In the U.S., it is believed that one in ten children, of all genders, are sexually abused. Yearly, close to 1 million children participate in leagues associated with USA Football. This could mean that up to 100,000 children who are involved in youth football experience sexual abuse. Not necessarily because of their involvement in football, but at home or in the community. These children are on your team and may need your help.
1 in 10 children have experienced sexual abuse.
Prevention cannot depend on us telling kids to tell us when something harmful is happening. As adults, we must learn what we can do to help create safe environments for kids and then respond when there's a threat in that environment.
You may have heard the term “Mandated Reporter” and are wondering whether you are one. Mandated reporters are professionals or volunteers who work with children and are legally required to report any suspicion of child abuse or neglect to relevant authorities.
Many coaches are mandatory reporters of child abuse under state or federal law, and if you are a certified USA Football coach, you are required to report any evidence or disclosure of abuse of any kind, and that includes sexual abuse; when a child is being sexually abused or when another youth or an adult is sexually harming or abusing a child. This also includes reporting warning signs of a possible sexual abuse situation, where there is a strong suspicion or there are warning signs that a child is being abused.
Even if you are not in a state that requires coaches to report, as a USA Football certified coach, you are required to notify authorities of abuse. The authorities can mean either the local police or your local child protection authorities.
You can find the number to make a report through the child welfare information gateway (childwelfare.gov(opens in a new tab)), or you can contact our helpline at [email protected] or call 1.888.PREVENT. You can also get this information by contacting ChildHelp at 1.800.422.4453
Reporting is actually fairly easy in most states.
- When you contact Child Protection Services, you can ask if you can remain anonymous when reporting.
- When you report, you want to be as specific as possible and stick to the facts. Describe what you saw or heard and be prepared with identifying information like first and last names, ages and locations. You don’t want to share any assumptions or your own impressions, just what you saw or heard.
- Typically, then the reporting agency will determine whether there is enough reason to investigate the report. Even if they don’t investigate when you make a report, reporting can be helpful because perhaps the next time someone makes a similar report, your information will help the case if necessary.
- You do not need proof or evidence. You can call your local child protection services even if you just have concerns and aren’t sure whether you have enough information to report.
- After you’ve made your report, you want to follow up. Your league may have certain policies in place about next steps, so do check in about that. After the report, let your league leader know that you have this report, or if you’re not comfortable talking to that person contact USA Football at [email protected]. USA Football will follow up with your league as your league follows its own investigative process.