3.7: Recognizing & Responding to Disclosures

Young caregivers may share information during Powerhouse® that raises concerns about their safety or well-being. A disclosure may be direct, or it may emerge gradually through comments, behaviour, or information shared during programming.

Before delivering Powerhouse®, your organization should have a clear procedure for how disclosures are recognized, responded to, documented, and escalated.

Prepare Your Team to Respond

Staff and volunteers working with young caregivers should understand how to respond if a disclosure occurs. Your organization’s procedure should reinforce that they:

  • Listen calmly and allow the young person to speak in their own words. 
  • Acknowledge what has been shared without investigating or asking leading questions. 
  • Do not promise confidentiality or secrecy. 
  • Explain in an age-appropriate way when information may need to be shared to help keep them safe. 
  • Document the disclosure according to your organization’s procedures, using the young person’s own words where possible.

The role of staff and volunteers is to respond supportively and follow the appropriate next steps, not to determine whether abuse or harm has occurred.

Establish a Clear Internal Process

Your organization should establish who staff and volunteers contact internally when a disclosure occurs, how the disclosure is documented and secured, and how leadership is informed where appropriate.

Internal procedures should support your team through the process without delaying or replacing any legal responsibility an individual may have to report a concern.nce forms are stored somewhere confidential and quickly accessible, and a supervisor initials and dates them to show a spot check was done.

★ Powerhouse® Tip: Walk your team through a disclosure scenario before programming begins, so the first time they hear one isn’t the first time they think about what to do.

✅ Key Takeaway: Your team’s job is to listen, respond supportively, record what was said in the young person’s own words, and follow your procedure – not to decide whether harm has occurred.