Implementing A Child Protection Policy
What is Required?
A child protection policy requires the following of all volunteers (1) reviewed child protection training materials (2) completed and passed the required background screening.
Why Implement a Policy?
A church or ministry should be committed to a policy of zero tolerance for sexual or physical abuse of children.
Even as your ministry makes that commitment, realize that we are fighting against what seems to be an epidemic of child abuse in this country and throughout the world. The statistics are staggering: 1 out of 5 girls is sexually abused before they turn 12, and 1 of 4 before 18. 1 out of 8 boys is sexually abused before they turn 12, 1 of 6 before 18. And even worse, many reports indicate that precisely because sexual predators target trusting environments where children are present, the incidence of child abuse is actually higher in the Christian community. Indeed, 90% of registered sex offenders claim to be "religious" or "very religious." The church and ministry is not immune to this epidemic: a recent survey of 600 missionary kids from several agencies revealed that 7% said they had been sexually abused growing up.
Statistics do not begin to describe the devastating consequences of child abuse. Victims of child abuse often struggle with the emotional and spiritual effects of this sin for the rest of their lives. Sadly, child abuse victims are themselves at higher risk of inflicting the abuse on other children. Allegations of abuse can also tarnish, sometimes irretrievably, a church′s ministry: instead of being able to discuss the gospel, leadership must spend their time explaining to the media, to the courts, and to visitors why they weren′t able to prevent the abuse. And of course the financial impact can be devastating as well: some churches have faced verdicts of up to $100 million for child abuse committed by those whom they were charged with supervising. Any church or ministry that sends an individual to serve in ministry (even those that serve without pay) may be held responsible for the actions of that individual.
Against this backdrop, Protect My Ministry is determined to join with churches and other ministry partners in avoiding, as much as possible, incidences of child abuse on our watch. To succeed in this goal, it is imperative to implement a policy that depends on two simple preventative measures: training and screening.
What Training is Necessary?
Every volunteer should be required to review basic principles of sound child protection and procedures. Several organizations, such as Reducing the Risk by Richard Hammer, have formulated written training materials and a training DVD to accomplish this task. The required training is designed to accomplish two main objectives. First, it is designed to protect your church and volunteers from inadvertently putting themselves in a position where they could be subject to a false claim of abuse. Following good procedures will prevent such situations from arising. Second, children will be better protected against potential abusers when sound procedures and training are in place. Equipping all those who serve - employees, staff, and volunteers — with sound training will lead to an atmosphere of appropriate vigilance in which children will be protected against perpetrators.
What Background Screening Criteria Is Required?
Employees, staff and volunteers should be required to pass a background screening. Just like airport screenings, this does not mean that we don’t trust everybody who would come on board; instead it is an exercise of stewardship, recognizing that it would be foolish not to use available technology to cheaply and easily screen and identify those few who could inflict such great harm. There are 3 required elements of the background screening: (1) obtaining at least 3 confidential references, (2) an independent criminal background check, and (3) a personal interview. Each element helps identify whether an individual has anything in his/her background that would pose any danger to children. And while no background screening is perfect, these 3 elements when combined together will help your church and ministry demonstrate that you have used reasonable care and diligence in selecting those who serve. As a background check company focused on ministry, Protect My Ministry is here to assist churches to reliably, cheaply, and easily perform the background screenings.
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