The value of child safety training
February 10th, 2011 // 9:46 pm @
At Protect My Ministry we work with over 5,000 churches in all 50 states to provide background checks as well as child protection policies and procedures. And while background checks are a vital piece of your child protection policy, it cannot be the only safeguard the church has in place. More and more churches are upgrading their policies to include additional safeguards:
- Written policies with signed agreements from all volunteers
- Camera systems/video monitoring
- Sophisticated check-in systems
- Two-person rule for all classroom settings
- Child Safety Training
The value of these and especially the Child Safety training cannot be overstated. In fact, 90% of those that commit crimes in the church do not have a criminal history so the background checks are limited in preventing predators from making it through the front door. Take the following case as an example:
Upon investigating the home of Joseph Emil Klug in September of 2009, FBI agents found the equivalent of a truckload of child pornography. Klug volunteered for the Royal Rangers program, a church ministry for boys, and frequently had access to camping trips and other overnight activites. During those activities Klug would secretly film boys in his group showering and going to the bathroom. Klug had no prior criminal records that would have indicated he was a sexual predator.
A final report concluded that Klug had collected about 59,000 images and 12,000 videos of minors engaging in sex. Some of those images contained sexual assaults involving infants and prepubescent children, bondage, and bestiality. Klug had also falsely portrayed himself as a father of a boy in online chat rooms and provided advice on how to groom and assault children while avoiding getting caught.
And that is the key. There is a method and a process that predators follow in order to gain access to vulnerable persons and build a relationship with those they intend to abuse. Protect My Ministry offers a child safety training program to help churches put safeguards in place and teach other volunteers how to spot signs of grooming and other red flags. This can help stop an abuser before they ever gain the trust of other parents and volunteers and help make your church a safe place.
For more information about Protect My Ministry’s child safety training click here.
Go to www.protectmyministry.com for more information about volunteer background checks.
Category : Articles
Church Child Protection Strategies
December 1st, 2010 // 11:40 am @
Church child protection strategies include writing a comprehensive children’s ministry policy, church background checks, and child safety training. Watch this video to learn more.
Church Child Protection By Protect My Ministry
Category : Articles
Church Child Protection
November 28th, 2010 // 11:27 pm @
Most churches are searching for church child protection strategies to help protect kids attending Sunday school and weekly church activities on church campus. Unfortunately, many churches do not take a pro-active approach to child protection in church until a preventable church child abuse tragedy has occurred.
What steps can a church take to increase church child protection that is practical and affordable? The first step is to honestly assess where your church stands right now. It is important to recognize there are external threats and internal threats.
The most obvious external threat is a child abduction attempt. This happens rarely. Many churches have adopted strict policies regarding check in and check out procedures, and numerous software programs have been introduced into the market to help church staff keep track of children entering into their ministry area. These are often expensive software programs that require hardware purchases as well.
The unfortunate truth is most incidents of violence against children in church are committed by people internally.
Church child abuse usually involves a trusted adult, who tenaciously works to groom and develop relationships with children under their care. A church can easily implement several steps to dramatically increase the safety and security of children at church.
First, churches should write comprehensive policies and procedures covering access points to the child ministry area, releasing of children to responsible adults, who is allowed to teach, and the requirements for anyone given this responsibility.
It is important to train your staff and volunteers in the policies and procedures. The weakest point in any policy is when someone doesn’t follow a policy. It leaves children vulnerable and having a weak link in the process exposes children to unnecessary risk. Training staff and volunteers should include expectations of each volunteer, explicit directions for carrying out the policy, and a review of the policy every year.
Secondly, a comprehensive church child protection strategy should include training all staff and volunteers in recognizing child predators, signs of abuse, and the important reporting steps they should take if they believe a child is being abused. This is an area that should not be ignored due to the liability churches may face if a child is abused. Churches often have good intentions of providing training to their staff and volunteers, but this is one area that falls through the cracks due to the turnover rate and influx of new people into the children’s ministry. It is difficult to keep accurate records and track who has taken the training and who has not.
Thirdly, churches should consider instituting a church background check program for all staff and volunteers who have access to children or children’s ministry areas. A background check program for churches may be enough to dissuade child predators from becoming involved in the children’s ministry, and may provide information on any applicant that may disqualify him from teaching.
The biggest obstacle for most churches is admitting a child left in their care could be hurt on church property by one of their own members. The next obstacle may be where to begin with the large task of implementing a church child safety policy. Protect My Ministry, the nation’s leading background check company, offers churches guidance on the best course of action to reduce church child abuse. They offer a complete risk management solution that saves time, helps churches organize the church background check process, and offers an opportunity for easily trackable child safety training through its Ministry Mobilizer solution.
Church leaders can now easily implement a child safety program that tracks all activity, helps conduct background checks easily, alerts when background checks needs to be completed, provides release forms, and provides internet based software that allows both ministry leaders and volunteers to securely input personal information. Protect My Ministry also provides a complete online child safety course that allows volunteers to watch videos when convenient for them and notifies ministry leaders when this has been accomplished.
If you are researching church child protection policies, church background checks or child safety training for your staff and volunteers, you are invited to contact Protect My Ministry at 800-319-5581. They also provide free videos for anyone seeking more information about how to implement church background checks. Click here to sign up for the church child protection videos.
Category : Articles
Fact vs. Myth part 2
October 13th, 2010 // 9:01 pm @
Protect My Ministry currently serves over 5,000 different faith-based organizations in all 50 states, so we see a lot of situations and run into questions about these issues on a regular basis. So this month we will continue our investigation into more common mistakes or misconceptions many churches have regarding background checks:
Myth # 3 – “I am running a national search, so I am getting everything from every state.”
Fact – There is not a national database that comprehensively covers all 50 states criminal information. One of the reasons Protect My Ministry created an online consultation is because the type of information we get from the national database varies from state to state. Some states, like North Carolina and Texas, update their information regularly and include details on felonies, misdemeanors, convictions, and non-convictions. Other states, like Georgia and Alabama, only report felony convictions. So the type of search you run really varies depending on how much information you are looking for and how well your state reports.
Myth # 4 – “It’s not in the budget right now; we’ll just use people we know.”
Fact – You really cannot afford not to screen your volunteers. Within this objection are really two problems. First there is the assumption that you actually do know everyone in your congregation. No matter the size, one could question how well you know each person that comes through your doors. I know of a case where there was a check run on an assistant pastor who had just graduated from Bible College. After investigation it was discovered that while he was in college he had two felony arrests for spouse abuse and child abuse, as well as a restraining order against him. Sometimes you just never know. The other problem with this line of thinking is the court and legal cost the church could face if there is an allegation and there is not a child safety policy in place that includes background screening of volunteers. I have heard on several occasions that the cost to defend a church against a frivolous child molestation lawsuit can be $80,000-$100,000! And that’s just to prove that nothing happened! Background checks are cheap insurance compared to that.
For more information go to www.protectmyministry.com
Category : Articles
Free Videos From Protect My Ministry
September 30th, 2010 // 3:34 pm @
Free Information From Protect My Ministry on church background checks, child safety training, and ministry automation is available at our website ProtectMyMinistry.com
Category : Articles