Best Practices

Protecting Vulnerable Populations from Abuse

Background screening offers a powerful new tool for evaluating volunteers, and should always be used along with policies and procedures that help to protect children and other vulnerable populations.

Below are other resources that offer guidance to help protect vulnerable populations.

Websites of Interest

• Nonprofit Risk Management
• Prevent Child Abuse America
• Jist
• NCMEC
• The Administration for Children And Families
• National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse & Neglect Information
• Pandora's Box
• National Youth Development Information Center

National Nonprofit Organizations That Provide Guidelines for Protection

• The Boy Scouts of America
• YMCA
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Recommended Reading

Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, and Other Sex Offenders: Who They Are, how They Operate, and how We Can Protect Ourselves and Our Children
Anna C. Salter, Anna Salter

Protecting Your Children from Sexual Predators
Leigh Baker

Evil That Men Do: FBI Profiler Roy Hazelwood's Journey into the Minds of Sexual Predators
Stephen G. Michaud, Roy Hazelwood

Obsession: The FBI's Legendary Profiler Probes the Psyches of Killers, Rapists, and Stalkers and Their Victims and Tells how to Fight Back
John Douglas, Mark Olshaker

Sex Crimes
Alice S. Vachss

Inside the Mind of Sexual Offenders:: Predatory Rapists, Pedophiles, and Criminal Profiles
Dennis J. Stevens, Foreword by Frank Schmalleger

Conversations with a Pedophile
Amy Hammel-Zabin

Publications
by Catalina Herrerias, MSW, Ph.D.

• Kid's Guide to Who You Can Trust: Protect Yourself at Home, at School, and on the Internet
• La guia de los ninos a quien tu puedes confiar: Protect Yourself at Home, at School, and on the Internet
• Teen's Guide to Personal Safety and Preventing Sexual Abuse
• Parent's Guide to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse:
• La guia de los padres para prevenir abuso sexual de los ninos: