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Phase 3: Program Observation

The third phase of the YPAI is designed to assess your implementation of APS 10.13 through observation of activities and discussion with program leadership and personnel.  

What’s involved in Phase 3 of the YPAI?  

You will arrange a time for OYPC personnel to visit your program and observe it in action. This site visit will last approximately 90 minutes, including: 

  • 30 minute observation of program activities (program leadership does not need to be present during observation) 
  • 60 minute conversation with program leadership and, if possible, program staff. 

The site visit must be scheduled by no later than 30 days from the start of your assigned quarter. OYPC will contact you at the beginning of the quarter to determine optimal dates for the visit and interview(s).  

 

You will be contacted by OYPC at the beginning of your assigned site visit quarter. At that time, you will be asked to provide information about your program schedule and identify potential dates for a site visit. If you have multiple sessions that comprise your program, we will visit one of your sessions. Include those dates which will help OYPC see your program in action while not impeding your program activities.

 

Your site visit will be scheduled for a total of 90 minutes. This time will include 30 minutes to observe program activities and 60 minutes to talk with program leadership (and, in some cases, staff).  

 

Prior to the visit, prepare your staff by informing them of the reason for the visit, and who will be coming. Inform youth participants as well if appropriate.  

On the day of the site visit, if it will not disrupt your program activities, take a moment to introduce us (or allow us to do so) when we arrive so program staff and youth participants know who we are and what we’re doing. We are happy to observe activities, or, if appropriate, participate! 

 

The program observation will last approximately 30 minutes. A program director does not need to accompany us during the observation. OYPC representatives will simply observe the activity happening during the 30-minute period.  

While on site, OYPC will use the following metrics to evaluate the youth program. We will provide written feedback on the program’s fulfillment of each policy component in our final report to the youth program. 

Use this link to see YPAI Site Visit criteria. What is observed will vary greatly depending on the activities, setting, and other elements of your program.   

 

The interview is an opportunity for us to talk with you about your program, APS 10.13, the YPAI, and any questions you may have. Below is a list of potential questions we may ask; keep in mind that we will not ask all of them, and may ask questions you don’t see reflected on the list. OYPC will select the questions most relevant to the program setting/type, the goals or areas of growth articulated in the previous assessment materials, etc.  Programs will also have a chance to ask any questions of OYPC. We need approximately one hour for the interview. 

We may also ask to speak with a program staff member. If we request this and if it is possible given your programming, we will take 10-15 minutes to speak with that staff member. The program director should not be present during that time.   

 

Authorized personnel

  1. How did you determine which of your staff should be designated as authorized personnel, and communicate to them this distinction?  
  2. How do you prevent non-authorized personnel from being alone with youth?  

Training

  1. How did you decide what topics to include in your staff training and onboarding? 
  2. How do you onboard and train your staff including the content you include, modality and on what schedule? Do you provide any ongoing or periodic training? 
  3. Are there any topics you would like to incorporate into your training? Anything that isn’t currently covered that you feel your staff would benefit from? 
  4. How do you respond if one of your staff is not performing their duties in accordance with their training? What is your corrective action plan? 

Conduct 

  1. How do you communicate conduct expectations to staff, monitor for adherence, and respond to personnel who aren’t adhering to expectations?   

Reporting behaviors of concern and child abuse /neglect 

  1. How do you convey a culture of transparency and reporting? What challenges have you experienced in those endeavors? 
  2. Have you or any of your staff made a report to SafeCampus regarding a violation of your conduct code? If so, please share a little about that experience. 

Safe environments  

  1. What external/environmental hazards did you find in your risk assessment? How do you mitigate those risks? 
  2. Tell us about your workplace safety orientation for youth: what content is covered? How long is it? What do you do to ensure youth understand the content? What do you do if a youth misses the orientation? 
  3. How do you train staff to respond to, report and document injuries or near-miss incidents? 
  4. What is your supervision ratio? Are there any tasks or environments where you perform more close supervision? 
  5. Are there any activities or tasks that you deem high risk? How do you make those determinations? Do you demonstrate any activities/tasks rather than allowing youth to perform them?  
  6. Who is responsible for ensuring youth are appropriately outfitted with PPE (if applicable) and are following the dress code? What do you do if a youth shows up without closed toed shoes?  
  7. Have you requested any learner exemptions for 16-17 year olds? What was your engagement with EH&S on this topic and what was the outcome?  

Emergency planning and preparedness 

  1. How do you train your staff in your emergency response procedures? 
  2. Have you revised your emergency plan recently? If so, tell us a little about the changes you made and what prompted them.  
  3. How do you prepare youth to respond in an emergency? 

Privacy 

  1. Tell us about the process of customizing your privacy consent form. Did you change any of your data collection practices because of what requires consent? 
  2. What do you do if a family does not give consent for one of the data processing activities identified in your consent form, but all other families have consented? In other words, how do you honor individual consent? 
  3. Tell us a little about your data retention: where are records kept? Do you use electronic signatures? How do you purge old records? 
  4. What technology platforms are you using and for what purposes? 

OYPC 

  1. What questions do you have for us? About youth programs, UW, OPYC, APS 10.13, or this process? 
  2. What resources or supports could you, your staff, and/or your youth participants benefit from? 

 

Authorized personnel 

  1. How does your job differ from that of your colleagues who are not designated as authorized personnel? 

Training  

  1. What training did you receive when you began the role? What training do you receive since or on an ongoing basis? 
  2. Did you/do you feel equipped to fulfill your position duties? What could help you feel more equipped? 

Conduct 

  1. Summarize the conduct expectations of your program.  
  2. How does your program enforce or uphold those conduct expectations? 
  3. Do you know what happens if a violation of the conduct code is reported? (If so, please explain that response protocol.) 

Reporting behaviors of concern and child abuse/neglect 

  1. Do you believe your program prioritizes reporting behaviors of concern? How is this communicated to you?  
  2. Have you ever made a report to SafeCampus regarding a violation of the conduct code? If so, please share a little about that experience. 

Safe environments  

  1. Do you feel the environments you work in are safe for minors? Why or why not? 
  2. Have you ever witnessed and had to report an injury for youth or staff? If so, please share a little about that experience. 

Emergency planning and preparedness 

  1. What training did/do you receive regarding your emergency preparedness plan? 
  2. Did you feel prepared to fulfill your duties in an emergency? What could help you feel more prepared? 

Privacy 

  1. How do you know which types of data collection or processing activities are allowed within your program? (Example: are you allowed to take pictures of youth for promotional materials?) 

OYPC 

  1. What questions do you have for us? About youth programs, UW, OPYC, APS 10.13, or this process? 
  2. What resources or supports could you, your staff, and/or your youth participants benefit from? 

 

Within 60 days of the site visit, OYPC will provide comprehensive, individualized feedback (via email and in the YPRS) on your program’s implementation of APS 10.13. This feedback may identify opportunities for future growth, resources of interest and other suggestions to help strengthen your program. 

Following the conclusion of Phase 3 of the YPAI, you will enter Phase 4, a year without any new assessments. Our hope is that this implementation year that will allow you to integrate OYPC’s feedback and your own learning from the YPAI into your program operations before beginning the YPAI cycle again the following year with Phase 1. 


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