When I came to Fort Caroline Baptist Church fifteen years ago I began to implement a "risk managment" policy. I wanted to begin the process of securing our people and property from potential loss, injury, or harm. The process involved reviewing our insurance coverage, developing a disaster response plan, and updating our financial checks and balances. One major area of concern to me, however, was our lack of a clear policy of child-abuse prevention related to church staff, volunteers, and the general public. I could not sleep well at night knowing that we were leaving our most precious treasures, our children, vulnerable to potential harm. I had heard horror stories of children being abused in other churches by a pastor, a staff member, a deacon, or a trusted church member. This was long before the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal. Thankfully, we had never had a problem in the past, but that was no excuse to ignore the gaps in our protection. Many years ago I led the church to do several things to help prevent child abuse. We are continually reviewing our policies and procedures in an effort to provide the safest place possible for our children.
I would recommend that every church, no matter how large or small, begin to implement appropriate policies and safeguards to protect the little ones Christ has entrusted to us. The Southern Baptist Convention offers some helpful abuse prevention resources that can be foundhere. There is no way to guarantee that a church is 100% secure, but we must try!Here are a few of the steps we have taken.
1. We cut windows into all doors of our classrooms and offices.
2. We began making criminal background checks mandatory for anyone, paid staff or volunteer, who wants to work with minors.
3. We implemented a "six-month" rule that requires a person to be a regularly attending member of our church for six months before being eligible to work with minors.
4. We implemented a two-adult rule which requires that adults not be alone with children or youth.
5. We enforce the policy that adults who have been arrested and/or convicted of either child sexual or physical abuse, neglect, or endangerment are ineligible to participate as a leader in any church sponsored activity or program for children or youth.
6. We developed guidelines for reporting inappropriate behavior which seems abusive in nature, either physical or verbal.
7. We built a preschool facility that has a secure check-in process that limits the general public's access to the preschoolers.
8. We implemented a badge system for children and their parents or guardians. The adult must present the badge when picking up the child from our care.
9. We implemented a pager system so we can immediately notify parents when we need them no matter where they are on our campus.
10. We implemented a staff counseling policy that restricts the staff from being alone with minors.
11. We initiated a safety team which patrols our facilities during normal service times (and other times as assigned).
I would love to hear your ideas for keeping our little ones safe.
