Planning for SAFE SANCTUARIES

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Planning for SAFE SANCTUARIES IMPLEMENTING THE
PLAN

• Reducing the Risk of Abuse
• in the Church for
• Children and Youth

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SO, WHY ARE YOU HERE?

• What are some immediate questions you hope might
  be answered today?
• What are some overall learnings you hope to take
  away from this workshop?

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SO, HOW IS IT GOING?

• Knowledge of Policies and Procedures Brief Quiz
• Church Accessibility Plan
• How is your church doing?

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LETS GET REALWHY DO IT?

• Lets take a few minutes to get some sobering
  facts from a video produced by the Church Mutual
  Insurance Company.
• This video is available free of charge.
  Information about how to order it follows.

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Resources for Churches
Also, Church Mutual Insurance Companys free
Resources Safety Tips on a Sensitive Subject
Child Sexual Abuse - Safety Videos Safety Tips
on a Sensitive Subject Child Sexual Abuse The
Protection Series Booklets Can order them on
line at www.churchmutual.com
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We Have a Biblical Mandate to Protect

• Matthew 185-6
• Whoever welcomes one such child in my name
  welcomes me. If any of you put a stumbling block
  before one of these little ones who believe in
  me, it would be better for you if a great
  millstone were fastened around your neck and you
  were drowned in the depth of the sea.

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BAPTISMAL COVENANT, UMC

• WE PROMISE
• With Gods help we will so order our lives after
  the example of Christ, that this child,
  surrounded by steadfast love, may be established
  in the faith and confirmed and strengthened in
  the way that leads to eternal life.

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A Churchs Statement of Commitment acknowledges

• Children in our care need to be safe
• We have a biblical command that is
• Reflected in our baptismal covenant.
• Peninsula Delaware Conference
• Resolution 2008
• To protect staff, volunteers and
• churches from false abuse allegations

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Guidelines, Procedures Timeline

• Guidelines tell the congregation what will be
  expected of all members
• Procedures advise just how to fulfill
  expectations
• Timelines let people know that there is a window
  of time for learning coming to agreements, but
  there is an expectation that we will do this
  important work

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The bottom line is . . . Risk

• Risk of harm
• irrevocable, difficult to heal
• Risk of reputation for
• persons or a congregation
• Risk of loss of physical assets
• building, funds, property

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What does it mean to mitigate risk?

• To mitigate is to stop, impede, prevent against
• Think about your homeowners insurance
• Of course you will insure your home against fire,
  theft, accidents
• If you lived on a flood plain, wouldnt you
  insure against flood damage or destruction?

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What is due diligence why is it necessary?

• The reputation of an innocent person is damaged
  along with the churchs when a false allegation
  is made

If a child is abused in the church , his or her
faith and relationship with God are forever
altered.
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Churches live on the flood plain of human
interaction sin

• People are fragile subject to temptation
• We now understand that problems in families of
  origin often play out in adult hood
• Some depressed or disconnected people seek
  gratification from those more vulnerable
• Churches are filled with imperfect often
  hurting people
• Some people wander into bad behavior some
  seek easy access to vulnerable people

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No congregation can afford either financially,
ethically or spiritually, to fail to implement
strategies for the reduction and prevention of
the abuse of its children and youth Joy
Thornburg Melton
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What if we still dont agree this is necessary?

• Many insurance companies no longer insure
  churches who dont have risk reduction
  strategies.
• Entitlement mentality in todays society
  results in lawsuits for allegations true or
  false.
• The church is considered negligent if an incident
  should occur and no plan is in place.
• The church loses members, unity of its
  membership, reputation and thousands of dollars.

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• BREAK
• 10 MINUTES

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Commonly Asked Questions about Basic Procedures
for Safe Ministry
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Recruiting, Screening, Hiring

• How can we get enough adults to help with
  children youth?
• Does your congregation need to talk about
  whether they want children youth?
• Maybe childrens programs should be offered at
  times different from other ministries.
• Some congregations have hired nursery workers
  then sought 1 volunteer.

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What to do about people who refuse to be screened.

• Screening is an effective way to ensure that a
  person with something to hide is not serving.
• There is no compromise on this requirement in
  todays litigious society.
• A person who refuses to be screened may not have
  the heart you need for youth ministry.
• Ensure that you have a confidential process for
  storing the information from screenings.

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Refusal do everything possible to keep children
safe is the same as

• Teenagers thinking they are invincible
• Putting money in the bank without deposit
  insurance
• Burying your head in the sand
• Going out in the rain and hoping you wont get
  wet.

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Why do we have to have two unrelated adults?

• For the same reason we have two unrelated people
  counting our money. Which is more precious? Our
  money or our children?
• Have you considered hiring a 2nd adult to work
  alongside one volunteer? One church hired their
  cleaning lady for Sundays . Consistency of care
  can be helpful to young children. One church
  found a local day care Mom who could use the
  stipend offered. She joined their church.

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Windows on doors will cost too much!

• Secret places invite secrets!
• Develop a plan to purchase one door at a time.
• Perhaps the Memorial Fund?
• Challenge members to buy a
• door for the safety of the children!
• One pastor took the doors off
• until the doors could be replaced.

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Why cant our college students help with the high
school youth?

• Youth workers should be at least 5 years older
  than those they supervise because . . .
• They are vulnerable to acting like one of the
  teens and not a grown up
• Temptation is perhaps greater for a younger
  person who has not experienced the consequences
  of giving in to temptation.

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What do they mean by adequate appropriate care?

• In todays world it is considered irresponsible
  to care for youth without some basic knowledge of
  first Aid or CPR. That will be the standard for a
  lawsuit brought against the church.
• Would you place your newborn child in a crib that
  does not meet 2010 safety standards? This is the
  principle of Appropriate Equipment. Fifty year
  old chairs that fold pinch would not be
  adequate. Tables that might collapse or have
  pointy corners that could injure child would not
  meet the standard of due diligence.

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What do they mean by adequate insurance?

• Church insurance policies should be reviewed
  annually to ensure coverage is up to date. A
  50,000 award in 1960 would have been amazing,
  more like 500,000 today!
• Annual orientation for ministry workers is an
  addition to your insurance policy you mitigate
  risk when everyone is honoring the policy!

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What is meant by Respect for Families?

• Advance notice to parents/guardians before
  outings
• Parent and family education

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Developing a Policy in the Local Church
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Who should be on the Implementation Team the
SAFE TEAM

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Roles in the Local Church

• Staff/Pastor Parish Relations help with
  training and implementation of the policy and
  procedures. Provide support for pastors
  leadership role.
• Lay Leadership help with recruiting issues
  schedule training.
• Christian Education leaders commitment
  designate those who can recruit for ministries
  with children/youth monitoring.
• Sunday School Superintendent - charged with
  safety of all children/youth as well as
  teachers/leaders.
• Trustees Risk managers, insurance, legal
  responsibilities, facilities requirements.

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What Needs to be Done?

• To assess what needs to be done in your church,
  suggested tools include
• The Local Church Self-Evaluation Form
• The Safe Sanctuaries assessment for local
  churches in the Pen-Del Conference
• Your Trustees accessibility survey.
• Your current insurance policy
• The books CD mentioned earlier today.

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What are reasonable timelines?

• Allow adequate time for a congregation to be
  informed about the policy practices.
• One year is reasonable if you have just
  established your policy.
• One congregation targeted 10 months, extended to
  13 and then to 17 months.
• Keep the team meeting to ensure timelines are met!

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How do we create a Safe Sanctuaries
Implementation Plan?

• Review Sample
• Safe Sanctuaries Implementation Plan
• One Churchs Experience
• Remember that you do not need to start from
  scratch, borrow, but then personalize it to your
  church engage members in that process.

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Do you have ideas for sharing information with
our Congregation?

• Safe Sanctuary training sessions for church
  leaders
• Newsletter articles
• Bulletin board displays
• Church announcements
• Administrative/Church council meetings
• Ministry Covenant meetings
• Other ideas?

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How do we create necessary forms?

• Tools Some of the forms reviewed here are also
  included in the forms section of Safe
  Sanctuaries Reducing the Risk of Abuse in the
  Church for Children and Youth by Joy Thornburg
  Melton
• Sample forms include
• Employment Application
• Form for Reference Check
• Information about PACTs Background Check
  Service
• Safe Sanctuaries Participation Covenant
  Statement
• You do not need to reinvent the wheel!
• Borrow! Review! Personalize!

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Why do we need a brochure?

• To Share info With Congregation Visitors
• See Brochure Handout
• This is one example of a brochure that can be
  created to share information with the
  congregation and visitors about the churchs
  policy.

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• Final Questions
• Closing Prayer
• Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.