The first step in preventing institutional child abuse and neglect is hiring the right people for your programs. Your programs are only as good as the people who staff them. It is essential that you—and families—trust the people who are providing care for children and youth. However, sometimes you have little control over staffing decisions. Perhaps you are a new manager, and most of the staff members have been employed in the program longer than you have. Perhaps you have very high levels of turnover and it is difficult to find the caliber of staff you need for your program. Regardless of your situation, you must take steps to make sure the staff members in your programs are qualified, well-trained, and ready to keep children safe.

The specific steps you will take to hire an individual are prescribed and specific to your Service or installation. You will learn more about these procedures through Service or installation leaders. This lesson will focus on the “softer side” of hiring: how do you recognize a well-qualified potential staff member when one comes through your hiring channels?

Consider the following scenarios:

• Dee has worked in various child and youth programs longer than you have, and she has applied for a new position in your program. Many of the other staff members roll their eyes and call her “old school.” She has long-held beliefs about how to discipline children that may not be completely consistent with modern developmentally appropriate practice.
• Ashleigh has applied to work in your program. She has lots of experience working with children, but most of her experience has been in programs that are very different from your own. You are concerned that there are some things you do differently. You worry she might struggle to follow your program’s policies.

在上述两个情况下，您有重要的决策，这些决定可能会导致让儿童在您的计划中保持安全。如何使这些决定是对自己的领导风格的反映，但有重要的事情需要考虑。本课程的其余部分将重点关注帮助您对将关心儿童和青年的人做出决定。请记住，这些相同的考虑适用于与您的计划中与儿童联系的每个人：食品服务人员，维护和监护人员，志愿者，承包商等。

资格考虑

你的MIL服务民众Programhas developed staffing requirements that ensure you hire individuals who have the skills and dispositions necessary to keep children safe. Before hiring an employee, you should carefully consider the needs of your program and the characteristics of the position. These thoughts should be guided or informed by the staffing requirements set by yourMIL服务民众Program。您应该考虑两种类型的资格。首先，考虑个人的背景，经验和教育。具有一些与儿童或儿童发展教育的经历的个人更有可能了解儿童发展。这将帮助他们在程序中适当地进行互动并设计适当的体验。然后，考虑个人的性格或处置，这将有助于他们与孩子建立积极关系，并将成为您团队成功的成员。

背景，经验和教育

有一些最低要求适用于大多数州和国防部的计划。这些包括：

• 18岁
• High school diploma or equivalent
• Initial training

These are minimum qualifications. For teaching staff, you will likely want staff to have additional qualifications. Consider:

• 多年经验与儿童在有偿位置工作
• Specialized education or training beyond high school related to early childhood or school-age care
• 凭证如儿童发展助理（CDA）
• Physical or behavioral requirements of the job (i.e., being able to lift 40 lbs throughout the day, remaining calm and professional in stressful situations)

Dispositions

重要的是,梅伊的潜在员工t minimum qualifications, but there are many other important characteristics you must consider. You also want staff members who will be a good “fit” for your program, and you want staff members who will honor their commitment to keep children safe. When making hiring decisions, consider the disposition of the individual. Disposition is a person’s inherent qualities, personality, or character. Think about the dispositions that are important to you and your program. What qualities make a person a good member of your team? What qualities make a person (a) able to recognize, report, and recover when they suspect a child has been maltreated and (b) less likely to accidentally or intentionally harm a child?

根据美国劳工部(O*NET, 2010), the following work styles (or dispositions) are required for employees in child development and school-age programs:

当您查看此列表时，您是否可以理解为什么这些特征在预防儿童滥用和忽视中可能有用？具有这些特征的个人可能遵循您的计划所建立的政策和程序，以防止滥用和忽视。他们也可能保持冷静，与压力很好，并在需要时寻求帮助。当孩子造成伤害的方式时，他们可能会对孩子们感到认识并回应，他们很可能会关心。所有这些特征都有助于防止滥用和忽视。

Procedures for Hiring

一旦您确定了在员工中想要的资格和特征，您就可以开始招聘流程。成功的招聘过程包括多个阶段。每个阶段都可以帮助您确认潜在的员工具有让儿童安全所需的资格和特征。招聘过程MILwill be prescribed by your Service, but itoften includes: written or electronic applications, one or more interviews, background screening, reviewing references, and a probationary period (Child Care Aware, 2013). The following sections will describe general information about each of these steps.

Written or Electronic Applications

Applications are a necessary step for hiring any employee. Applications may be accepted on paper or electronically. A written application provides you with a great deal of information about a potential employee’s background, education, and experiences. A written application also provides some information about a potential employee’s disposition or characteristics. For example, a written application may give you insight into:

• 注意细节：有拼写错误吗？申请凌乱或皱纹吗？有没有缺少的信息？
• 诚信：提供的信息看起来诚实吗？是否有信息似乎不可能？例如，看看个人在以前的就业中描述他们的职责。是符合的标题，工资和工作职责，或者申请人可以过度描述其作用吗？有时候才能在挖掘申请人的历史后发现不诚实，但申请中的任何明显问题都将是从考虑中删除申请的理由。
• 可靠性：申请是否按时提交？它是否通过所请求的系统（在线，邮件，个人等）提交？
• Persistence: Does the applicant follow-up to make sure the application was received? Do they check-in respectfully after a period of time has passed?

访谈和参考资料

You should conduct face-to-face interviews with potential staff members before hiring. This will help you get a feel for how the staff member interacts and might fit with your program’s philosophy. Look for the dispositions described above. Also look for any warning signs that the individual might not be a good fit for work with children. Make every effort to talk to references rather than simply requesting a written reference. You can gain more information and a better impression of the applicant’s history by having a conversation.

背景筛选

All existing and newly hired staff must undergo a criminal history check, which includes a federal and state fingerprint check. This includes a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fingerprint check and a State Criminal History Repositories (SCHR) check of residences listed on employment applications. Any conviction for a sex crime, an offense involving a child victim, or a drug felony may be ground for denying employment or for dismissal. Conviction of a crime other than a sex crime may be considered if it bears on an individual’s fitness to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children.MILThe DoD has the民众You have the拒绝或从就业或志愿者身份拒绝或删除任何申请人或现有雇员的权利，任何申请人或现有雇员，因为贬损信息都包含在适当的调查中。申请人或雇员有权由招聘管理局聘请拟议的纪律处分，解读或拒绝聘请。个人有机会挑战报告信息的准确性和完整性。

试用期和持续监督

MIL国防部指示1402.5（1993年1月19日）允许国防部民众根据您的计划的政策，您可能有许可to provisionally hire individuals before the completion of a background check. However, at all times while children are in the care of that individual, the provider must be within sight and under the supervision of a staff person whose background check has been successfully completed.

There are a variety of ways that programs identify staff members who are in a probationary period. Talk with yourMIL服务or installationleadership about options that work for your program. Options include:

• Color-coded identification badges for all staff
• Identifiable clothing such as red shirts for staff who have not completed background screenings

您有责任确保设计人员配置时间表，因此所有个人在试用期期间就直接监督。应该指出的是，背景检查要求适用于与儿童联系的计划中的每个人：经理，培训和课程专家，食品服务人员，维护和监护人员，志愿者和承包商。

下一课将提供详细信息，以便在整个职业生涯中为工作人员提供持续监督。