The U.S. Center for SafeSport announced 10 changes to the way it operates Monday in a move it says is designed to increase efficiency and "trauma sensitivity," while addressing complaints that have come from both victims and the accused.
The announcement of the overhaul came after what the centre said was an eight-month review of a process that has been criticized by Congress, athletes in the Olympic movement and even families whose kids play grassroots sports.
Some of the changes address issues raised in a series of Associated Press stories that detailed drawn-out cases in which both victims and the accused often felt blindsided and unsure of the SafeSport process.
"We are proud of the progress we've made, but we are clear-eyed about the work ahead of us," said Ju'Riese Colon, the CEO of the centre, which opened in 2017 in response to the Olympic movement's failed handling of the Larry Nassar sex-abuse cases.
One key change is that the centre will now dedicate to committing half of an employee's time toward training for its response and resolution department "including enhanced trauma-sensitivity training grounded in research and best practices."
The centre is also assembling a team that specializes in cases involving minors. It also will give people who file claims a before-missing option to review the centre's evidence and respond with new information within 14 days of the end of an investigation; it will limit the accused's ability to introduce new evidence into cases that reach arbitration.
The centre is also "conducting audits to seek accountability deeper into grassroots sports." It's acknowledgement of criticism that the centre takes on too many cases from places far removed from the Olympic pipeline.
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