OUR RESPONSIBILITY IS TO ENSURE CHILD SAFETY
Chabad-Lubavitch’ Merkos Chinuch Office has a long standing policy guide for affiliated schools, outlining the procedures that schools must implement in areas of child protection and safety. It mandates that schools abide by state and federal regulations, including those concerning mandatory reporting of child abuse.
The Merkos Chinuch Office has also taken a strong proactive role in implementing a child abuse prevention initiative. In a community-wide initiative, the "Safety Kid" program has educated nearly 3,000 parents, more than 600 teachers, and has empowered 8,000 children in Brooklyn during the winter of 2012 - 13, to help ensure their safety. The immediate success of the program is self-evident and the Chinuch Office intends to implement “Safety Kid” and similar programs in other cities across the country.
While no policy or guide can be foolproof, we continue to be vigilant and trust that these steps, and others which will follow, will go a long way to enable our schools to protect children and help ensure their safety.