First Presbyterian Church
Adopted
Table of Contents
I.
Introduction and
Purpose Page 2
II.
Definition of
Terms Page 2
III.
Requirements for
Employees and Volunteers Page 3
IV.
Policy Review
Requirements Page 3
V.
Categories of
Volunteer/Employee Relationships Page 3
VI.
General Guidelines
and Procedures Page 4
VII. Additional Guidelines and Procedures Page
5
A. On-Site Activities
B. Off-Site Activities
C. Transportation
D. Non-Church Sponsored Use of the Church
E. Employees of First Presbyterian Church
VIII. Reporting and Responding Procedures Page 6
A. Definitions
B. Initial Reporting
C. Responding Committee
D. Staff Response
E. Staff Care of Documents
IX.
Education and
Training Objectives Pages 8
X.
Amendments Page 9
XI. Appendices Page 10
A. Volunteer Application
B. Personal Interview Record
C. Reference Check Form
D. Volunteer Short Form
E. Incident Report Form
F. Record of Reports of Incident or Suspected Abuse
Child Protection Policy
First Presbyterian Church
I.
INTRODUCTION:
As Christians,
we believe that God creates us to live in community with one another. We
understand that life in the church is to be lived according to the rule of
love. “Jesus said, ‘You shall love God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest commandment. And a second
is like it. ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matt 22:37-39)
As members of
First Presbyterian Church, we are called to create a loving community of faith
that seeks the welfare of its members and visitors. Therefore, we are committed
to the protection of all children and other persons participating in the
activities and programs of First Presbyterian. Abuse, exploitation or
harassment in any form, physical, emotional or sexual, will not be tolerated.
As part of our congregation’s baptismal vows, we covenant with each other to
take responsibility for the nurture of faith. As such, the members of this
church have pledged to uphold one another. In the spirit of Christ we teach,
strengthen and support the individual’s relationship within the church family.
As our
baptismal vows imply, we also undertake to preserve the integrity of each
person within our church family. First Presbyterian Church is committed to the
sanctity of all children. A well-implemented child protection policy not only
protects children, but also adults who minister to children.
This Child
Protection Policy covers any person employed by or volunteering at First
Presbyterian Church in any capacity involving children and all outside
organizations using First Presbyterian facilities.
II.
DEFINITIONS OF IMPORTANT TERMS:
A. Adult: a person at least 18 years of age.
B. Child or youth: a person under 18 years of age.
C. Child abuse: harm or
threatened harm to a child’s health or welfare which occurs
through
non-accidental physical or mental injury, verbal abuse or sexual abuse.
D. Child neglect: Failure to provide, by those responsible for the care, custody, and
control of the child, the proper or necessary support, education as
required by law,
nutrition or medical, surgical, or any other care necessary for the
child’s well-
being.
E. Staff member: any person serving at First
Presbyterian Church in an official paid
capacity.
F. Volunteer: an individual who of his/her own free
will offer to help lead or provide
child care for the children and youth
who come under the care of First Presbyterian
Church.
G. Sunday School Supervisor: the person responsible
for monitoring the children’s
and youth
classrooms and hallways during the Sunday morning Sunday school
hour. This person
will assist leaders and teachers as needed and as required by the
Child Protection
Policy. The Sunday School Supervisor may be a volunteer
appointed by the Children’s
Ministry Committee or a staff person.
III. REQUIREMENTS:
In order to
provide a safe community for children and adults, the church requires all
employees and volunteers working with children to comply with this Child
Protection Policy adopted by the Session of First Presbyterian Church. In doing
so, those individuals will be asked to comply with at least the Basic Screening
Criteria and possibly more depending on the level of interaction with a child
during service to the church (see Part 1) and review the attached “Child
Protection Guidelines and Procedures” as part of their orientation and
training. All employees will be under the supervision of the Head of Staff/Pastor
and the appropriate church committee. All qualifying volunteers will be under the
supervision of the respective program staff persons and appropriate ministry. Employees and volunteers are required to
report immediately any suspicious or inappropriate behavior that suggests (1)
sexual abuse or exploitation, (2) neglect, (3) physical abuse, or (4) emotional
abuse.
IV. REVIEW:
The Staff
Committee shall receive reports at least annually from program staff persons
and respective ministries as to the effectiveness of this Child Protection
Policy, shall suggest improvements and shall report to the Session at least
annually on the status of the policy.
V.
CATEGORIES OF VOLUNTEER/EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIPS:
A. Category A Relationships include those individuals volunteering in situations where
there will be at least two or more adults present in the company of children,
such as Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and others.
All employees and volunteers who qualify for a Category A Relationship shall
undergo Basic Screening Criteria for suitability and protection to work with
children.
Basic
Screening Criteria include the following:
1.
Completing a Volunteer Application form (page 1 & 2 only).
2. Completing
a personal interview with a program staff person or program director
designated by the appropriate church committee.
(Personal Interview Record Form)
3. Successfully completing a child safety
training and educational event arranged by the
Church as outlined in Part IX.
B. Category B Relationships include those individuals
volunteering in a position that may include the following situations: any
overnight activity with children (e.g., chaperoning retreats, trips, and lock-ins),
any potential one-on-one activities with a child (e.g., counseling, tutoring, and
positions that involve driving or transporting a minor off church campus in
either a personal or church vehicle). Employees and volunteers meeting the
criteria for Category B Relationship positions will undergo additional
screening which includes the following:
1. All Basic Screening Criteria (listed
above) and also completing and signing a written
application for volunteers (see
Volunteer Application Form) or a resume for employees.
2.
Providing at least 2 personal references for volunteers & at least 2
employment
references for employees (see Reference
Check Form)
3. Agreeing to a Criminal Records Check and
any other background checks that are
deemed necessary by the church. A
National Criminal Records Check is required
for everyone except those living in
will be required to complete a full
fingerprint criminal background check.
4. Providing a copy of a valid
children. If required by the Church’s
insurance carrier a current printout of the person’s
driving record through the
Patrol (computer printout—Missouri
Uniformed Law Enforcement System (MULES)
may also be needed.
C. Category C Relationships include all paid employees
of the church and the Sunday School Supervisor. Oversight for hiring and firing
of personnel is handled by the Head of Staff and the appropriate church
committee in compliance with the Book of Order. This policy shall be included within the written
Personnel Policy of First Presbyterian Church. Those applying for employment
and all current employees at First Presbyterian Church must satisfactorily
complete the following:
1. All Category
B Relationship screening criteria.
2. Child Abuse Prevention training for
staff that interact with minors as a part of their job
criteria.
VI. GENERAL GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES:
All activities
involving children will be supervised or led by at least two trained and
screened adult staff or volunteer workers. The only exception to this policy
would be in a situation in which the contact occurs in a public place or other
persons are able to clearly witness the interaction by being in and out of the
area where the employee or volunteer is working with the children. If a
situation unexpectedly does not meet this criterion of the policy, then
alternatives must be put into place so that the event is in compliance.
A. A youth worker may
be substituted for one of two required adult workers provided the
youth is at least four years older than
the child they serve.
B. The
opportunity for a church member, whether child or adult, to share
confidentially his or
her private and personal concerns with
another member can contribute significantly to his
or her spiritual, emotional and physical
well-being. Indeed, this may be the only time
when a person may be willing to disclose
any abuse he or she may be suffering. Such
private and confidential conversations are
an integral part of a caring and loving Christian
community. On the other hand, such private
conversations create a very high-risk
environment for potential abuse situations
to arise. If an unaccompanied pastor or program
director meets with a single child to
conduct a private discussion, that meeting shall be
held at First Presbyterian when the church
is open for activities or shall be held in a public
place. In no case shall an unaccompanied
pastor or program director meet with a single
child at First Presbyterian unless there
is at least one other employee, member volunteer,
or the parent or guardian of the child in
the building and aware of the meeting.
C. Volunteers
and employees shall read the “Child Protection Policy” of this church, agree to
it by completing and signing the
appropriate application form(s), and completing the
appropriate level of screening.
D. No person shall
serve as a volunteer with children until such person has been an active
member of First Presbyterian Church for
six (6) months (unless otherwise approved by
the Session) and has completed a Volunteer
Application.
VII.
ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES:
A. For On-Site
Activities
1. A Sunday School Supervisor, Associate
(Youth Pastor), and/or his/her designee shall be
present on Sunday mornings when Sunday
School classes and whenever Vacation Bible
School is in session.
2. Restroom use: Preschool age children
shall be accompanied to the restroom by an adult
who shall assist as needed. If the
child needs assistance, the bathroom door will be left
open. The child’s teacher shall be
informed of their destination at the time of exiting
and returning to the classroom.
B. For
Off-Site Activities
1. As each facility will be different, it
will be the responsibility of the adult leader to
determine how best to use the
facility to comply with this policy.
2. At least two adults, one male and one
female, should be present when children of both
sexes are represented in an overnight
event.
3. All First Presbyterian Church
sponsored off-site events for children, shall have at least
two adult leaders present and
maintain a one to five adult ratio for children aged fifth
grade and younger or one to seven for
youth aged sixth grade and above.
C. For
Transportation
1. All volunteer and staff persons who
drive and/or chaperone off-site trips involving
children shall be in conformance with
all aspects of the Child Protection Policy.
2. Minors should be transported in
groups. An unaccompanied adult volunteer or staff
should not drive a single minor
(other than his or her own) in a church-sponsored
activity without express permission,
preferably in writing, from the child’s parent or
guardian. Youth shall not drive other
youth or children without the express consent of
both the driver’s and rider(s)’ parents.
3. In the case of an emergency or with
written permission of a parent or guardian, a staff
member or volunteer will be allowed
to drive a single minor.
D. For
Non-church Sponsored Use of the Church Facility
1. Any non-member or outside group who
uses First Presbyterian facilities (i.e. Boy
Scouts, Head Start, visiting groups,
etc.). shall be required to comply with the Church’s
two-adult rule as defined in this
policy. “General Guidelines and
Procedures.”
2. At the time an Outside Group contract
is signed with a non-church group or person to
use the Church facility; the Person
signing the contract on behalf of the Church shall
obtain written confirmation from the
outside group’s program director of their need to
comply with First Presbyterian
Church’s policies.
E. For
Employees of First Presbyterian Church
1. It shall be the duty of the committee
responsible for hiring to give each newly hired
employee a copy of the Child Protection
Policy.
2. An obligation to comply with and enforce
the Child Protection Policy shall be inherent
in accepting employment at First
Presbyterian Church.
3. First Presbyterian Church employees are
not permitted to form dating relationships with
children.
4. Pastors, along with other staff members
and the appropriate Church committees, shall
review the implementation of the “Child
Protection Policy” and report their findings to
Session at least annually.
VIII.
REPORTING AND RESPONDING TO REPORTS OF SUSPICIOUS OR
INAPPROPRIATE ACTIVITY & DISCLOSURE:
As the Church, we believe that God loves all of us as we are
all children of God. Periodically, we encounter those who have done more to
tear down the community than to build it up. Some of these would be deemed
dangerous to children, but even these are worthy of God’s love and grace and
forgiveness. At the same time, there are those who are accused of these
wrongdoings and are innocent. In any case, we as the Church cannot act
irresponsibly. To protect all parties involved, and to take the responsibility
to be discriminating, we have these policies and procedures. This means these
issues of Reporting and Responding must be handled expediently with
graciousness and confidentiality.
A. Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect according to the law. – available online at the following site www.dss.mo.gov/cd/cani.htm
B. Initial
reporting of suspicious or inappropriate activity:
Suspicious or
inappropriate activity brought to the attention of an employee or volunteer shall
be reported immediately to the appropriate staff person or volunteer in charge
of the event. An appropriate person(s) to whom to make this report would be:
(1) Pastor/Head of Staff; (2) Associate Pastor; (3) Director of Christian
Education or Director of Youth Ministries.
The person receiving the report of the alleged abuse or suspicious
activity shall then document the date, time and circumstances of the alleged
incident on the attached Incident Report Form.
C.
Responding to the initial report of suspicious or inappropriate activity
1. The person receiving the initial report
of suspicious activity will report immediately to
the Head of Staff/Pastor and the Clerk of Session who will inform legal counsel and
the
Church insurer. In the case where either the Head of Staff or
the Clerk of Session is the
alleged
perpetrator, or where a member of either person’s immediate family is the
alleged perpetrator or victim, the
Associate Pastor will replace that person as the
individual to receive the report and to
be on the Responding Committee.
In the absence
of the Associate Pastor
the Clerk of Session will receive the report and an active Elder
will serve on the Responding
Committee.
2. The Head of
Staff and the Clerk of Session shall make up the Responding Committee
and shall then determine if they have
reasonable suspicion that abuse or neglect to a
child may have
occurred. If the allegation involves an employee, the Chair of the
appropriate Church
committee shall be involved in that determination. If any one of
these
individuals reasonably suspects that abuse or neglect has occurred he or she is
required to
report the incident to the appropriate authorities. [1]
3. The Responding
Committee shall comply with all state laws and shall not further
investigate
the reported incident to avoid compromising, interfering with, or delaying a
legal
investigation.
4. All allegations shall be regarded as
serious, and due consideration shall be given to the
rights and privacy of both the alleged
victim and the person being accused.
5. The accused individual, whether staff
or volunteer, shall be required to refrain from
participating in all child activities
until it is determined if further action shall be taken.
Care shall be taken to respond to all
allegations in a professional manner.
6. After reviewing the reported
circumstances, if there is reasonable cause to suspect child
abuse or neglect (as defined by the
State of
as described in Section D, “Staff
Response to Allegations of Abuse or Neglect.”
7. If a reported
incident does not provide reasonable suspicion of abuse, the Responding
Committee has the option to recommend appropriate action, which may
include
removal from the program, a review of the
processes in that program, and/or further
education/training.
D. Staff
response to allegations of abuse or neglect
If the Responding
Committee determines there is reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or
neglect, then
the following steps shall be taken:
1. A report shall be made immediately to
the proper authorities, either law enforcement or
the Missouri Department of Social
Services.[2]
2. All allegations shall be taken
seriously and shall be investigated in a professional
manner.
3. If necessary,
the Responding Committee may incorporate additional persons to assist
the Head of
Staff and Clerk of Session with the investigation. Those individuals
may include;
1) one other member of Session appointed by the Head of Staff/Pastor or
the Clerk of
Session, 2) legal counsel, 3) others as deemed appropriate by the Head of
Staff/Pastor (i.e., additional pastoral
counseling or mental health officials).
4. If appropriate under the law, under
the guidance of the Church’s legal counsel and
insurance carrier, the Responding
Committee may also:
a. Assign a person to the Responding
Committee for each of the accused individuals
and the alleged victim as a
contact and for support.
b. Contact the alleged victim’s
parents, if it will not place the child in jeopardy.
c. Maintain documents of all efforts
to handle the situation.
d. Assign a
committee member, preferably the Clerk of Session or Legal Counsel, to
be the
spokesperson after the Responding Committee has fulfilled its legal
reporting
requirements.
This person will be the sole individual communicating to outside
authorities
or other persons (including the Session, the congregation and the media)
regarding the incident.
E. Staff
Care of Documents
1. All
information shall be treated in a confidential manner. In the case of a
response to a
report of
suspicious activity, only the Responding Committee, including the appropriate
legal
counsel, shall have access to the information on these documents.
2. The documents shall be kept in secure
storage at the Church.
3. Personal interviews will be conducted
by the appropriate program staff person or
program director, application reviews and
reference checks shall be conducted by the
appropriate program staff person(s),
and any required background checks will be
submitted by the Head of Staff or
his/her designee. The result of the investigation shall
be reviewed by the Head of Staff or his/her
designee. Approval shall be documented on
the attached form(s) prior to an
individual beginning service (employment or
volunteer).
4. Volunteers will be required to
complete a Volunteer Application form and once every
three years a Child Volunteer—Short
Form, verifying that the information provided in
their application is still accurate.
IX.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING OBJECTIVES FOR STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS
A. All employees and volunteers meeting any of the Categories
of Volunteer/Employee
Relationships (Section V) must complete child
protection training. The training will:
1. Address critical aspects of First
Presbyterian Church’s Child Protection Policy and
ensure that all employees and
volunteers understand and are in compliance with the
policy.
2. Take
place at least annually.
B. In addition
to the policy’s procedures and guidelines, Child Protection training for
working with children will:
1. Include
reasoning and Biblical/theological support for the training, as well as
connections to our responsibilities as
members of Christ’s Church and to the baptismal
vows we take with each baptism.
2. Include awareness training on issues
related to child abuse, an overview of statistics and
probabilities of infractions and
occurrences, strategies for the protection of children,
recommendations about provision of
support, and guidance for the victims of abuse.
3. Have trainees participate in
interactive discussions and learning for handling:
a. Work
with children of all ages;
b. Instructions on restroom visits and
other situations that might require one-on-one
time with a child;
c. Child responses to any portions of
the Child Protection Policy;
d. Discussion of abuse issues with
children;
e. Procedures for handling disclosures
versus suspicions of abuse; and
f. Any other thoughts and feelings
that might be stimulated by discussion of child abuse
and its effect.
4. Include a question and answer time to
address all trainee questions, needs for
clarification, or interpretation of
the policy and procedures, resources, helps, and/or
concerns.
5. Conclude with prayer for our
children/youth and all those that discipline them in any
manner.
X. Amendments
First Presbyterian Church
CHILD PROTECTION POLICY
|
Policy Section* |
Content of Amendment |
Date Approved by Session |