The Praesidium Accreditation will serve as a tool to fight child abuse
From the Tri-County YMCA,
HORNELL, New York, January, 2026 – Tri-County YMCA of NY has been awarded Praesidium Accreditation® by Praesidium, the leader in abuse risk management. Praesidium Accreditation® is a prestigious honor that publicly demonstrates the organization has worked to achieve the highest industry standards in abuse prevention.
To achieve Accreditation, Tri-NY underwent a rigorous process to implement Praesidium’s Accreditation Standards focusing on eight primary operational areas within their business: policies, screening and selection, training, monitoring and supervision, consumer participation, internal feedback systems, responding, and administrative practices. Praesidium then verified Tri-County YMCA of NY’s successful implementation of these standards.
Tri-NY will be accredited for three years, and during this time will commit to uphold fundamental organizational values and stringent safety practices that demonstrate their commitment to protecting those in their care from abuse.
Praesidium Accreditation® provides solid proof of sound risk management practices and the honor distinguishes Tri-NY from others in their industry. “We are pleased to send the message that we will not compromise the safety of those in our care—for any reason,” said Rachel Walsh, Tri-NY’s Director of Risk & Safety.
“As an entire organization, we are dedicated and committed to proactively keeping those in our care safe from abuse. All staff within our organization have taken countless trainings throughout this accreditation process to remain in compliance with Praesidium’s standards.”
Kristoph Kocan, Tri-NY’s CEO also added “This process is both very long and very extensive. We are the only organization in the area that is accredited and only the second YMCA in all of NY to achieve the rating” he continues on to say “Congratulations to Rachel for her hard work and dedication to this process and achieving this for the Tri-County YMCA of NY!”.
About Praesidium
Praesidium specializes in preventing sexual abuse in organizations that serve youth and vulnerable adults. Over a period in excess of 30 years, the company has reviewed over 4,000 cases of sexual abuse within organizations to determine the root causes of abuse within organizational settings. Praesidium employs more than 50 staff, including licensed social workers, lawyers, health care researchers, and other experts. The company has served over 5,000 clients with a broad range of products and services to aid organizations in preventing abuse, including online and instructor–led trainings, organizational risk assessments, model policies, and background checks. Having trained more than one million people online and hundreds of thousands in person, Praesidium is the largest and most comprehensive sexual abuse risk management firm globally.
