Our Mission

Children and Youth Safety (CYS) is a forward-facing compliance and risk reduction program available to university community stakeholders to guide and enable them to uphold Cornell’s values and expectations when working and volunteering with children and youth. 

Fostering a safe, secure, and positive environment for children and youth participating in university-sponsored programs through guidance that supports compliance with New York State Regulations and University Policy. 

This mission is realized through the following office objectives:

1. Administer and uphold University Policy 8.8 Children and Youth Safety.
2. Deliver effective outreach and education to members of the university community that host university-sponsored programs for children and youth.
3. Lead forums and committees to discuss various topics and issues in a practical way, share experiences, and learn about effective compliance and risk practices when working with children and youth.
4. Establish and deliver assessments, guidelines, and tools to enable the Cornell community to create safe and effective children and youth programming.
5. Provide effective and efficient guidance to comply with NYS regulations and University Policy 8.8, guiding practices when working with youth.
6. Collaborate with university program directors and unit partners to keep youth programs current with university policy and New York State regulations.
7. Strengthen program compliance through inspections and consultations.
8. University leaders are advised and regularly informed regarding university-sponsored children and youth programming.
9. Build trust with university constituents.