Read our Ethos Statement Here.
Privacy Policy
At Kaleidoscope (“we,” “us,” “our”), we respect your privacy. In this policy, you can find out which of your sensitive information and data we collect, what we do with it, and how we protect it. Your security, comfort, and trust are of utmost importance to us. If you have any questions, please reach out to sayhello@kldscp.org, and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Who we are:
Kaleidoscope delivers resources and services to culturally complex families, wherever they are in the world. We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit under the US Internal Revenue Code, and are incorporated in the state of Colorado.
What information we collect, and when:
We collect personal information that may include your first and last name and email address, plus other details that you may choose to share with us when you sign up to receive communications or resources, or when you submit a form regarding one of our products or services. We also collect personally identifiable information when you visit our site, which may include IP address and geographic locations.
When you make an online donation or purchase, the information required for your payment (which may include first and last name, address, and debit or credit card information) is collected by Stripe and Donorbox, the third party companies we use to securely process, protect, save, and store your information. We do not save your credit or debit card information. You can find their respective privacy policies here and here. Even though we use these third-party sites and services, Kaleidoscope still acts as your primary data controller when you entrust us with your information.
When you attend one of our live workshops, webinars, or group sessions, we may record your image or voice. If so, we will never do so without informing you before we begin and receiving your explicit or implicit consent. We host our virtual gatherings on Zoom. You can read their privacy policy here.
What we do with your information:
We may use your information to:
process a payment you make
send you electronic communications regarding our programs and services
send you communications which you have requested, such as our newsletter
notify you of changes to our services and operations
What we do not do with your information:
We do not sell, rent, or distribute your personal information to any third parties without your express permission. If we do share or publicize any personally identifiable information (for example, if we share Kaleidoscope’s impact and reach with donors), we will always anonymize and aggregate the information to protect your personal identity and safety.
How we store your information:
We store your information online, which means it may exist on servers in different countries. When you submit your personal data or visit our site, you agree to this transfer, storing, and processing. We take every measure that we can to ensure that your personal and personally identifiable information is safe, secure, protected, and private.
Your choices
We only collect information from you that you provide or that is necessary to perform our operations, according to this policy.
We will always ask for your express consent collecting your personal information, using an opt-in method. You can always update your preferences or opt out of receiving communications from us. If you would like us to edit or delete any of your information, please get in touch with us at sayhello@kldscp.org, and we will respond as soon as we can. If you have any other questions about our Privacy Policy, or need to get in touch with us for any reason, you can find our full contact details on our website at www.kldscp.org.
Virtual Child Safety Policy
When interacting with third culture kids in any capacity, their safety is our number one priority. Working directly with children via the internet is relatively uncharted territory--but it is still just as important that we do everything we can to keep them safe. In order to continue to create connection while socially distancing, we need to know how to do so safely and responsibly.
We follow many of the same guidelines that we use when we work with TCKs in person to keep them safe when interacting with them online. Always follow these five steps when we’re serving as a Kaleidoscope Guide Group Leader:
Stay together: Just like in real life, one-on-one situations between children and others online can threaten their safety. In order to avoid this and keep us above reproach, never conduct a Guide Group session without a co-leader. If your co-leader does not show up at the designated time and you cannot get a hold of them, contact the Kaleidoscope core team. We will either arrange for a core team member to join, or we will reschedule the session on your behalf.
Set expectations for our time together! We will do this at the beginning of our first session. Everyone will have a much more positive experience together if participants know what to expect.
Remember to only use language to build up the TCKs you’re working with. We don’t berate, belittle, shame, swear at, or use inappropriate language to or around them, including in the chatroom.
Maintain confidentiality: Except for in certain circumstances, we do not share any information about our session participants with anyone outside of the session or the Kaleidoscope team. We never share or disclose their name, image, or location. It’s important to also remember that we protect the names and information of the TCKs in your group by not posting about them from our own accounts online. Cases where we do need to break confidentiality include:
Threats of harm to self or others (specific and planned, or otherwise)
Criminal acts (committed or unresolved)
Harassment (including discrimination and discriminatory harassment: sexual harassment and sexual violence)
If we suspect child abuse or neglect, we will fill out a form so that Kaleidoscope can perform our legal mandatory reporting responsibilities. If you feel uncomfortable reporting to the Kaleidoscope core team for any reason, there is a separate form to report to an external Child Safety Supervisor.
When we’re interacting with children in an online environment, some aspects of child safety are unique. When we lead a Guide Group for Kaleidoscope, we make sure to:
Be familiar with the platform we are using. Complete all of the training that Kaleidoscope provides ahead of time, so that we know how to: monitor the chatroom, remove and mute participants, and start and end password-protected meetings. Always assign roles between your co-leaders before we begin so that we are both prepared to respond as necessary.
Know that parents maintain full responsibility for their children throughout these sessions! We are not directly responsible for their physical safety or anything they do on their own computers during the session. Our primary responsibility is to make sure that they are not exposed to any threats that originate in the Guide Group session.
Throughout the course of this session (6 weeks) only interact with the participants according to the schedule you receive. Parents receive the same one, and this way, we can ensure that no predatory or grooming behavior is going on outside of the designated spaces and times between Guide Group leaders and session participants.
Child Safety at In-person Events
Child safety is Kaleidoscope’s number one priority. Before children can feel heard, valued, and loved, they must be and feel safe. Since we have the privilege of working with children, it is our responsibility to make sure that they are safe from emotional, mental, sexual, and physical threats. The purpose of our Child Safety policy is to keep every child we work with safe, to keep our Kaleiders above reproach, and to teach children safe ways of interacting with adults.
Our five safety rules for working with kids are as follows: stay together, use our words to encourage others, use physical touch appropriately, respect each other and the kids with our behavior, and stay accountable for our actions.
1. Stay together.
Always have more than one leader + more than one child together at a time.
If necessary, keep one leader + more than one child.
If unavoidable, make sure one leader + one child are together in a public place.
Never leave one leader + one child together in a closed room or undisclosed location (bathroom policy: girls assist kids, prop main bathroom door open and leave stall doors ajar).
Always keep a door open, or be in a public, visible space where others could easily drop in.
Make sure to have a walkie-talkie turned on and with you if accompanying a child alone or a group of children outdoors.
2. Be encouraging with our words.
All of our words should respect the children and make them feel valued, heard, loved, and safe.
Never shame, belittle, yell at, threaten, curse at, insult, tell inappropriate jokes to, or make inappropriate comments about children.
Use the word “surprise” instead of “secret;” keeping a secret with a child exclusively is very problematic, even if it seems innocent (i.e. “we have a surprise guest visiting this afternoon!”).
In a discipline situation, use encouraging words that focus on the desired positive future outcomes, rather than on the negative ones that we want to avoid.
3. Be appropriate with physical touch.
Touch should meet the needs of the child, not of the adult.
Never push, hit, shove, shake, pinch, or physically discipline children.
Never touch a child inappropriately–in other words, avoid their “bathing suit areas.”
All touch must respect children—the best rule of thumb is to let them initiate most contact.
Show affection with gestures such as verbal praise, side hugs, pats on the shoulder, and high fives.
4. Respect others with our behavior.
Don’t play favorites with children or our teammates–we know this can be hard!
Respect children’s boundaries and their personal comfort levels. Every child is different and we don’t know their stories. It’s important for children to exercise their right to say “no” from a young age.
Monitor child-to-child behavior for bullying, singling out, inappropriate touch or language, and physical violence.
In a discipline situation, get down to eye-level to speak with children.
5. Stay accountable for our actions.
Have a conversation with the conference coordinator if you see something concerning or suspect someone of a crime against child safety.
Always keep your walkie-talkie with you and turned on.
Don’t put someone we work with in an uncomfortable situation by asking them to trust you to do something that violates one of these policies.
Report to a US law enforcement officer any clear signs of neglect or abuse.
The appropriate line of communication regarding child safety is: you –> conference coordinator –> director/assistant director. However, you can always go directly to a director if you’re uncomfortable speaking with the coordinator or need to report any of their own behavior.
A few tips on discipline:
Discipline should only ever instruct, not punish, children.
Always help them understand why they are being disciplined and use clear, consistent, safe, low-stakes methods such as time out.
Use positive language to improve the experience of the child and the group while keeping everyone safe.
Use discipline methods that are safe, nonphysical, motivating, and constructive.
Never hit, push, grab, or be rough with children–unless their immediate physical safety is threatened (i.e. pulling them out of the way of a speeding train).