In 2015, Scott was asked by a friend to consider becoming a Darkness to Light Authorized Facilitator in a joint effort throughout Oregon and Northern California called the Protect Our Children (POC) movement. The Ford Family Foundation funded the POC effort and helped pave the way for normalizing conversations and providing training around the prevention of child sexual abuse in the area. The goal of the program was to train 5% of the adults in their county, and they’ve more than met that goal!
Since his Facilitator training nine years ago, Scott has trained just over 1,400 individuals in Stewards of Children® throughout northwest California & Southern Oregon, where he serves as the CEO of the Siskiyou Family YMCA. Scott doesn’t have any shared lived experience with child sexual abuse, so when he first learned about the prevalence of the issue, “it stunned me.” The more trainings he facilitated, and the subsequent disclosures he received, the more he began to re-assess how he viewed his YMCA’s operations, trainings, and facility. Upon receiving the training themselves in 2016, the Board of Directors at the YMCA moved to adopt a condition of employment which requires all staff and volunteers to take Stewards of Children® prior to beginning work.
Stewards of Children® has also influenced Scott’s work as a girl’s volleyball coach at the local high school. The coaching staff now regularly have open conversations about the identification and signs of potential child sexual abuse. The high school administration has supported these conversations around prevention and gone so far as to allow class-wide trainings of Stewards of Children® during the month of April (Child Abuse Awareness Month) for the last 2 years.
When Scott first became a Facilitator, he immediately noticed a discrepancy in the makeup of the training room. There were 46 individuals present; 42 of them were women but only 4 were men. Scott realized, “If we’re going to move forward in abolishing child sexual abuse, we need to be able to have difficult conversations on ALL fronts. Step 3 in Stewards of Children®, ‘Talk About It,’ comes to mind. The lack of men assisting in the education of other men around the topic is noticeable and alarming, in my opinion.” Scott’s team-centric coaching philosophy kicked in and he began to evaluate how the YMCA could actualize their potential in the movement to end child sexual abuse. “We need EVERY team member involved to reach our goal. It is time for men to step up and become more actively engaged in the prevention effort…on all fronts.” Scott’s hope is that through his involvement as a male Facilitator, he can inspire other men to become more engaged in action around prevention.
What's one piece of advice you would give someone about this topic?
"I often lean on one of Ernest Shackleton’s quotes: “The greatest form of courage is optimism.” It is easy to become discouraged in work around the prevention of child sexual abuse. As leaders in this movement, we must be fixed points through the successes and the trials. You can put forth your best effort around child safety, change policies in your organization, change trainings within your staff, raise awareness in your community and STILL something might happen. After all the work, a child still might be harmed. That is the harsh reality of working in this field. We must remain hopeful and push back on the discouragement…I’ve been there. We must choose optimism. Prayers of continued strength and resilience for those who have shared lived experience and for those who CHOOSE to remain optimistic while pushing education forward!"
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