Purpose: All employees, visitors, volunteers, clients, and stakeholders who interact with Starfish Family Services (SFS) Programs must adhere to the stated standards and guidelines to ensure the comfort and safety of all.
Scope: All SFS employees, volunteers, independent contractors, and interns.
Policy: All centers/locations will maintain a service delivery environment free of verbal abuse, horseplay, disruptive behavior, lewd conduct, disrespectful language, threats, intimidation, harassment, and behavior toward any person in accordance with all SFS policies and procedures. All SFS programs and services will promote an environment where every person is treated with dignity and respect.
Standard/ External Requirement:
- Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS)
- Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network (DWIHN)
Definitions:
- Verbal Abuse: Yelling, cursing, threatening, insulting, bullying, or degrading a person.
- Horseplay: Physical activities that disrupt the comfort or safety of others or disrupt the environment.
- Disruptive: Physical or verbal actions that prevent the movement of others and/or prevent them from utilization of the environment.
- Lewd: Actions, clothing, or lack of, language that is considered sexually oriented or implying sexual content.
- Respect: To show deferential regard for; to be treated with esteem, concern, consideration, or appreciation; to be sensitive to cultural differences
- Dignity: To be treated with esteem, honor, politeness; to be addressed in a manner that is not patronizing, condescending, or demeaning; to be treated as an equal; to be treated the way any individual would like to be treated.
- Service Delivery Environment: Any setting in which services are occurring or expected to occur (including administrative offices), and may include home, school, or community as well as office, clinical, and telehealth settings.
- Threats: Statement of intent to inflict pain, injury, damage, or other hostile action on someone in retribution for something done or not done.
- Intimidation: Intentional behavior that would cause a person of ordinary sensibilities to fear injury or harm.
- Harassment: The act of systematic and or continued unwanted and annoying actions of one party or a group including threats and demands.
- Pattern: More than one incident of a similar nature.
- Disrespectful Language: Words that are received as impolite, rude, offensive, or not respectful.