UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- In an average year, Penn State delivers a plethora of in-person youth programming across the University. These programs offer a variety of learning opportunities ranging from academic, athletic and recreational programs held at one of the University’s campus locations to 4-H programs located throughout the entire state.
Programs range in length from one and two day events to residential campus that offer one or more weeks of in-depth study, providing students with the experience of living on campus and gaining insight as to what Penn Stat4e’scampuses have to offer.
As the COVID-19 pandemic imposed new challenges and restrictions on in-person programming, Penn State’s youth programming has risen to the challenge by switching to a new virtual delivery platform. Virtual programming includes asynchronous learning, a virtual theatre program and a virtual sports camp conducted by the Penn State Women’s Lacrosse team.
The University’s Youth Programs Compliance Unit, part of the Office of Ethics and Compliance, has worked diligently to help produce engaging and meaningful virtual learning environments for their program participants. Penn State is committed to promoting a safe environment for all youth participating in activities offered through the University. The Youth Programs Compliance Unit, in coordination with the University’s Youth Program Advisory Council, embraces a culture of service that values teamwork and focuses on the needs of all youth programs, including:
- Continual review and update of university policy and procedures based on current law and national best practices;
- Dissemination of updated policy and procedure information to all youth programs staff as well as to the university at large;
- Sharing effective training options to individual programs for the purpose of continually enhancing the quality of youth programming;
- Participating in the review of monitoring activities designed to evaluate effectiveness of all policies and youth programs and ensuring that results are incorporated into a continuous quality improvement;
Additional responsibilities of the Youth Program Compliance staff include the oversight of reporting suspected child abuse under University Policy AD72, as well as the creation and updating of the “Building a Safe Penn State: Reporting Child Abuse” training.
Penn State is a national leader in higher education youth protection and works in conjunction with Universities nationwide to help create policies and standards that promotes a culture of safety for interacting with youth when they visit our campuses. Additional information and resources -- including youth program policies, best practices for managing youth programs, background check information and procedures for reporting child abuse – is available at https://universityethics.psu.edu/youth-programs.
To learn more about the Office of Ethics and Compliance, please visit https://universityethics.psu.edu/.