SMART FY 2022 Invitation to Apply — Keep Young Athletes Safe Program

The purpose of the Keep Young Athletes Safe (KYAS) program is to support the ongoing implementation of prevention measures to safeguard amateur athletes from sexual, physical and emotional abuse in the athletic programs of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and each national governing body. Under the KYAS program, a grantee designs and implements measures to protect young athletes through the development of educational materials, training programs and policies to help prevent abuse, and the necessary tools and policies to address identified abuse. Additionally, the grantee develops background screening policies for new and existing USOPC organizational staff, including coaches, instructors and volunteers; and oversees regular and random audits to ensure that, once implemented, the policies and procedures to prevent and identify amateur athlete abuse are followed correctly. The KYAS program requires reporting of any allegations of sexual and physical abuse, following applicable state and federal reporting requirements.

Statutory Authority: This program is authorized pursuant to the Keep Young Athletes Safe Act of 2018, 36 U.S.C. § 220531; and funded pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, Pub. L. No. 117-103, 136 Stat. 49, 127.