The U.S. Center for SafeSport announced substantial changes Monday aimed at addressing concerns that athletes have raised about the organization's ability to effectively investigate claims of abuse in Olympic sports.
SafeSport, a nonprofit organization empowered by Congress to adjudicate abuse cases in some amateur sports, plans to implement new processes designed to streamline the investigative process, communicate better with the parties involved in cases and be more sensitive to the trauma of abuse victims.
"We are listening to athletes and responding with improvements to better serve them," SafeSport CEO Ju'Riese Colon said in a statement Monday. "We are proud of the progress we've made, but we are clear-eyed about the work ahead of us. We will continue to seek input as we evolve to meet the needs of athletes of all levels -- from the practice fields in our neighborhoods to the podium in Paris."
SafeSport has struggled to earn the trust of athletes and manage a deluge of sexual abuse complaints since Congress in 2017 gave it the exclusive authority to punish and remove abusers from sports under the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee's purview. A federal commission published a report last month that suggested lawmakers needed to mandate sweeping changes to the organization's processes and funding model.
The changes announced Monday only partially address some of the issues the group says need to be addressed to keep athletes safe, according to Dionne Koller, one of the commission's co-chairs.
"We are pleased to see SafeSport acknowledge the need for, and take steps to achieve, reform. However, the Commission concluded that athlete safety depended on fuller systemic changes that require an act of Congress," Koller said. "This includes strengthening oversight and accountability for all movement institutions, granting independence to the Team USA Athletes Commission, and establishing an independent funding stream for SafeSport at a level sufficient for it to fulfill its mission. Only then will we start to move towards a safer environment for all who participate in movement sports."
Multiple members of Congress told ESPN they were eager to craft new legislation to protect athletes and improve SafeSport's ability to complete its mission. In a pair of federal hearings last month, Colon said SafeSport had listened to athletes who said they were "let down" after reporting a claim to the organization and acknowledged that "change is necessary." She previewed the new processes announced Monday by telling Congress that the group was making "an initial set of changes" based on an eight-month-long internal review.
Rep. Deborah Ross (D-North Carolina) said she still believes a new law is needed to hold SafeSport accountable.
"I am grateful that SafeSport has outlined a plan to remedy these challenges. However, I firmly believe that Congress has an obligation to act to ensure that SafeSport is effectively fulfilling its primary mission - protecting athletes," Ross said in a statement provided to ESPN Monday. "Federal legislation is still necessary to comprehensively address the culture of abuse in sports."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), who co-authored the law that currently governs SafeSport and has been critical of the organization's performance, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Critics of SafeSport say the organization often takes too long to investigate cases, and its employees do not do a good job of keeping complainants informed during the process. SafeSport said it restructured its investigative team to work faster. It also announced a new team of "process navigators," staff members tasked with creating material that will help educate people about the investigative process.
The changes also seek to improve a pair of policies that athletes and their advocates say make it harder to remove abusers from their positions in sport. Some national governing bodies (NGBs), such as U.S. Soccer, have raised concerns about the number of cases SafeSport closes quickly without issuing a verdict -- a step known as "administrative closure." SafeSport said it will provide more information about those cases to the NGBs, which might allow them to implement safety plans or take other action to keep athletes safe in the absence of a penalty issued by SafeSport.
Others have complained that SafeSport's processes give accused parties an upper hand if they appeal a punishment in arbitration. The previous rules made it possible for those parties to introduce new evidence or information in an arbitration hearing without giving the other side time to respond. Starting Monday, all parties involved in a case will now have two weeks to review evidence and submit additional responses before a ruling is made, a step SafeSport said "will limit Respondents' ability to introduce new information during arbitration."
SafeSport's planned changes are "a first step in the right direction," according to Grace French, who testified about the organization's shortcomings and lack of transparency alongside Colon in recent Congressional hearings. French founded The Army of Survivors, an advocacy group dedicated to changing the way abuse cases are handled in sports. She said SafeSport will need more substantial, fundamental change to rebuild trust with athletes due to its negative track record for investigating cases and working with advocacy groups. "Without actual amendments to SafeSport's authorizing statute, it is unclear whether there is any level of accountability to follow through on these changes," French told ESPN. "I feel there is still a need to see more changes to the laws to better support athlete survivors."
The federal commission's report suggested that process changes made by SafeSport are only one piece of a broader change needed to keep athletes in Olympic sports. Lawmakers are also considering proposals that would give athletes a greater voice and help increase SafeSport's independence by funding its operation with federal tax dollars instead of contributions from the USOPC.