New York – Orthodox Organization To NY Lawamkers: Our Yeshivas Need Child Protection Laws

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    photo illustrationNew York – The Jewish Board of Advocates for Children, a nonprofit group which, for several years, has been calling for strong child protection laws that would govern yeshivas and all nonpublic schools, has sent a letter to leading New York state legislators urging them to address the grave problem of child abuse.

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    The letter, delivered Friday, July 22, 2011, calls attention to the heinous abduction and homicide of Leiby Kletzky, and states that it is “healthy and productive” for all New Yorkers, in the wake of this tragedy, to join together so that we can create the “safest environment possible for all children.”

    JBAC President Elliot Pasik, an attorney, cites about one dozen child protection laws which protect public school children, but not children who attend religious and private schools. He calls for the explicit extension of these laws to the nonpublic schools.

    For example:

    * only public school children are required to receive instruction designed to prevent abduction;

    * only public school administrators are required to complete coursework in identifying and reporting child abuse or maltreatment;

    * only public schools are required to establish and implement written policies necessary to safeguard the life and health of children, and to prevent abuse;

    * only public school employees are required to report public school-based child abuse to government child protection authorities;

    * only public schools are required to fingerprint and obtain criminal histories of their employees.

    The letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and the chairs of the Education Committee and the Committee on Children in both legislative houses.

    In May 2007, the Rabbinical Council of America, working with JBAC, enacted a Resolution endorsing the extension of all public school child protection laws to the nonpublic schools. The RCA is an organization of about 1,000 orthodox rabbis.

    The full text of the letter can be read here. PDF


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    71 Comments
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    Track5
    Track5
    12 years ago

    I hope they approve this protections law for our yeshiva’s
    And schools.

    DemsBeBabies
    DemsBeBabies
    12 years ago

    If this is so important, why isn’t this organization not going to the yeshivas and day schools to implement these rules? Why does everything need to be legislated from a bunch of bafoons in city hall out albany?

    PeterChamor
    PeterChamor
    12 years ago

    Right on.

    gabe_e12
    gabe_e12
    12 years ago

    Mr. Pasik quotes unspecified studies which show “the majority of SEX crimes go unreported..” Then states, as if it’s a fact, “Leiby Kletsky, for example”. Mr. Pasik, where do you get the info to state, as fact, that Leiby’s abduction was a sex crime?

    Especially with all the authorities insisting there was no indication of any sexual abuse, nor is the presumed murderer charged with any sex crime?

    Is this how you create the multitude of “sex crimes which go unreported”?

    By presuming such crimes have occurred, even when evidence shows they haven’t? It is precisely this attitude, of presumption that a sex crime has occurred, despite evidence to the contrary, that has nonpublic schools wary of legislation mandating reporting. If there were no fear of potential witch hunts, a phenomenon which dishonesty facilitates, our mosdos hatorah would support the legislation you propose.

    Insider
    Insider
    12 years ago

    Dear gabe_e12,
    Abuse is abuse. Sexual abause is only one type of abuse that children suffer.
    By the way, this is the organization that is supported by Rabbi Yosef Blau, Mashgiach of Yeshiva Yitzcak Elchonon (YU), Rabbi Gershon Tennenbaum, Chairman of the Igud Horabonim; Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz, Agudas Yisreol, and many, many more.

    12 years ago

    I hope they should approve such a bill, but not our yeshives should be the one on top of it.
    the government should be the one to make sure that our children are getting the top protection what’s possible, not it should be another way for the mosdes hatorah to earn money to cover their budget and our children won’t be protected.

    DRSLZ
    DRSLZ
    12 years ago

    Elliot Pasik has waged a tireless campaign to protect the children of our community, and all children who attend non-public schools. He and his colleagues have over the years approached numerous private schools, including yeshivas and girls’ high schools, only to be rebuffed.

    Commonsense measures such as educating our children with regard to child safety and the need to notify a parent or responsible adult of any suspicious incident. Public schools have an age-appropriate curriculum to teach child safety, including fire safety, dealing with strangers and those who seek to touch a kid inappropriately, how to refuse and seek help. Our schools can and should adapt these proven curricula, but strangely have by and large neglected or even refused to do so.

    It is unbelievable that our schools by and large do not do criminal background checks on the custodians, groundskeepers, etc, let alone the various teachers of secular and religious studies. The tests take seconds and within 48 hours a school can be notified if the applicant has a criminal record.

    Elliot and VIN deserve our thanks for seeking to protect our kids.

    Parents should insist on these minimal safety measures!

    12 years ago

    They are calling themselves an orthodox entity, by definition that would mean they would have someone to consult on halachic issues. Does anyone know who that would be.

    Butterfly
    Butterfly
    12 years ago

    A few years ago, a neighbor of mine showed me a pamphlet given out by the High Schools to every parent. It shows the picture and description of all child abusers who live in your neighborhood!! If the public high schools can receive it. Even the principal of all yeshivas and all teachers should be aware of this and should notify any parent who has children who may live nearby!! An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!!

    Sherree
    Sherree
    12 years ago

    ” Must we make assumptions, especially when those hypotheses have been tested and unproven?” Not really. Just not revealed to the general public. Please explain, since you now so much, what he was doing with the box of children’s clothing and who they actually belonged to. And where was Leiby’s clothes. No one seemed to mention that.

    gabe_e12
    gabe_e12
    12 years ago

    I would really like to know how many of the 4 members of the JBAC’s Rabbinical Committee are elementary, or even high school level mechanchim.
    Shouldn’t an organization that has labeled itself as the protector of our children, at least have ONE rabbinical board member that is a mechanech in a mosed hachinuch? How can one claim to know what’s best for our mosdos when one has zero experience in that area?
    Instead of dictating to our mosdos what cures they should implement, why not work hand in hand with them for methods that will work, AND meet their needs? Why does Mr. Pasik have an ‘us against them’ mentality? Why does it have to be His way or the highway?

    12 years ago

    I realize that many yeshiva educators are not certified, but all teachers who are certified in NYS have been fingerprinted and have taken the child abuse detection training.

    DRSLZ
    DRSLZ
    12 years ago

    I find it troubling that someone, hiding behind the cloak of anonymity, would criticize those who are trying to protect our children.

    I do not personally agree with everything Elliot Pasik does, but the man has dedicated over a decade of his life to help protect our kids. Along with others, including former victims of abuse, Elliot approached numerous schools and organizations in our kehillah to try to institute child safety measures.

    Nothing happened.

    Meanwhile, the cases of molestation have continued to pile up. We’re talking about a large number of victims, certainly in the hundreds, maybe even higher.

    Each pedophile who molests typically molests dozens if not hundreds of kids before he is detected. If not stopped, he will almost certainly go on to molest hundreds more.

    To compare a suggestion that our schools adapt a proven method to stem abuse to the attempt by the Russian government to limit Torah teaching to 3 or so hours daily is a bit much, for an anonymous contributor, as is the comparison to the warring factions at the time before the destruction of the Temple.

    It is time for our mosdos to implement child safety programs.

    12 years ago

    Not asking yeshivas to do more than public schools. We pay thousands of dollars in tuition. The least our children should get is the same security that public school kids get. People here are making this out to be more than it really is.

    DRSLZ
    DRSLZ
    12 years ago

    I completely agree that we should strive to work together. Unfortunately, for many years well-meaning professionals, including former victims of sexual molestation, were either ignored or in some cases villified when they tried to get certain yeshiva administrators to listen to them, to address concerns about certain rebbes, and going forward to evaluate employees’ past histories.

    Rav Elyashiv clearly ruled, several years ago, that if someone has a reasonable suspicion of abuse, it should be reported to the authorities.

    Whether legislation is the best way to get the hundreds upon hundreds of our schools which do not do even basic background checks to do a background check
    (to weed out known sexual offenders and other miscreants) is questionable, but so far all other approaches taken by these activists have been met with silence, or even scorn.

    Meanwhile, the predators continue, in camps, in yeshivas, in mikvahs, and wherever they can, to groom our youth and seek opportunities to gratify themselves by destroying our children’s souls, knowing full well how easy it is to get away with such vile acts in our community, due to the misplaced reluctance to contact the police.

    shosh
    shosh
    12 years ago

    What a wonderful idea. We observe the “law of the land” and the children above all, must be protected.

    Butterfly
    Butterfly
    12 years ago

    To #45 I agree with you completely. All the yeshivas must fingerprint all employees from the Rabbis to the super and bus drivers. Anybody who comes in contact with our children is suspect. Stores that make deliveries — school should make sure thata security guard accompanies the delivery man at all times!!

    GB_Jew
    GB_Jew
    12 years ago

    Criminal record checks in the police records computers for *anyone* working with young people in the UK are compulsory. This includes rebbeim, melamdim and youth workers.

    These records are not publicly accessible, and cannot be viewed without the subject’s consent (though an employer may make such consent a condition of employment).

    Information supplied depends on the level of disclosure. Low-level disclosures give only unspent convictions (i.e. convictions which have not yet been expunged under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act), while enhanced disclosures ideally include all convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings. An enhanced criminal record certificate may contain relevant information that need not relate solely to criminal matters

    Arrests which do not lead to an official finding of guilt (e.g. the acceptance of a caution from a police officer) are not considered part of a person’s criminal record,

    Enhanced disclosures are typically used to screen applicants for positions such as social worker or teacher which involve contact with vulnerable groups.

    A1826
    A1826
    12 years ago

    Police are still investigating. The fact that they don’t have any proof or evidence of sexual abuse, doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen. Why would anyone abduct a child? Like the previous poster wrote, either ransom or sexual gratification.

    He tried this before and he is a pedophile. What else do you need?

    Oh, about keeping the neshamele’s feet, any reason for that? If he only wanted to murder, why didn’t he dump his body in the sea and get rid of any evidence? He couldn’t even control himself to do that. It’s hard to grasp how such a sick mind works.

    DRSLZ
    DRSLZ
    12 years ago

    I see no constructive benefit from personal attacks.

    Whether sexual molestation occurred in this case is immaterial. Child safety should be our uppermost concern. To some extent, our “system” failed to protect this boy. Our system exposes many of our children to danger. We need to find ways to lower the risk– one of which is prompt reporting of cases of child abuse.