ARLINGTON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Praesidium, a national leader in risk management of sexual abuse of vulnerable populations within organizations, announced today that the organization has assembled a Standards Advisory Panel and embarked on a review process to ensure its Accreditation Standards remain effective and address all areas of abuse risk within different industries.
Praesidium continues to analyze and explore the ever-changing landscape of abuse prevention within organizations. By bringing various experts from outside of Praesidium together, Praesidium taps into decades of knowledge, research, and experience with their newly appointed Accreditation Standards Advisory Panel. This panel works closely with the Praesidium team to ensure the upcoming revised Praesidium Accreditation Standards will continue to be the gold standard in abuse prevention.
The External Panel Members That Have Been Appointed include:
- Jenna Quinn, Advocate, author, and the namesake of Jenna’s Law, a sexual abuse prevention education law
- Elizabeth Jeglic, Ph.D., Sexual Violence Prevention Researcher, Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice
- Amber McKeen, MSW, MPH Project Manager at CDC Foundation
- Jared Bishop, Divisional Assistant Vice President – Loss Control at Great American Insurance Group
- Paul Mayhew, Associate Head of School for Operations at River Oaks Baptist School
- Damian Kavanagh, Ed.D., Executive Director at MISBO
- Andrea Watson, Director Outdoor Programs and Properties at Boy Scouts of America
- Britt Darwin-Looney, JD Vice President of Child Protection and Organizational Risk at YMCA of the USA
“When we talk about our standards, one of the things that we work really hard to do is to show what standards would apply across a wide variety of industries and which standards are going to be industry-specific,” said Aaron Lundberg, MSW & CEO of Praesidium. “With this unique external panel, we are incorporating different perspectives and viewpoints, along with our own internally, that can impact a range of different industries, including childcare development, youth sports, religious institutions, schools, social service, fitness chains, and so much more.”
As the national landscape of abuse prevention efforts is rapidly evolving, and diverse contributions across this landscape are collectively strengthening, Praesidium is taking its efforts one step further by revising its Accreditation Standards – which was last done in 2020. Through this process, both the external panel and internal executive leadership team will take a deep dive into the 23 standards, 103 components, and criteria that make up these standards to ensure they remain in-line with industry changes, laws, and best practice standards.
“We understand that incidents of abuse have a very complex causality and understanding how abuse happens is critical to prevention,” said Kiran Rupani, Director of Accreditation. “Having standards in place that are rooted in the latest research, incident evaluations, and industry expertise is key to maintaining the highest standard when it comes to preventing sexual abuse in organizations that serve youth and vulnerable adults.”
For more information or to reach out for a consultation, visit https://www.praesidiuminc.com/.
About Praesidium
Praesidium specializes in preventing sexual abuse in organizations that serve youth and vulnerable adults. Over a period over 30 years, the company has reviewed over 4,000 cases of abuse within organizations to determine the root causes of sexual abuse within organizational settings. Praesidium employs more than 40 staff, including licensed social workers, lawyers, health care researchers, and other experts. The company has served over 5,000 clients with a broad range of products and services to aid organizations in preventing abuse, including online and instructor–led trainings, organizational risk assessments, model policies and background checks. Having trained more than one million people online and hundreds of thousands in person, Praesidium is the largest and most comprehensive sexual abuse risk management firm globally.
