When Safe Isn’t Safe Enough: What Parents Deserve to Know About Youth Program Risks

When we send our kids to school, camp, practice, or after-school care, we trust that the adults in charge are keeping them safe. But too often, safety protocols are reactive instead of proactive. At Family Guidance and Outreach, we believe parents should be fully informed about where things stand, what to look for, and how to speak up.

A recent publication, the 2024 Praesidium Report, provides some hard truths. This in-depth analysis looked at hundreds of real incidents involving sexual abuse and misconduct across youth-serving organizations. The report doesn’t just focus on what went wrong, it gives a clear look at what organizations can do to get it right. And parents play a big part in that conversation too.

What the Report Shows

According to Praesidium’s internal data, K–12 schools and faith-based programs account for 62 percent of large losses related to abuse claims. These aren’t just financial losses; they reflect a failure to protect. Some of the incidents analyzed involved only a single offense, but the cost (human and financial) was enormous.

Negligent hiring practices carried the highest average cost, followed by poor supervision and lack of staff training. In simple terms, when organizations don’t screen well, don’t watch closely, or don’t teach their teams what to look for, kids are at greater risk.

The Rise in Youth-to-Youth Abuse

One of the most significant shifts in recent years is the rise in what experts now describe as youth problematic sexual behavior (PSB). This term helps separate concerning behaviors from criminal ones, while still recognizing that harm is taking place and intervention is needed. According to the report, 70 to 77 percent of reported abuse among minors involves another child or teen as the offender.

Some of the incidents reviewed happened in very familiar places: school buses, gyms, bathrooms, classrooms, or during camp free time. These are moments when adults aren’t always watching. One especially troubling trend is the use of AI-generated deepfake images, where youth use artificial intelligence to create explicit fake images of classmates. These are then shared among peers, often going viral before any adult is even aware.

What Safe Programs Do Differently

Here’s the key takeaway: the organizations that avoid these tragedies aren't just lucky. They're intentional. They train their staff. They monitor carefully. They don’t just rely on criminal background checks, but actually check references, conduct real interviews, and pay attention to red flags.

The 2024 Praesidium Report showed that in cases where early concerns were ignored, payouts were nearly ten times higher. That’s because the warning signs were already there, but the organization failed to act.

Good programs also make it easier to report concerns. They build cultures where speaking up is encouraged, not discouraged.

What Parents Can Do

You don’t have to be an expert to protect your child. You just have to be informed and willing to ask questions.

Ask your child’s program:

• How do you supervise unstructured time?

• Do you train your staff to recognize and report problematic behavior?

• What is your reporting process, and do you offer anonymous reporting?

• Do you include youth-to-youth incidents in your abuse prevention policies?

Talk to your child:

• Teach them that secrets about their body are never okay.

• Help them understand the difference between safe adults and unsafe behavior.

• Talk about digital risks, including the dangers of sharing images and the reality of fake content.

  
  

Our Role as a Community

Abuse prevention isn’t a checkbox. It’s a commitment. At Family Guidance and Outreach, we’re proud to provide parenting classes and community programs that help families understand the realities, spot warning signs, and protect the people they love.

We want you to know this: prevention works. But only when it’s a shared priority. If you want more information or are interested in bringing a safety training to your organization, reach out. We’re here to help.

All data and findings referenced in this article are drawn directly from the 2024 Praesidium Report, which analyzes over a decade of incidents, trends, and emerging risks across youth-serving and human service industries. For a full citation, visit www.PraesidiumInc.com or view the full report at https://hubs.ly/Q02sjP120.