Rogue Valley Hockey Association Safesport
General SafeSport Information
Welcome to the 2023-24 season. The primary changes to the SafeSport program at this time are all related to new federal legislation - the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017. In the coming months the SafeSport program will change to reflect new policies and procedures, education and training that will impact all members of USA Hockey.
There are currently no changes to the existing USA Hockey SafeSport education from the prior season.
A reminder that SafeSport is applicable to every member of USA Hockey - not just travel programs. If you are a rink and are running USA Hockey programs, or an independent house program registering players with USA Hockey, all the SafeSport policies apply to your program. There is no “waiver” of compliance with SafeSport for any USA Hockey program. This is not new – but with the law, there is a renewed focus on compliance.
What’s new?
The SafeSport Act of 2017 is now federal law, and all member organizations must comply. While the highlighted changes below indicate the key components of the new legislation, they will affect our membership immediately in the following ways:
- Liability to report
- Who must report
- Accountability of the member organization (each program)
Pay particular attention to:
Duty to Report:
- All member programs must report all SafeSport activity within their organization to the state affiliate SafeSport Coordinator. What does this mean? All National Governing Body/ies (NGB’s) now have increased reporting responsibilities. If you plan to handle a SafeSport issue internally, the first step is to report it to your program’s SafeSport coordinator, who will report it to the state affiliate SafeSport Coordinator. There are no exceptions to this reporting requirement. All NGB’s will be audited regularly for SafeSport activity, and every incident that is reported within an organization, must be reported to the state affiliate.
- Mandatory duty to report all known or suspected instances of physical or sexual abuse. All known, suspected or reported incidents of child physical or sexual abuse must be reported to the following in this order: local law enforcement, the U.S. Center for SafeSport, your program’s SafeSport coordinator and the state affiliate SafeSport coordinator. There are step by step guides with information on how to report in the Educational Resources below.
- Mandatory Reporter – who must report?
- Duty to Report/Mandatory Reporter. Any individual who holds a designated position or role that interacts with minors in a youth sports organization (referred to as a “covered individual” and “mandatory reporter”) IS REQUIRED to report any known or suspected case of child abuse within 24 hours to both CPS or local law enforcement, as well as the U.S. Center for SafeSport. Who is a mandatory reporter? Every volunteer, board member, coach, manager, locker room monitor, SafeSport Liaison, etc. If you have a role in which you interact with minors in a youth sports organization, then you are now a mandatory reporter under the SafeSport Act of 2017. There are multiple sources of information regarding mandatory reporters in the Educational Resources below.
- Criminal Penalties. An individual who is required, but fails, to report suspected child sexual abuse is subject to criminal penalties for non-reporting. This means that there are federal criminal penalties for non-reporting of information. There are also civil penalties for non-reporting in the State of Oregon under the existing Mandatory Reporter legislation.
- Organizational Changes. The USOC now has ultimate oversight of SafeSport across all NGB organizations, in conjunction with the US Center for SafeSport. Random and regular audits of all NGB SafeSport activities, education and training will be instituted. This is one reason that ALL SafeSport activity must be reported to the state affiliate.
- The U.S. Center for SafeSport. The role of the U.S. Center for SafeSport will now expand to include both a (1) report and investigation office and a (2) education and outreach office. The education and outreach office will develop and have oversight of all SafeSport training criteria, requirements and materials, including screening. The U.S.C.S.S is the entity that will develop the new programming that supports any changes in policy and procedure for SafeSport.
The USA Hockey Pacific District SafeSport page has been updated with all new resources to understand the SafeSport program and requirements. Click here: http://pacificdistricthockey.com/view.pl?p=safesport/safesport.htm
Rogue Valley Hockey Association SafeSport contact: Steven Bryan by Email: steven.bryan@rvhahockey.org