By MATTHEW BULTMAN
JOHNSON NEWSPAPERS
MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011
COLTON — The town of Colton and its insurance company have been paying attention to the child abuse scandals that have dominated headlines nationwide.
On Wednesday, the town added a layer to its municipal insurance policy, hoping for added protection against claims of sexual abuse or molestation of children in town-sponsored programs.
The added supplement was discussed long before news of alleged abuse at Penn State and Syracuse universities broke, Town Supervisor Lawrence C. Patzwald said. But, he admitted, allegations there have raised awareness both for the town and its insurance provider. “Those issues have been issues for years and years,” he said, referring to child sex abuse. “But whenever things like that start to surface, insurance companies get scared about potential exposure.”
The selective abuse or molestation supplement will require the town to adopt more stringent measures to prevent the abuse of children enrolled in town-funded programs.
Leaders will have to create a policy regarding potential abuse, which may include prohibiting one-on-one contact between adults and children. The town also will have to conduct criminal background checks on all volunteers in youth programs.
“Basically they are dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s with regard to youth programs,” Rose & Kiernan Insurance Agency representative Lee Pollock said. “They want to know what you’re doing in terms of child protection because there have been problems.” It is something that youth programs across the country are dealing with, from Boy Scouts to Little League baseball, Mr. Pollock said.
By enacting this protection, the chances the town could be found liable in the event of child abuse allegations are minimal, he said. And even though there have been no abuse accusations in Colton, the move is a defensive measure should any arise.
The addition of the supplement will not cost Colton any extra. However, the unstable financial status of the town’s workers’ compensation provider will.
Public Employer Risk Management Association Inc. artificially lowered its rates years ago, believing workers’ compensation costs would go down, Mr. Pollock said. When that didn’t happen, the provider was left with a huge financial hole to fill.
“Their financial status right now is not good,” Rose & Kiernan representative Jeany Danielson said. The insurance provider has predicted Perma will survive the financial misstep but towns under its coverage will be asked to make up that difference, she said.
For Colton, renewing its contract with the provider will cost $76,561 next year, $12,000 more than it is paying now. But as long as the town’s finances don’t change dramatically, its coverage cost will drop to $74,647 in the second year of the two-year deal.
