Protection of Minors Program

SMU welcomes many students, employees, and visitors to campus every day and seeks to maintain an inviting, safe, and secure environment for those on campus or engaged in SMU-sponsored activities. In 2012, Texas passed legislation that requires employees of campus programs for minors attend a training and examination program that addresses the warning signs of sexual abuse and child molestation.

Overview

Any person who may come in contact with minors through the course of their involvement with SMU, an SMU organization, or an event on SMU's campus, must complete the required Protection of Minors training and comply with the Program. Please reference additional content on this page related to the following:

Each Camp Operator must demonstrate compliance with Texas law and SMU policies and procedures related to the Protection of Minors Program at least two days prior to the start of any camp.
Camp Coordinators must monitor the compliance of camps they oversee.
All individuals with an SMU ID can take the Protection of Minors required training through LawRoom, which Human Resources and the Office of Risk Management can facilitate.
Individuals not affiliated with SMU can take the required training through any state-approved vendor. The Office of Risk Management can help facilitate this.

The Protection of Minors Program is jointly managed by the Office of Risk Management (ORM) and Human Resources (HR) based on established procedures. These procedures may be viewed here. For more information on Protection of Minors Training for SMU employees, students, and temporary workers, please reference the Human Resources website on this subject.

Minors Online Programming Guidelines

For those who are conducting online programs that involve minors; visit Online Programs for Minors.

Training Requirements

State Requirements

This training is required by law for any employee working for a camp program that offers recreational, athletic, religious, or educational activities for those not enrolled at SMU and that is operated by or on the SMU campus. Read Texas Senate Bill 1414.

SMU Requirements

SMU has partnered with the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center (DCAC), a Texas-approved training provider, to host their training on SMU's vendor training platform with Lawroom as well as other platforms and mediums."Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse," referred to as "Protection of Minors," is required to be completed every two years by any person who may come in contact with minors through the course of their employment or involvement with SMU, an SMU organization, or an event on SMU's campus. It is the goal of SMU to exceed state requirements in this area.

For reporting purposes on the State Reporting Form, the course completion information for the training program should be identified as Dallas Children's Advocacy Center with a program code of YCO8-0043.

Program Coordinator and Camp Operator Responsibilities

Program Coordinator Responsibilities

The SMU Program Coordinators are responsible for keeping a copy of the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) Form for training compliance with the associated camp records. SMU Program Coordinators should educate the Camp Operators on the State Requirement and request the copy of the TDSHS Form from the Camp Operator. Once received, the Program Coordinator should immediately forward a copy of the form to ORM at riskmanagement@smu.edu including this information in the email:

Camp Title
Date Form Received
Date of Camp
Camp Operator Name
Program Coordinator Name and
Contact information

Camp Operator Responsibilities

Camp Operators are responsible for ensuring that they and their employees and volunteers are compliant with SMU's Protection of Minors procedures. Camp Operators should complete the State required form and send it to the Texas Department of State Health Services (see link under Resources below), with a copy to their SMU Program Coordinator. This must be completed at least two days prior to the start of camp.

If the Camp Operator is an SMU employee, and the employees or volunteers at the camp have SMU IDs, this training can be facilitated through LawRoom. For those without an SMU ID, this can be facilitated through DCAC or procured another state-approved training program. More information on how SMU can facilitate this training is below.

Protection of Minors Training

SMU Employees

The Human Resources department facilitates Protection of Minors Training for all SMU employees, including student workers and temporary workers, through LawRoom. This training is required to be completed within the first 90 days of employment, and every two years thereafter. More information can be found on the Human Resources website.

SMU Students

The Office of Risk Management and Human Resources facilitate Protection of Minors Training for SMU students as needed through LawRoom. If you are a student who has been assigned Protection of Minors Training by an SMU representative in a capacity other than through the course of your employment for SMU, please contact ORM to request the training, including your full name, email address, and SMU ID.

If you are affiliated with SMU and would like to assign Protection of Minors to students who will be working or volunteering at a camp, clinic, or event involving minors, please email ORM at riskmanagement@smu.edu, and request a template to provide the required information, including participant names, email addresses, and SMU ID numbers of all participants.

Unaffiliated with SMU

Camp Operators are responsible for ensuring that their employees or volunteers have completed the state-required training within the past two years before the start of the camp and for submitting the state required form to the Texas Department of State Health Services (see link under Resources). They should provide a copy of the completed/submitted Department of State Health Services Campus Program for the Protection of Minors form to the SMU Program Coordinator before the start of the camp. The SMU Program Coordinator should retain a copy of the form in their departmental files.

If Non-SMU employees or volunteers have not successfully completed a state approved training program within two years of the start of the first day of the camp, the Camp Operator can request access to the DCAC Training Program for each of the employees or volunteers through ORM by sending an email request to riskmanagement@smu.edu. The subject line for this request should include “Camp-Protection of Minors Training.”

The request should include:

Name of Camp Operator
Name of Camp
An excel file of those who must take the training including first and last name, and valid email
Dates of Camp
Program Coordinator and Camp Operator Training

Program Coordinator and Camp Operator Training

The Office of Risk Management hosts information sessions in conjunction with several other offices covering SMU practices and procedures for Program Coordinators, SMU employees who oversee the management of camps, conferences, clinics, and events on campus, and Camp Operators . This in-person session offers instruction on who needs to be informed (in addition to those required by state law), compliance practices for Camp Operators, case studies, as well as records management procedures, and is offered annually in the spring or by request.