Toby Stark, former executive director of Chaucie’s Place, is launching Stark Consulting Group to help amateur sports organizations become compliant with a new federal law that is intended to prevent child sexual abuse in youth sports.
Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 (Safe Sport Authorization Act), which was signed into federal law on Feb. 14, 2018, has specific mandates for any “amateur sports organization that participates in interstate or international competition” and any adult the organization “authorizes to interact with a minor or amateur athlete.” Specifically, the new federal law requires these covered individuals to report known or suspected abuse to law enforcement within 24 hours, and requires the amateur sports organizations to have policies, procedures and trainings that minimize the risk of child sexual abuse among its minor athletes.
“It’s alarming how few amateur sports organizations know about or understand their liability in regard to the Safe Sport Authorization Act,” Stark said. “But it’s not just the amateur sports organization’s leadership who needs to understand how this new law affects minor athletes. Parents must realize what is expected of an organization with which their children play sports and hold the organizations accountable for athlete safety.”
Stark was most recently Director of Safe Sport at USA Gymnastics where she was hired to help change the culture toward a focus on athlete protection.
For more information, visit starkcg.net.
