit the Child Protection – Covered Person Sex Offender Registry Check form to University Police.

        7.9.1    In the event that a covered person expresses concern or unwillingness to be checked, they shall not be allowed to participate in the covered activity.

    7.10    University Police will conduct sex offender checks in accordance with SUNY Policy # 6505 –Child Protection Policy. The outcome of these checks, including the names of any covered persons who are excluded from participation, shall be conveyed to the president’s designee. 

        7.10.1   The president’s designee for child and youth protection will be responsible for complying with all sex offender registry record-keeping requirements as stipulated in SUNY Policy # 6505 – Child Protection Policy and communicating the outcome of the sex offender registry searches to the responsible university official for the covered activity.

    7.11    The responsible university official will ensure that no covered person participates in the covered activity until they have been cleared through the sex offender registry and that they have completed the child / youth protection training.

    7.12    The responsible university official will secure identification for all covered persons clearly identifying the individual as a covered person for the specific covered activity in question. 

    7.13   During the covered activity, all covered persons will conduct themselves in accordance with the rules stipulated in SUNY Policy # 6505 – Child Protection Policy. This shall include, but is not limited to, avoiding one-on-one contact with a child / youth (except where permitted by the University and required for pedagogical or health-related reasons), engaging in physical or sexual abuse, using alcohol or illegal drugs during the event, facilitating a child / youth’s usage of alcohol or illegal drugs, and immediately removing a child / youth from potential physical or sexual abuse.

    7.14    All covered persons and the responsible university official shall also report any suspected physical or sexual abuse in accordance with Section 4.5 of this policy.

    7.15    The responsible university official will coordinate with appropriate campus offices to ensure that the allegations are investigated and addressed appropriately [procedure ends].

Child / Youth Protection Procedures for Covered Activities Sponsored by a Third-Party Organization

    7.16    All third-party organizations seeking to utilize campus facilities should contact College Auxiliary Services.

    7.17    Upon receiving the request, College Auxiliary Services, in consultation with the president’s designee for child and youth protection, will make a determination as to whether the event constitutes a covered activity.

        7.17.1    If the event does not meet the criteria then the obligations of SUNY Policy # 6505 – Child Protection Policy would not trigger[procedure ends].

    7.18    Once identified as a covered activity, College Auxiliary Services will inform the third-party organization of the need to complete the revocable permit specific to child / youth protection and the need to comply with all terms as listed in the revocable permit. 

    7.19    In the event that a third-party organization cannot secure the sexual molestation insurance, the organization may request a waiver based on the criteria listed in accordance with Section 4.9 of this policy.

    7.20    The event scheduler in College Auxiliary Services will serve as the primary responsible university official for all third-party covered activities.

    7.21    The third-party organization will provide a list of names and titles for covered persons to the designated responsible university official. 

    7.22    Third-party organizations will be responsible for creating identification tags for all covered persons involved with their activities. College Auxiliary Services may assist at its discretion.

    7.23    The third-party organization will be responsible for conducting sex offender registry checks of covered persons in accordance with the rules stipulated in SUNY Policy # 6505 ­– Child Protection Policy.

    7.24    The third-party organization will complete a written acknowledgement that they will comply with all terms in the policy including, but not limited to, the completion of sex offender registry checks, adherence to American Camp Association Standards, and transportation standards.

    7.25   During the covered activity, all covered persons will conduct themselves in accordance with the rules stipulated in SUNY Policy # 6505 – Child Protection Policy. This shall include, but is not limited to, avoiding one-on-one contact with a child / youth, engaging in physical or sexual abuse, using alcohol or illegal drugs during the event, facilitating a child / youth’s usage of alcohol or illegal drugs, and immediately removing a child / youth from potential physical or sexual abuse.

    7.26    All covered persons and the responsible university official shall also report any suspected physical or sexual abuse in accordance with Section 4.5 of this policy.

    7.27    The responsible university official will coordinate with appropriate campus offices to ensure that the allegations are investigated and addressed appropriately [procedure ends].

Request to Hold Sponsored Activity Involving Children

Covered Persons Sex Offender Registry Check Clearance Form

Request for Exemption from Sexual Molestation Insurance Requirements

Child and Youth Protection Training Acknowledgement

Child Protection Website

Locker Room Guidelines

SUNY Policy #6504 - Mandatory Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse

SUNY Policy #6505 - Child Protection Policy