Child Protection Culture, Built with Your Team
Three engagement tiers built around one collaborative model.
YSO Partners builds a child protection culture with your organization. Your team brings the institutional knowledge. We bring the framework and the experience of having done this work inside organizations like yours. We shape every piece together, which is why your organization can follow what we build instead of putting it on a shelf.
This is the Collaborative Development Model, and it shapes all three engagement tiers below.
Who This Is For
Some organizations reach out because they are growing and want their child protection culture to keep pace, before a gap becomes a problem. Others reach out after an incident, an audit, or a board directive made the gap impossible to ignore. Both are the right reason to start a conversation. Wherever your organization is starting from, the work ahead looks similar.
The main goal is to build a culture your staff understands and your board can stand behind.
Three Ways We Work Together
Policy Assessment
A focused gap analysis of your current policies, with a prioritized list of what to fix first.
Policy Development
A complete policy manual, co-produced with your team and ready for your organization to implement.
Cultural Change
Leadership training and a roadmap for embedding child protection into how your organization runs day to day.
What Clients Must Bring
Every tier requires the same foundation from your organization:
- A designated project lead who can make decisions on your organization’s behalf.
- Executive or board level leadership with the authority to act.
- Staff availability for collaborative working sessions.
Every Engagement Starts with a Discovery Call
No proposal goes out until we understand your situation. A discovery call is a conversation, and it costs you nothing but time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know which tier is right for my organization?
Most organizations start with a discovery call, where we assess your current policies, your culture, and what prompted the conversation. If your policies are solid but you are not sure how they hold up in practice, the Policy Assessment is the right entry point. If you are rebuilding after an incident or your policies need a full overhaul, most organizations start with Policy Development.
Are engagements remote, on-site, or both?
Most engagements combine both. Interviews, working sessions, and policy development happen through a mix of video calls and in-person visits, depending on your team’s location and the scope of the engagement. Full Culture Change engagements, which include leadership training, typically involve more on-site time than the Policy Assessment. We confirm the format during the roadmap stage.
What does the Collaborative Development Model mean in practice?
Debbie and Tom bring the framework and outside experience. Your staff bring the institutional knowledge of how your organization operates. Both sides build every policy, training module, and roadmap together, which is why it will be a policy that works for your organization.
What is the difference between a policy assessment and cultural change?
A Policy Assessment reviews what you already have and tells you what to fix. Cultural Change focuses on leadership training and a roadmap for embedding protection into daily decisions, not just documentation.
Does YSO Partners handle investigations into staff misconduct allegations?
No. YSO Partners provides non-legal consulting around policies and culture. Debbie and Tom provide legal services such as independent investigations into specific allegations of staff misconduct through their law firm, Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Wallen LLC.
How long does a typical engagement take?
It depends on the tier. Policy Assessment takes 4 to 6 weeks. Policy Development takes 3 to 6 months. Cultural Change, which includes leadership training and a culture change roadmap, takes 6 to 9 months. We determine together the specific time frame for your organization during the roadmap phase.