5A-2 Safe play framework for the CFC

[Lyle Craver]

This is a new initiative which is supported by the Canadian Olympic Committee

[Vladimir Drkulec]

This is a repost from the previous meeting which contains some relevant links:

FIDE recently announced that they were partnering with Safe Sport International to develop a safeguarding framework for FIDE and its member federations. Details of the announcement can be found at the following link:

https://www.fide.com/news/2740

The Safeguarding Framework will cover issues such as sexual harassment and child protection. The framework will follow international standards and guidelines, and aim to create safe and inclusive spaces for chess players, coaches, arbiters and other participants. While we wait for the results of this initiative we are not operating in a vacuum as we can look to the experiences of other sports in coming up with policies for Chess in Canada carried out under the auspices of the CFC.

The Canadian government and the Canadian Olympic Committee has led efforts in this area:

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-he...or-canada.html

https://preprod.olympic.ca/canadian-...ce/safe-sport/

I have attended a number of presentations on Safe Sports in the context of sport tourism conferences along with presentations by the Canadian Olympic Committee which has held a series of meetings on the topic the most recent having taken place a little over a week ago.

The following framework could be a useful starting point in developing a similar framework for chess in Canada and elsewhere.

https://sportintegritycommissioner.c...d-UCCMS-EN.pdfAttachment 599

[Diana Tsypina]

Datapoint:
Starting June 1st, all U.S.-certified TDs have to demonstrate proper Safe Play credentials. Like many of my Canadian arbiter colleagues, I paid for SafeSport training back in April, attended the course offered by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, and passed the exam. Our USCF profiles now display the "SafeSport Certified" credential (LinkedIn profiles also have a badge accessible in the "Licenses & certifications" section).

Displaying the same credentials in the CFC profiles would be a good first step towards promoting the Safe Play framework in Canada. Don Parakin kindly says it's a relatively simple feature to add.

[Lyle Craver]

I meant to mention in my initial comments (but forgot!) that the USCF has also endorsed Safeplay and has what they call a "Safeplay hub" at
https://new.uschess.org/us-chess-safe-play-hub (NOTE: this is a clickable link to the USCF page which those interested in this subject should check out!)

[Olga Mushtaler]

Coaching Association of Canada provides Free Safe Sport Training that gives you a certificate. Unfortunately, they don't list chess as a sport but you can pick any type of sport and then can have a certificate for any type of coaching, chess or non-chess.

https://coach.ca/sport-safety/safe-sport-training

[Veronica Hitchlock]

Hi all!

I've attached a brief on Safe Play I was working on a while back, which is by no means exhaustive, but outlines some of the actions I believe would be best to take and the rationale behind them. I haven't uploaded a document this way before, so please let me know if it doesn't work.

Safe Play Brief.pdf

A lot of the themes in the brief have already been discussed here notably the implementation of a Safe Play training program. This is particularly important because even if the CFC adopts the UCCMS, its jurisdiction is severely limited to people who have specifically consented to it.

Arbiters and organizers are in a position of power to prevent and address Safe Play concerns, and equipping them with the tools to be able to identify and intervene when incidents occur is critical. I'd be interested in feedback on how well-prepared people felt after taking the USCF Safe Play training and similar Canadian programming. That way, we can ensure that the training is both available and giving organizers the tools they need to feel confident in responding.

The CFC is also limited as a small organization that can only take action if issues are brought to them. I believe the most effective way to move forward is to build a CFC Code of Conduct, applying to all members, that aligns with the UCCMS and a reporting framework for violations of this code, both of which should be made available on the CFC website. Maintaining a publicly available list of sanctioned players will also be important so that organizers can identify sanctioned players easily.

A lot of the work will be on the club level. In addition to what I've summarized above, it will be important to support clubs hoping to implement their own Codes of Conduct. I propose creating a draft club Code of Conduct which is also posted on the CFC website that can be easily modified to fit a club's needs. A less policy-specific action would be encouraging more women to take on positions of leadership, as anecdotally I've found that helps create a more comfortable environment for women to join and voice their concerns.

Since there are a lot of different aspects to this, I think priorities should be as follows:

• Creating a CFC Code of Conduct
• Creating a CFC Reporting Framework
• Implementing an interim training program for organizers to be reevaluated after a set period of time
• Creating a list of Safe Play trained organizers, arbiters and coaches that is publicly available on the CFC website
• Creating a list of sanctioned players on the CFC website
• Creating a Code of Conduct template for clubs

After a certain period of time, maybe a year or two, evaluating the effectiveness of the initiative and making changes as needed to address any shortfalls.

I think realistically, we could have a Code of Conduct and reporting framework drafted for the AGM. If we adopt an existing training program, we could probably look at adopting it fairly quickly.

The more technical aspects of adding things to the CFC website, I'm less sure about so I would welcome someone more knowledgeable than me to chime in on that.

This is almost certainly not exhaustive, but I think it can help give a bit of a roadmap as to where and what we should start working on! Please let me know if I missed anything

[Vladimir Drkulec]

A well written brief, Veronica, and a reasonable road map.

During the pandemic we were approached by a somewhat erroneously named group which was interested in setting up a drug testing program for the CFC. They had likely seen the Queen's Gambit and were intent on stamping out the horde of chess drug addicts. They actually were threatening towards FIDE and not the CFC and wanted us to start a program of random urine samples. Part of their requirements was that we maintain a repository of physically signed agreements. Electronic copies were not sufficient. We would have to keep track of these signed forms in a physical location and we would need new signatures every year. We would need to hire someone just to keep track of these signed forms. No thank you. In the case of minors, we would need signed consent from parents. FIDE wasn't scared of their threats and we couldn't afford the thousands of dollars to set up the program when no chess was being played due to COVID shutdowns. FIDE had their own program which does not seem to be as intrusive as what was being proposed. We declined the Canadian group's proposal.

Step one is to create a code of conduct. It may be possible that one was already created in the past like the ethics committee that was created as a concept but never implemented.