AIP 120 · Youth & Community Leaders
Coaches, Faith & Community Leaders
Build safer youth settings, notice warning signs, respond to a disclosure, and report correctly, including when the concern is about someone inside your own organization.
What you will be able to do
- Put practical safer-environment rules in place for in-person and digital contact.
- Notice warning signs in a child and in adult behavior.
- Respond to a disclosure calmly and without leading questions.
- Describe reporting duties and when to confirm them with your organization or counsel.
- Handle a concern about a peer or another adult in your own organization.
1 Module 1 of 5 · 35 min
Safer-environment practices
- Apply the two-adult and visible-space rules.
- Set clear boundaries for one-to-one contact.
- Write an arrival, pick-up and travel routine.
Most harm to children in youth settings is prevented by plain structure, not by suspicion. Good rules protect children and protect the adults who follow them.
| Practice | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Two-adult rule | No adult is alone with a minor out of view. Two trained adults, or an open space with others nearby |
| Visible spaces | Rooms have windows or open doors. Counseling and tutoring happen in view |
| Open, scheduled contact | One-to-one meetings are planned, known to parents and the organization, and logged |
| Travel and overnights | Written plans, parental consent, and adult-to-minor ratios set by your organization |
| Restrooms and changing | Never supervise one-on-one. Use buddy systems and posted rules |
Your organization’s own policy, insurer, and applicable law set the minimum. Confirm requirements with your organization or counsel. These practices are a good floor, not a ceiling.
- Post the code of conduct where families can see it.
- Make sure every adult is screened and trained as your organization requires.
- Give families a clear way to raise a concern.
A volunteer offers to drive one player home alone after practice because it is ‘on the way’.
What do you do?
Show the debrief
Decline the one-adult ride. Offer a rule-based alternative: another adult in the car, a parent pickup, or a group ride. Say it kindly and consistently. The rule protects the child and the volunteer.
Knowledge check
2 Module 2 of 5 · 35 min
Digital communication with minors
- Set boundaries for texting, social media and group chats.
- Choose approved channels and keep parents in the loop.
- Explain why private one-to-one messaging with a minor is a risk.
Digital contact is where boundaries blur fastest. Make the rules before the first message.
- Use group chats with at least two adults and clear purposes.
- Include parents or guardians in team and group communication.
- Keep messages about the activity, in daytime hours.
- Use organization-approved platforms and accounts, not personal ones.
- Don’t message a minor privately without a parent or second adult included.
- Don’t friend or follow minors from personal accounts unless your policy allows it.
- Don’t use disappearing-message apps with minors.
- Don’t ask for or accept images beyond what the activity needs.
A line for parents
“We communicate with players through group channels that include a second adult. If your child messages me privately, I’ll include you or another coach.”
Related
A 15-year-old on your team sends you a private message at 11 p.m. saying they ‘just need to talk’.
How do you respond?
Show the debrief
Respond briefly and warmly, move it to a safe channel, and involve a second adult or the parent as your policy requires: “I’m glad you reached out. Let’s talk tomorrow at practice with Coach [name].” If it sounds like a safety issue, treat it as a disclosure and follow your reporting steps.
Knowledge check
3 Module 3 of 5 · 40 min
Recognizing signs in children and in adults
- Name warning signs in a child.
- Name warning signs in adult behavior.
- Report a concern without waiting for proof.
You are not asked to prove anything. You are asked to notice, record and report. Patterns matter more than any single sign.
| In a child | In an adult |
|---|---|
| Sudden withdrawal, fear of one person or place | Seeks one-to-one time with a particular child |
| Unexplained gifts or money | Gives gifts or favors to one child |
| Secrecy about messages or a new ‘friend’ | Pushes private contact or moves chats to private apps |
| Changes in sleep, grades or mood | Ignores boundaries and jokes about them |
| Talk of an older ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’ | Uses special names, secrets or physical contact that others avoid |
Report concerns about an adult’s behavior even if nothing ‘happened yet’. Early reports let your organization act before a child is harmed.
A well-liked assistant coach always seems to have one player ‘helping out’, texts that player often, and sometimes gives them rides.
Which behaviors stand out, and what do you do?
Show the debrief
Special attention to one child, private texts and unsupervised rides are a cluster. Write down what you saw, factual and dated, and report it to your organization’s designated person without confronting the assistant. Let the organization follow its process.
Knowledge check
4 Module 4 of 5 · 40 min
Responding to a disclosure and reporting duties
- Receive a disclosure calmly using non-leading language.
- Explain why you do not promise secrecy.
- Describe reporting duties and when to confirm them.
A disclosure often comes sideways and without warning. Your job is to listen, stay calm, and pass it to people trained to respond.
Receiving it
“Thank you for telling me. I believe you. This is not your fault. I’m going to make sure the right people help.”
- Stay calm and keep your face and voice steady.
- Let the child say it in their own words.
- Write down what they said, as close to word-for-word as you can, with date and time.
- Tell them what happens next, honestly.
- Don’t ask leading questions (“Did he touch you?”).
- Don’t promise to keep it secret.
- Don’t investigate, confront the person, or gather witnesses.
- Don’t repeat the story to others beyond those who need to know.
Reporting duties
Whether you are a mandated reporter depends on your role, your employer, and Nevada law. Employees and volunteers of public and private schools are covered by NRS 432B.220, and other roles may be. Confirm your obligations with your organization or counsel. If you reasonably believe a child is being harmed, you may report. Reports go to an agency that provides child welfare services or to law enforcement, and good-faith reporters are protected by law (NRS 432B.160).
After practice, a 13-year-old says, “I told someone a secret and now they’re saying they’ll post a picture.” They add, “Please don’t tell.”
What do you say and do?
Show the debrief
Do not promise secrecy. Say you are glad they told you and that you will get help. Do not ask for the picture. Record their words, follow your organization’s reporting steps, and report to NCMEC and police as appropriate. Make sure a parent or guardian is told, unless that could put the child at risk, in which case ask child welfare or police how to proceed.
Knowledge check
5 Module 5 of 5 · 40 min
When the concern is inside your own organization
- Handle a concern about a peer or a leader.
- Use outside reporting channels when internal ones are conflicted.
- Protect the child and the integrity of any investigation.
The hardest report is about someone you know and like. The standard is the same: protect the child first. Friendship and reputation do not outrank safety.
- Write down what you saw or heard, with dates, in plain facts.
- Report to your organization’s designated person, unless that person is involved.
- If the person involved is a leader, or you fear a cover-up, report directly to law enforcement or the child welfare agency.
- Do not confront the person or ‘warn’ them.
- Keep what you know on a need-to-know basis.
- Support the child without questioning them.
- Document facts, not conclusions.
- Report even if you are unsure.
- Protect anyone who comes forward from retaliation.
- Don’t conduct your own investigation.
- Don’t share your suspicion with the group.
- Don’t let a good reputation decide whether you report.
Retaliation against a person who reports in good faith is unacceptable. If your organization lacks a clear reporting and anti-retaliation policy, ask leadership to adopt one.
A fellow volunteer you have known for years has been texting a teenager privately and giving them gifts. The head of your organization is his close friend.
Who do you report to, and how?
Show the debrief
Write down the facts. Because the leader is conflicted, report directly to law enforcement or the child welfare agency. Do not confront your friend. Do not discuss it with others. Reporting is not an accusation. It lets trained people look into it.
Knowledge check
★ Capstone
Write a safer-environment and reporting policy page
The capstone is how you show you can do the work, not just answer questions. It produces something real that you keep.
- Draft a one-page code of conduct covering two-adult practice, visible spaces, digital contact and travel.
- Draft a reporting flow chart: who receives a concern, who to go to if that person is involved, and the outside agencies.
- Write a short parent notice explaining your communication rules.
- Run the ‘late-night message’ and ‘quiet confession’ scenarios with a co-leader and record the lessons.
How it is reviewed
- Rules are specific, not just values.
- Reporting flow includes an outside route when internal contacts are conflicted.
- Notes that mandated-reporter status must be confirmed with the organization or counsel.
- Includes anti-retaliation language.
- Shows no investigation by the learner.
Pass every module check at 80% or better, finish the capstone, then follow the steps on the credentials page to request your certificate.
Counts toward
Companion playbooks
- Listening to a child who tells you something hard
- The grooming chain: what adults can notice, and where to break it
- Preserving evidence: a guide for families
- Suspected online grooming: the response playbook
AIP Academy courses are awareness and skills training. They are not legal, medical or clinical advice, and an AIP certificate is not a license, state or professional accreditation, CLE credit, or a promise of employment. In an emergency call 911.
Safety is built before the crisis
Pick your part and see it through. Prevention works when people follow through.