5^1 AS^
ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago is a home rule unit of government pursuant to the 1970 Illinois Constitution, Article VII, Section 6 (a); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to its home rule power, the City of Chicago may exercise any power and perform any function relating to its government and affairs including the power to regulate for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, due to the recent allegations of child sexual abuse in several different schools throughout the City, there is a substantial need for implementing new guidelines in all varieties of youth serving organizations; and
WHEREAS, while children are at school for a majority for the day, they also spend their time in other activities before and after school or attend day care programs; and
WHEREAS, although children are taught about the dangers of strangers, the reality is ninety percent (90%) of child sexual abuse is committed by a person the child and his or her family knows, according to the organization Darkness to Light; and
WHEREAS, abusers often form relations with potential victims and their families prior to the abuse - a process called "grooming;" and
WHEREAS, the potential offender uses grooming to connect with a child to gain their trust for the future purpose of sexual abuse and is able to maintain that relationship in secrecy; and
WHEREAS, according to statistics calculated at Crimes against Children Research Center in 2002, nearly seventy percent (70%) of all reported sexual assaults occur to children ages seventeen (17) and under; and
WHEREAS, a national survey published in 2000 by Child Abuse & Neglect revealed, while there is a risk for children of all ages, children are most vulnerable to abuse between the ages of seven (7) and thirteen (13); and
WHEREAS, additionally the survey reported that the median age for reported abuse is nine (9) year old, however, more than twenty percent (20%) of children are sexually abused before the a...
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