Date: January 17, 22, & 31, 2025
Time: 17:00-19:00 HKT
Format: Zoom Meeting (Zoom link will be sent 2 days before the event.)
Registration Fee:
For participants from US State Department Assisted Schools: $75 USD
For participants from schools that are NOT assisted by the US State Department: $125 USD
This foundational course enables deep training of school-based child protection (CP) team members, and covers 6 essential synchronous modules:
Rights-Based Child Protection
Online Safety
Policies and Procedures
Establishing a Team Approach
ITFCP Managing Allegation Protocol
Identifying Abuse and Managing Initial Disclosures
Within these 6 modules, additional topics addressed include definitions and possible indicators of abuse, professional boundaries, creating a school climate of safeguarding, the grooming process, and child-on-child abuse. Case studies are used throughout the course to support schools in strengthening safeguarding procedures. Support and resources for whole-staff training are provided through the training-of-trainers approach. The Level I Certificate earned at the end of this training is valid for three years.
This training is recommended for all CP team members. CP teams are comprised of child protection designates and deputies, senior leaders and designated board members, counselors, HR professionals, athletic and activity directors, nurse/medical staff, and staff with special child protection responsibilities including IT, social emotional learning (SEL), trips/service learning, and curriculum areas of vulnerability including early years, special needs/SEN, athletics, music, and performing arts.
Anticipated outcomes include:
Understanding child protection accreditation standards and foundational beliefs.
Determining needed policies and stages of implementation.
Identifying supporting resources, including ITFCP Managing Allegation Protocol, audits, and CP policy samples.
Working as a team to enhance or create CP policies and procedures.
Prioritizing supplemental policies.
Understanding basic victim and offender behaviors.
There are no prerequisites for the Level I training course. However, once registered, participants will be asked to complete the 4 self-paced, asynchronous training modules that make up ICMEC’s “Intro to Safeguarding” course. After successfully completing all 4 modules, participants will be issued a certificate of completion. Those certificates must be collected by the host organization before the beginning of the live/synchronous Level I workshop to confirm that participants completed the pre-coursework.
In August 2022, Debbie Downes joined The International Centre of Missing and Exploited Children as the Director of Global School Initiatives. In this role, she develops and provides child protection training, support, and resources to schools around the world. She has been supporting ICMEC’s work as a regional trainer since July 2020.
Debbie has worked in international education for 18 years, first as an elementary teacher, then as school principal, and then as Accreditation and Child Protection Lead for Quality Schools International. She developed and revised handbooks, policies, and resources to support child protection efforts at a group of 36 international schools. She also supported schools with on-site and virtual professional development.
Debbie’s background in child protection includes an MSW from the University of California at Berkeley and several years of experience working in the court unit of Children and Family Services in Contra Costa County, California.