Published: November 13, 2026
Cotton Branch Refuge Project is committed to protecting children and adults who may face an increased risk of abuse, neglect, coercion, or exploitation. This policy applies whenever our visits, volunteering, events, communications, or programs involve those individuals. It does not announce a new service or imply that we provide licensed clinical care.
Planning before participation
Before an activity begins, the responsible leader assesses human and animal safety, participant needs, the environment, consent, staffing, supervision, emergency arrangements, and any required screening or training. A program must not begin or expand unless suitable safeguards and resources are in place.
Role-specific screening, reference checks, background checks where appropriate or required, and training must occur before a person is assigned unsupervised or higher-risk responsibilities. A background check is one safeguard, not a replacement for supervision and clear boundaries.
Consent, access, and supervision
Explain the activity, foreseeable risks, choices, and limits in an understandable form. Obtain legally appropriate consent and the individual's willing participation; a parent's or representative's permission does not justify forcing someone who is distressed or unwilling. Capacity and support needs are considered individually, without assuming that a diagnosis removes someone's ability to make choices.
- Children must remain with their responsible adult or within a specifically authorized and documented supervision arrangement.
- Avoid isolated, unobservable one-to-one contact. Use visible settings and an appropriate second responsible adult for activities that require additional safeguarding.
- Do not promise absolute secrecy about a disclosure of harm. Explain that information may need to reach people who can protect the individual.
- Respect privacy, reasonable accommodations, personal space, and an individual's choice to pause or stop.
Appropriate boundaries
Sexual conduct, grooming, exploitative relationships, threats, discriminatory treatment, unnecessary physical contact, and humiliating or coercive behavior are prohibited. Staff and volunteers must not use their position for personal favors, gifts, dependency, or private relationships with participants that exploit a power imbalance.
Use authorized organizational communication for program matters. Do not move contact with a child into private messaging or social media, arrange private transport, or offer personal care outside an agreed, supervised role. Essential assistance must follow the individual's support arrangements, consent, training, and applicable requirements.
Animals and therapeutic claims
Animals' willingness and welfare remain essential. A person may observe without touching; an animal may withdraw. Stop an interaction when either is uncomfortable or safety is uncertain.
Staff and volunteers must stay within their qualifications. Connection with animals is not a substitute for medical or mental health care. Any clinical or regulated service requires properly qualified professionals, defined responsibilities, appropriate consent, insurance, and separate procedures before it is offered. Do not promise a treatment result.
Responding to a concern
For immediate danger or urgent medical help, contact 911. Listen calmly, take the concern seriously, record factual observations and the person's own words as accurately as possible, and preserve relevant information. Do not interrogate the person, confront a suspected abuser, or conduct an informal investigation that could increase risk.
Promptly notify the appropriate unconflicted leader through our reporting policy. Make reports to child or adult protection services or law enforcement whenever required; internal notification never replaces an individual's legal reporting duty or requires permission to contact authorities. Limit information to people who need it for safety, review, or legal obligations.
Accountability
Leadership may pause an activity, change duties, or restrict access while a concern is reviewed. Reviews must be fair, independent of anyone implicated, and proportionate to the risk. Retaliation against a person raising a concern or participating in a review is prohibited. Training and procedures are reviewed after significant incidents and as programs change.