Over the last 25 years, Praesidium has reviewed and consulted on thousands of cases of sexual abuse across all industries serving vulnerable populations. Those organizations include K-12 schools and higher education institutions, youth serving organizations working with children and youth, churches and religious institutions, social service organizations, and many more.  

Because Praesidium's mission is to "help you protect those in your care from abuse and to help preserve trust in your organization," we decided to take our findings over the course of the year and identify trends and offer some direct tips on what organizations can do within each section of the Praesidium Report. We hope you find this report valuable and encourage you to share it with your colleagues via the share buttons on this page.  

Praesidium’s online self-assessment tool, allows an organization to systematically determine the extent to which it has best practice standards in place within each of the eight operations included in Praesidium’s Safety Equation®. Find out how these organizations ranked themselves within each operation using this tool.

Praesidium offers a 24-hour call-in helpline solution to our clients. This helpline is used to assess an identified red-flag behavior, suspicious or inappropriate behaviors or allegations within an organization. Each call has a team of experts behind the scenes diligently discussing the best course of action and identifying next-steps the organizations may want to consider. We've identified several categories of situations from the hundreds of calls received like alleged adult-to-child abuse and peer-to-peer sexual activity or abuse to name a few. Find out which type we see the most and where the activity is most likely to take place.

As industry standards change with regards to abuse prevention (such as increased mandated reporting requirements, required abuse prevention trainings, required background checks and fingerprint checks, etc.) our clients must adjust their approach to abuse risk management. Across many industries, we’ve seen a shift towards focusing on organizational oversight when it comes to addressing the topic of abuse prevention.  

Learn about the trends we are seeing in the following industries: schools serving students (K-12 and Higher Education); youth serving organizations working with children and youth (camps, fitness facilities, YMCAs, resorts, exchange programs, childcare facilities, etc.); religious organizations and churches serving children, youth and vulnerable adults; as well as social service organizations serving vulnerable populations (foster care, home health care, hospital care, services for adults with disabilities, etc.).  

Who is Praesidium?

Praesidium is the national leader in abuse risk management of sexual abuse of vulnerable populations. With more than 25 years of experience, and serving over 4,000 clients, our dedicated team of researchers, psychologists, attorneys, social workers, and human resources professionals have analyzed thousands of cases of abuse and synthesized the latest scientific research. We know how abuse happens in organizations and more importantly, how to prevent it.

What is Praesidium's approach to managing the risk of abuse in clients' organizations?

Praesidium uses a systems-based approach created from the scientific research of thousands of reported incidents of abuse. This analysis identified that the root-causes of incidents fall into one or more of eight organizational operations which, taken together, comprise Praesidium’s Safety Equation®. We help our clients implement best practice standards in each of the eight operations to close gaps, decrease risks, and creates safer environments within their organizations.  

Copyright Praesidium 2018 | The information contained herein is for educational purposes to assist in the prevention of organizational abuse. However, it must be noted that no system can guarantee prevention of abuse. This information is not legal advice, either expressed or implied. Consultation with qualified legal counsel is recommended. This information is provided “As Is” without warranty, express or implied. The reader assumes all risk for reliance thereon.