• Athlete Safety Policy
  • U.S. Center for SafeSport
  • Background Screening
  • Parent Training
  • Youth Athlete Training
  • Permanently Ineligible Members
  • Suspended Members
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Athlete Safety

U.S. Center for SafeSport

Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies
The MAAPP is a collection of proactive prevention and training policies for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Movement. It has three primary components: an Education and Training Policy, Required Prevention Policies, and Recommended Prevention Policies. The Center developed the MAAPP to assist National Governing Bodies, Paralympic Sport Organizations, Local Affiliated Organizations, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and other individuals to whom these policies apply in meeting their obligations under federal law

Please click here for additional resources from the U.S. Center for SafeSport to assist your club in implementing these policies.

Policy Application
The Athlete Safety policy applies to the following:
All coach and judge/official members
All National Office staff, board members and medical staff
All adult athlete members
All individuals supervising training camps, international trips and other USA Diving-sponsored activities.
Meet directors and hosts, and volunteers who have direct contact in a supervisory role with minor athletes, or consistent and regular contact with covered persons as a part of team operations.

Reporting 

The Center accepts all reports of sexual abuse and child abuse within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement. Report here if you have reasonable suspicion of sexual misconduct or harassment, child abuse (including child sexual abuse), or intimate relationships involving an imbalance of power.

The Center also accepts reports of emotional and physical misconduct (including but not limited to bullying, hazing, stalking, and harassment) within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement. Reports of emotional and physical misconduct can also be reported directly to USA Diving.

If you prefer to send your Safe Sport complaint to USA Diving or if you need to report a violation of the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention policies, please contact Taylor Payne, Director of Athlete Safety at USA Diving at taylor.payne@usadiving.org or 317-947-4893. Reports may be submitted anonymously. There is no fee to file a Safe Sport complaint. This includes both violations of the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP) and the SafeSport Code. Please note that sexual abuse complaints can involve youth-to-youth interactions in addition to adult-to-youth interactions. Reports may also be submitted to usadiving@usadiving.org.

Non-sexualized misconduct complaints should be submitted to Taylor Payne. If these reports do not fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, they will be submitted to USA Diving’s Board of Review. To learn more about the Procedures of the Board of Review, please view the following link
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Referral of Report to the Center
USA Diving will report any complaint that falls exclusively within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Center for SafeSport immediately and no later than within 24 hours. Reports can be made to Taylor Payne, Director of Athlete Safety at USA Diving at taylor.payne@usadiving.org or 317-947-4893.  Reports may also be submitted to usadiving@usadiving.org.

Jurisdiction Notice
USA Diving will promptly notify the reporting party regarding if the report will be referred to the U.S. Center for SafeSport or will be addressed by USA Diving. The Director of Athlete Safety will often consult with the CEO, the Chair of the National Board of Review, legal counsel, and/or the Center when determining jurisdiction.

Mandatory Reporting
USA Diving will report complaints of child abuse to law enforcement and/or other applicable entities and will follow any applicable state or federal laws as it pertains to mandatory reporting of child abuse or sexual misconduct. All Adult Participants are also mandatory reporters and must also follow this protocol. Adult Participants may also have additional mandatory reporting obligations under state or federal laws.

Prohibition of Retaliation
Regardless of the outcome, USA Diving will support the complainant(s) and his or her right to express concerns in good faith. USA Diving will not encourage, allow, or tolerate attempts from any individual to retaliate, punish, or in any way harm any individual(s) who reports a concern in good faith. Such actions against a complainant will be considered a violation of USA Diving’s Safe Sport Policy and grounds for disciplinary action. Please note that retaliation is prohibited before, during and after an investigation.

Response & Resolution of Reported Allegations
Non-sexualized misconduct complaints should be submitted to Taylor Payne, Director of Athlete Safety at
taylor.payne@usadiving.org or usadiving@usadiving.org or 317-947-4893. If these reports do not fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, they will be submitted to USA Diving’s Board of Review. To learn more about the Procedures of the Board of Review and the Board of Review Policy, please view these policies here.

No Interference
USA Diving will not interfere, attempt to interfere, or attempt to influence the outcome of any Center investigation.

Responsiveness to Requests from the Center
The Director of Athlete Safety will respond to requests from the Center within 72 hours with all requested information available, including eligibility status of the participant and if there are any USA Diving imposed temporary measures or safety plans already in place.

Policy to Enforce Sanctions or Temporary Measures
USA Diving utilizes a membership database that allows for individual membership accounts to be locked if a member is banned, suspended, or placed on Jurisdictional Hold. The membership account is marked as “suspended” and does not allow one to maintain a current membership, renew the membership, or register for a USA Diving sanctioned event. If a member that is required to be Safe Sport trained has not fulfilled this requirement, the membership account will be marked as “pending” and is not considered current. This member cannot participate in or register for an event until the requirement has been fulfilled and the membership moves to “current.”

Data of Matters Addressed by the Organization
Beginning in 2024, USA Diving will share any emotional and physical misconduct reports with the Center. MAAPP violations and reports of retaliation are already being reported to the Center. Currently, all reports including emotional and physical misconduct as well as MAAPP violations are tracked by USA Diving via spreadsheet or a web-based platform. If the Board of Review determines that the complaint should be under the purview of the Club, the Club will be obligated to resolve the matter and report the outcome to USA Diving. If the Board of Review determines that the Club should resolve a matter, the Club will be notified and it must resolve the matter and the outcome must be reported to taylor.payne@usadiving.org within 30 days of notification. If a Club handles a matter that is raised within the Club internally, the resolution must also be reported to USA Diving. USA Diving will track all complaints and resolutions.

USA Diving will annually submit to the Center data regarding:

a. Reports of emotional or physical misconduct made to the Organization or its local affiliated organizations.
i. Total reported incidents of alleged emotional misconduct
ii. Total reported incidents of alleged physical misconduct
iii. Total number of investigations of alleged emotional misconduct
iv Total number or investigations of alleged physical misconduct
v. Total number of violations for emotional misconduct adjudicated by the Organization separated by cases adjudicated by NGB and cases adjudicated by its LAOs
vi. Total number of violations for physical misconduct adjudicated by the Organization separated by cases adjudicated by NGB and cases adjudicated by its LAOs

b. Reports to the Organization or its local affiliated organizations that a Participant violated the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP).
i. Total reported incidents of alleged violations of the MAAPP, by policy type
ii. Total number of investigations of alleged violations of the MAAPP
iii. Total number of violations of the MAAPP, separated by cases adjudicated by NGB and cases adjudicated by its LAOs

c. Reports to the Organization or its local affiliated organization that a Participant engaged in retaliation.
i. Total reported incidents of alleged retaliation
ii. Total number of investigations of alleged retaliation
iii. Total number of violations of retaliation policy separated by cases adjudicated by NGB and cases adjudicated by LAOs

Prohibited Conduct
The six types of misconduct (bullying, hazing, harassment and emotional, physical and sexual misconduct) are prohibited by NGB employees, athletes, coaches and individuals the NGB appoints to a position of authority and anyone who has frequent contact with athletes and will not be tolerated. For definitions of these types of misconduct and to learn more, please click here.

Criminal Background Checks
The following individuals are required to complete a criminal background screening:
All coach and judge/official members
All National Office staff, board members and medical staff
All adult athlete members
All individuals supervising training camps, international trips and other USA Diving-sponsored activities.
Meet directors and hosts, and volunteers who have direct contact in a supervisory role with minor athletes, or consistent and regular contact with covered persons as a part of team operations.

Both a criminal background check and Safe Sport training are required to be completed by covered individuals before any contact with athletes occurs. Both the criminal background check and Safe Sport training processes are automated but will also include periodic checks for compliance purposes.

For the complete background check policy, click here.

Education and Training
Education is a key component of any abuse and misconduct prevention strategy. Awareness training provides relevant participants with necessary information to more effectively monitor an organization, minimize the opportunities for physical and sexual abuse and other types of misconduct, and respond to concerns.

USA Diving coaches are required to be fully versed in the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) SafeSport Program and possess the information necessary to more effectively monitor their organization, minimize the opportunities for child physical and sexual abuse and other types of misconduct, and to know how to respond to concerns.

The following individuals are required to complete the Safe Sport training:
All coach and judge/official members
All National Office staff, board members and medical staff
All adult athlete members
All individuals supervising training camps, international trips and other USA Diving-sponsored activities.
Meet directors and hosts, and volunteers who have direct contact in a supervisory role with minor athletes, or consistent and regular contact with covered persons as a part of team operations.

The required training is provided by the U.S. Center for SafeSport.

Both a criminal background check and SafeSport training are required to be completed by covered individuals before any contact with athletes occurs. Both the criminal background check and SafeSport training processes are automated but will also include periodic checks for compliance purposes.

Other individuals required to take SafeSport training are athletes age 18 and above.

Enforcement

The procedure for reporting all other types of abuse and misconduct and the enforcement process (grievance procedures) can be found in the Bylaws:
Bylaws Subpart C and D

Jurisdiction to the Center

As a member organization of the U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Diving and its members are required to comply with the U.S. Center for SafeSport Code for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement, the appended Practices and Procedures (Appendix A to the Code), and the Supplemental Rules for SafeSport Arbitrations (Appendix B to the Code) (collectively, the “Code”), including reporting requirements. Except as specifically noted in the Code, the Code applies without respect to age or competitive level. The Code serves as the benchmark by which the U.S. Center for SafeSport determines whether a SafeSport Code Violation has occurred. For those violations that fall within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, the Center will determine resolutions and sanctioning for the violation. Any SafeSport Code Violation that occurs outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. Center for SafeSport will be processed through USA Diving’s Internal Complaint procedures as outlined in the USA Diving bylaws (Subpart C).

Retaliation/Whistleblower:

Regardless of outcome, USA Diving will support the complainant(s) and his or her right to express concerns in good faith. USA Diving will not encourage, allow or tolerate attempts from any individual to retaliate, punish, allow or in any way harm any individual(s) who reports a concern in good faith. Such actions against a complainant will be considered a violation of USA Diving’s Safe Sport Policy (handbook, etc.) and grounds for disciplinary action.

USOPC Athlete Safety Policy:

USA Diving also follows the USOPC Athlete Safety Policy. To view, click here.


Taylor Payne, Athlete Safety Officer is responsible for ensuring that the Response and Resolution policies are followed.