How We Protect Minors
The University of Texas at Austin is committed to protecting minors participating in sponsored university camps and programs. With this commitment in mind, the university developed the Youth Protection Program (YPP) to ensure the safety of minors participating in university-sponsored camps or programs.
The university adopted the Youth Protection Program Policy to reaffirm its commitment to protect minors. This policy serves to reinforce state law and give additional guidance to staff, faculty, students, and volunteers.
The creation of the YPP and adoption of the YPP Policy resulted in establishing safeguards for minors:
- All camps/programs are required to register their programs with the YPP director.
- All camp directors and designated individuals working with minors must complete a criminal background check each year of the program. The background checks consist of:
- Texas DPS Crime Records Service – Secure or Public Site
- a sex offender registration check
- an appropriate out-of-state check
- an international check for any foreign national who the camp director has reason to believe lived outside the U.S. after the age of 14 unless the person’s visa issuance or renewal occurred after implementation of the U.S. Patriot Act on October 24, 2011. (Reasonable efforts will be used to obtain such a check and it need only be conducted initially if the individual does not live outside the U.S. during the year.)
- All camp directors and designated individuals must complete The University of Texas Child Protection Training and examination.
- A Youth Protection Program Guidebook is available to all camp directors and designated individuals to orient them to the YPP program and guidelines.
- Reporting requirements have been established to report suspected abuse or neglect.