Would you know a sex offender if you saw one?

March 10, 2017 by

As if you didn’t already have enough things to worry about, take a look at this chilling video from the state of Indiana. This is a sex offender training overview featuring interviews with investigators and a former teacher who was convicted of child sex abuse. Warning: This video is graphic in content and goes into detail about how this predator disguised himself so that he could abuse children. While there is no detailed sexual content the video can be disturbing for sensitive viewers.

Would you know a school sex offender?

What should be the most alarming piece is the number of missed instances that the sexual predator describes. Each time someone would become suspicious, he would evade detection by being a diligent worker and respected colleague.  At one point he states – “It felt like a lot of stuff was ignored. A lot of stuff was ignored.”

Chuck Cohen of the Indiana State Police adds that in many cases, those who reported abuse were not sure if they should. He reported comments like “I almost didn’t call you – but I thought I should” in cases of real abuse that was prosecuted. And of course, we know that sex offenders come in all ages and can be male or female.

Here are some tips for educators from the video:

  • Educators who try to do their own investigation, determine victims or scope of abuse can quickly result in destroyed evidence.
  • Talking to the alleged victim or other students to determine “what actually happened” before reporting the incident can violate privacy and destroy evidence.
  • Confronting the alleged offender yourself can hinder the investigation later.
  • Talking to the alleged victim in front of the offender or interviewing the offender in front of the victim should NEVER be done.
  • Do not wait until you have absolute certainty – that will probably be too late.

Remember – if you are reading this, you are probably a Mandatory Reporter because of your job or state law. This means you are required to IMMEDIATELY report any suspicion to law enforcement or your states child protective agency. While this is often loosely defined, realize that even a short delay can allow further victimization to take place and evidence to be destroyed.

“Legally, if you do not report something you are required to report, you are committing a crime.”

The video also describes how most law enforcement investigations of suspected child abuse are low-key and designed to avoid disrupting the school environment. The best way to protect the victim’s privacy and to avoid violating the privacy of alleged offenders is to immediately notify law enforcement and let them handle the investigation.

Indiana Department of Education: Sexual Predator Awareness video

Warning: This video contains graphic information and detailed descriptions of sexual predator assaults:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hxuISh6HIc

Filed Under: Chris Dorn, Safe Havens Blog Tagged With: ,

South Carolina Advanced Emergency Management Training for School Districts Train the Trainer Program

March 2, 2017 by

It has been a true privilege to be able to work with five really outstanding groups of participants in a train the trainer program for the South Carolina Department of Education this month. We feel honored to have been selected by a competitive bid process to develop and present the five modules for this initiative across the state of South Carolina. We have been impressed to see school superintendents, business officers, operations and facilities directors, risk managers, student services, mental health, security directors, and law enforcement officers dedicate two days of their time for these information rich discussions.

Safe Havens developed customized presentations for five topical areas for the program:

  • Permission to Live – Engaging and Empowering School Personnel to Perform Life-Saving Actions and Communications
  • The Window of Life – How to Empower Staff to Act Fast and Survive Deadly Encounters
  • Getting Back Together – Off-Site Family Reunification for School Crisis Events
  • When the Dust Clears – How to Test the Effectiveness of a Continuity of Operations Plan
  • Road to Recovery – Putting Your Mental Health Recovery Plan to the Test

We researched and updated each of these topics and customized them to fit the needs of the South Carolina Department of Education and the school districts they serve. The Department has completed two prior projects to provide training for school staff and their community partners in school emergency planning. The – train the trainer programs were designed to help participants train personnel, conduct scenario-based building and district level drills and exercises to test the fidelity of their prevention, preparedness, response and recovery plans. The program was also designed to help districts improve their approaches to documentation of safety efforts to reduce civil liability exposure, risk of reputation damage and most importantly, to help prevent injury and loss of life.

The participants have each been provided with multimedia presentations for each of the five topics, planning and evaluation tools, and more than 30 school crisis video and audio scenarios. The focus of this program has been on providing tools to help the instructors not only provide high-quality scenario-based training, but also with ways to help obtain buy-in from school employees. This last point has been one of the biggest challenges school safety personnel face. The use of scenarios in each of the five modules are designed to help school officials and their community partners understand their risks, identify gaps and identify appropriate and realistic opportunities for improvement.

We are thankful to have had the opportunity to participate in a variety of statewide school safety initiatives in South Carolina, North Carolina, South Dakota, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. These programs afford excellent opportunities for Safe Havens to have a much broader and meaningful impact on school safety, and we feel truly blessed to work with state agencies on these exciting projects.

Filed Under: Safe Havens Blog, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Mackenzie Needs a Kidney

February 27, 2017 by

Safe Topics actress needs a kidney

Several years ago, Safe Havens International released the SafeTopics training video series as a teaching tool for school staff across the country. One of those videos – Special Needs Emergency Preparedness – featured a short video about one of our actors who has a special need. Mackenzie Milani and her mother Lindsey were interviewed about their experiences and the types of bullying that Mackenzie endures. This is just one facet of the issues affecting students with special needs and the difficulties staff may have in observing and addressing these kinds of situations. Furthermore, it demonstrates that ‘special needs’ are not always those we expect or even notice on the surface.

 

Most of our babies arrive with little to no problem and yet we still find ourselves counting their little fingers and toes for reassurance. This is a testament to the fact that even with the healthiest of children parents still worry and put themselves through undue stress. Some parents however, like Lindsey Milani, find that their gifted beautiful children also come with special complications – in her case, ailments that follow them throughout their young lives. For Mackenzie this is because she was born without a bladder. Throughout her life, she has been riddled with medical appointments, hospital visits (thousands), surgeries (six so far), infections and much more. Though these situations have often removed Mackenzie from the classroom, she has never fallen behind in her studies. An avid reader, her nose can often be found deep inside books too heavy for her small stature. Through all of this Mackenzie has had the power to remain at the top of her class year after year, smiling and sharp. Nothing has had the capacity to hold her down. She has brought a much-needed light into a world we so often take for granted.

 

Over the years Lindsey has done everything in her power to keep her child healthy and happy. Her goal has been to give her daughter as much of a “normal” childhood as possible. This sort of hardship day after day wares on even the strongest of us and at 13 years old Mackenzie longs to fit in with her peers. Lindsey has spent over a decade handling the stresses of appointments followed by cumbersome medical bills, traveling to Washington State, Ohio, and New York to see specialists, and ultimately moving her family to where the best doctors and medical facilities for Mackenzie’s condition are. She has devotedly delivered a message to every teacher, friend and person along her path to raise awareness not only of her daughter’s special needs but of the cause as a whole.

 

For some time now Mackenzie has been doing very well. The Milanis thought their most trying times were behind them after her surgery to build a functioning bladder. Many things seemed to get easier and the infections seemed to show themselves less often. Mackenzie has even been enjoying her time on the color guard of which although she is still in middle school she participates at a high school level. Recently, however, the Milanis were notified that Mackenzies kidneys are presently in late stage four renal failure and she is in need of a kidney transplant. The family is trying very hard to find a match for Mackenzie in order to avoid dialysis.

 

If you are interested in assisting Mackenzie’s hardships please follow her on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Mackenziescurefan/

 

Visit her GoFundMe at: https://www.gofundme.com/kidneyforkenzie

 

Watch Safe Havens Videos featuring Mackenzie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBZ86T25u0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vidIFPECNvE#t=93.00117472

 

If you are interested in learning more about kidney disease visit kidney.org

 

 

Filed Under: Safe Havens Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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