Dignity is protected by design.
Predictable care, communication access, limited exposure, and familiar trained adults reduce vulnerability during a child’s most private moments.
The Compass & ShieldCoalitionJoin the workNew Jersey statewide policy & collaboration proposal
A clear standard of care protects everyone.
The Compass & Shield Coalition is advancing practical safeguards for students who require intimate care at school—protecting children’s dignity, supporting responsible staff, and giving districts a consistent framework.
Compass to guide policy.
Shield to protect people.
Our mission
Protection should not depend on a child’s ability to speak.
The coalition began with one mother asking a simple question: what safeguards are in place when a child cannot independently communicate discomfort, mistreatment, or a violation of personal boundaries?
Our answer is a workable statewide standard built with the people who live and implement it—families, educators, nurses, clinicians, administrators, advocates, attorneys, and policymakers.
Our starting principleEvery student who requires intimate care deserves immediate baseline protections at enrollment—not only after an IEP or Section 504 plan is finalized.
A policy that works for all parties
Protection, clarity, and consistency.
This proposal is not built on an assumption of wrongdoing. It is designed to prevent ambiguity before harm, misunderstanding, or conflict occurs.
Clarity protects responsible professionals.
Defined authorization, training, backup coverage, objective records, and supervision remove guesswork and help staff demonstrate that proper procedures were followed.
A consistent standard reduces preventable risk.
Written expectations create continuity across classrooms, absences, and staff changes while giving administrators a reliable structure for oversight and response.
The proposed policy
Required safeguards for intimate care
A district-wide minimum standard for toileting, diapering, changing, and related personal care—designed for multidisciplinary review and practical implementation.
Download the full proposalAuthorized care teams
A small, identifiable group of trained primary and backup staff so care never defaults to whoever happens to be available.
Individualized written plans
A clear process developed with the parent or guardian that addresses hygiene, positioning, sensory, medical, behavioral, and communication needs.
Privacy and bodily dignity
Accessible communication, appropriate private settings, minimal exposure, and respect for the child throughout every care event.
Communication and refusal
Recognition of each child’s signals for stop, help, pain, discomfort, refusal, and distress—because non-speech is not non-communication.
Objective documentation
Consistent records of who provided care, what occurred, deviations from the plan, and observable findings without asking staff to make medical diagnoses.
Reporting and notification
A defined chain for internal reporting, supervisory review, and prompt notice to the child’s authorized contact when the plan cannot be followed or concerns arise.
Training and accountability
Preparation in disability communication, boundaries, abuse prevention, mandated reporting, trauma-informed care, and individualized baselines.
Supervision and review
Clear responsibility for reviewing records, escalating concerns, responding to families, and updating the plan when circumstances change.
A universal call to action
A parent can sound the alarm. Durable reform requires a village.
No single profession holds the entire solution. We are inviting multidisciplinary review to strengthen the legal and clinical foundation, test operational feasibility, and shape a safeguard that New Jersey schools can use.
ParentsEducatorsNursesAdministratorsAttorneysCliniciansAdvocatesPolicy leaders
The founder
Brianna M. Green
Mother · Advocate · Community Volunteer
Brianna founded The Compass & Shield Coalition after advocating for her minimally verbal autistic son and confronting the absence of clear, written safeguards for children who require intimate care at school.
Her commitment to dignity is both personal and professional. Brianna is studying Funeral Service Education and works in funeral service, a field that requires compassion, discretion, and respect for people during some of life’s most vulnerable moments. That perspective has strengthened her belief that dignity should never depend on a person’s age, disability, ability to communicate, or level of dependence on others.
Brianna’s community-service background includes active membership in the Medical Reserve Corps, previous service on the board of directors of an emergency service squad, and volunteer work supporting vulnerable children and families. She brings lived experience, public-service leadership, and a collaborative approach to developing practical protections that support children, responsible staff, and school districts.
The Compass & Shield Coalition is a newly established, parent-led advocacy initiative. It is not presented as a registered nonprofit organization.
Build the shield with us
Help shape a policy worthy of the people it protects.
We welcome thoughtful review from New Jersey families, school professionals, clinical and legal experts, disability advocates, and policy leaders.
Join the working group