The news story of the week and probably the sports news story of the year has been the child sexual abuse allegations at Penn State and the repercussions that have followed, not the least of which was the firing of head football coach, Joe Paterno. The whole incident was reprehensible, and regardless of whether or not you agree with the university’s course of action, the fact of the matter is that had some different steps been taken, the university and personnel would not be walking this road.
At our church, and in the United Methodist Texas Annual Conference as a whole, we are big on sexual ethics. So having been trained and having trained others in the ins and outs of what is and is not appropriate, I want to share my thoughts so that it may save you and your organization some heartache in the future. Here are several things that can help prevent these types of incidents.
1. Adopt a policy. Our church has a policy called our “Safe Sanctuary” policy. All workers are trained in this policy which includes parameters for appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, basic guidelines to prevent any appearance of inappropriate behavior, and SPECIFIC action steps for persons to follow in the event of an incident. Our policy serves two basic functions-prevent abuse and exploitation of minors, and prevent frivolous accusations of staff and volunteers. If your church or organization doesn’t have a similar policy, make one as soon as possible. You may operate a business that doesn’t deal with children, it is still important to train employees in what is and is not appropriate behavior in the workplace and it is always a good idea to cover issues dealing with minors.
2. Train your staff and volunteers in the policy. Everyone may have taken the pamphlet home and read it, but chances are, they signed the paper saying they read it, and left it on the kitchen table. Your church or business should have, at the least, annual training sessions that go over the policy and spell out what is and is not appropriate to remove all doubt as to what things are acceptable at your meetings and events.
3. Enforce the policy consistently. Consistency is the difference between a policy and a good idea. If the policy doesn’t apply to everyone and only certain people are forced to abide by its guidelines, then the policy is just a piece of paper.
4. Do background checks on all staff and volunteers. If your workers have nothing to hide, they will be glad to give consent for a background check. Sometimes it is a tough sell to let your church members know they need to have annual background checks. Many will say, “But I did this last year.” Annual checks ensure nothing has been reported within the last year. Even if Billy Graham is a member of your congregation, he needs to have a background check. Also, your policy needs to have procedures for if/when particular items show up on checks. In our church, we do not allow persons with violent offenses or sexually-related offenses to serve in any of our children’s or youth ministries. We believe in power of forgiveness, grace, and the ability God has to restore people in his Kingdom. However, we do not take risks with our children under any circumstances. We will find other areas of church life for these people to serve. We do not allow those with DWI’s, DUI’s or other similar offenses to drive students on church-sponsored trips. While these checks may sound expensive, generally your church can pay a flat fee for an unlimited number of checks per year.
5. Require any incidents to be reported to the local authorities and to the Department of Health and Human Services (aka Child Protective Services-names may differ by state). This is where the wheels came off for Penn State. Those who witnessed the alleged events simply reported to their supervisors, who reported to their supervisors, who did the same and what was alleged to be a horrific incident was apparently swept under the rug. If the person who witnessed the incident had been required to call the authorities, Penn State would not be dealing with the current backlash. I have been in situations where I have had to deal with Child Protective Services and I know they want the report from the person who witnessed the event, not from someone who heard it second or third hand. Our church policy requires that if we suspect a child is in danger of abuse then we make two phone calls, one to the local police department and one to Department of Health and Human Services.
Do you have a policy in place? What do you do protect children as well as workers and volunteers in your organization?
I understand what you’re trying to say, and I applaud the spirit of your article, but be very careful with this line of thought:
“If your workers have nothing to hide, they will be glad to give consent for a background check.” (from item #4 above)
It is the fear of this line of thinking which led to the adoption of the 4th and 5th amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Following your statement further down the line might cause a church to post guards and strip-search all people desiring entrance. Why not, if you have nothing to hide?
That being said, you’re talking about the privilege of serving in an aspect of ministry, not a fundamental right as a citizen. As a parent, I certainly would not want to have my child supervised just by a vague feeling of trust, so I support the checks.
I don’t think anyone is talking about armed guards or search and seizures. I certainly am not. But if someone is going to work with kids, we owe it to those children to provide an attempt to preserve their safety at the most basic level-making sure everyone who works with children has no history of abuse. Why should I risk putting a child in harm’s way by unwittingly exposing him to a convicted pedophile when a basic background check or screening policy would have prevented that? I am all about freedom, especially at church. This is not an airline we are running. But just as workers should have freedoms, so should our children.
Unfortunately Jason, whatever state or municipality your church resides in must be one that reports offenses so that the background agencies can get the information. A local church had an instance where the person being hired was quite upfront about a criminal background. However, when the church did a check, nothing turned up. Apparently, our area is not one that reports. Safe Sanctuary policies are great, a good step in the right direction, but not the cure-all some think them to be.
Well Ralph, all we can do is all we can do. But if we are leaving the most basic stones unturned, we are doing a disservice to our children and communities. Thanks for your comment.