Child Protection Guidelines

At Mayhew, our number one job is to provide support to the participants of our program and to ensure their care, welfare, safety and security while under our care.  We value your trust dearly and want to make clear the high standard of behavior and performance we expect from every adult member of our community. To protect those in our care we are committed to the following practices and policies: 

 

Hiring and Screening:  

• All prospective staff members complete an application that includes questions about past work history, experience, and education. In addition, the application requires candidates to acknowledge Mayhew’s zero-tolerance policy for abuse or harassment. 

• All prospective staff members are interviewed by full-year staff with hiring experience. 

• Mayhew completes a full criminal activity check on all new hires and any new volunteers working directly with youth, including a screening of the national sex offender registry. 

• Mayhew requests and follows up on at least 3 references for all prospective staff. 

 

Training, Education, and Routine Criminal Background Checks: 

• All staff review and sign Mayhew’s Code of Conduct annually.  

• All staff participate in child abuse prevention training annually. 

• Mayhew conducts searches for criminal activity for all current staff annually. 

 

Adult Expectations: 

• All adults are expected to immediately report any indications, warning signs, or suspicions about abuse to a supervisor. 

• All adults are expected to avoid situations where they are alone one-on-one with a child and cannot be observed/interrupted by others. 

• Physical contact in the community is generally limited to high-fives, handshakes, fist bumps, and consensual side hugs. If a particular role or responsibility necessitates physical contact outside of these limits, that contact must be observable, interruptible, and necessary. 

• Adults are expected to emphasize modesty and not expose their bathing suit areas to others in any context or situation. Adults are expected to ask participants to be similarly modest. 

• Adults are not allowed to develop/maintain relationships with participants outside of their assigned job duties. 

• Counselors-in-training, junior counselors, volunteers, and visitors are never allowed to supervise participants. An adult staff member must always be present. 

 

Program Operation 

• Mayhew is licensed to operate as a camp by the State of New Hampshire and meets all state requirements. 

• At camp, the participant-to-staff ratio will never exceed 7:1 

• Away from camp, the participant-to-staff ratio will never exceed 4:1 

 

If you have any concerns or questions, please be encouraged to contact Mayhew at 603-744-6131