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Child Safety
Policies
For Volunteers
Who Work with Children and Youth
All Saints
Episcopal Church
Portland,
Oregon
Original
committee: David Champion, Anna Rose, Misty Kiyuna, Sarah Springer, Donna
Woodruff, Rosalie Grafe, 2009 committee: Patti Ryall chair, Sara Gibson,
Dawn Odell,
Carolyn Cleasby, Miriam Lane
Our Goal: A
Safe and Loving Christian Environment for Our Children.
Jesus urges us
to be "wise as serpents but gentle as doves".
Because of the growing awareness of child abuse and the ways of
preventing it, we hope to be wise in working to implement policies, which have
wide practice in schools, day care centers, and other churches. Because we are
the Body of Christ, knit together in love and concern for one another, we hope
to be gentle in caring for both children and those who serve them in our church.
In order to
strengthen our program and to set high standards of care for our
children and
those who work with them, the vestry and staff of All Saints have established
the following policies. For purposes of these policies the following definitions
are intended:
Children-refers to children
from infants through elementary school
Youth-refers to young people
in middle and senior high school
Adult-refers to a person age
18 or older
Trained-refers to a youth or
adult who has attended the diocesan-sponsored four-hour training “Safeguarding
God’s Children”.
Volunteer
refers to one who is working as a non-staff in assisting with programs at All
Saints.
1.
As a general
policy, volunteers who provide child care, teach Sunday School, work with the
Youth Group, or are involved with any other children's or youth program must
have been active at All Saints for at least six months. This includes, but is
not limited to: regular church attendance, involvement in other church
activities, letter of transfer, or the formal intent of joining All Saints.
Exception may
be granted:
1) for instances when a person comes to All Saints from another church
where he/she has been actively involved in children's and youth ministries and
desires to continue this work (references from the previous church will be
checked before the person begins working with children and youth at All Saints);
or 2) for registered trained leaders of church chartered youth organizations
including but not limited to Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts.
2.
All persons
desiring to work with children or youth at All Saints must complete a
confidential application form. (See Appendix A)
3.
A staff member responsible for Christian
education may interview applicants. Information requested may include, but not
be limited to:
i)
Previous church
involvement
ii)
Current interests and gifts;
iii)
Special talents
or training
Exclusions:
Applicants
with:
Criminal/arrest
records,
History of
physical/sexual abuse or alcohol/drug abuse, driving record, etc.
A record of
physical or sexual abuse,
A record of
crimes of violence,
or are current
drug/alcohol abusers
will be excluded from working with
children and youth.
All information solicited in the
application and interview process is to be treated as confidential and held in a
private file in the church office.
In addition, it is strongly recommended that all who work with our children and
youth participate in a four-hour training "Safeguarding God's Children"
sponsored by the Diocese.
4. It is the
policy of All Saints to have two trained adults present with every group of
children or youth.
An exception to this policy
is for Sunday School. Classrooms
may led by one teacher but with other adults in proximity.
Sunday School classes will always have more than one student or they will
be cancelled or combined with another class.
5. The director
of the program will be expected to make frequent, random, and unannounced visits
to activities sponsored by the church.
6. All
activities for children and youth will be conducted in rooms with window- view
doors. If the door does not have window-view, the door must be left open.
7. There must
be at least two trained adults with any group of children or youth meeting away
from the premises of All Saints or staying overnight at the church.
If there are not two trained adults able to accompany the group, the
event will be cancelled. These
adults will have completed the Volunteer application form and had background
checks as well.
8. Drivers
transporting groups of children or youth must comply with All Saints’
transportation policy.
9. All
volunteers (over the age of 16) who work with children and youth must attend an
orientation and are encouraged at attend a four-hour workshop "Safeguarding
God's Children" sponsored by the Diocese of Oregon and the national Episcopal
Church. This training should be repeated every 10 years as required by the
diocese. However, best practices would dictate training every 5 years as laws
and policies change. In addition,
teachers will be provided periodic meetings or workshops for purposes of
further training in curriculum development, teaching methods, classroom
management, other safety issues, etc.
10. Written
attendance records will be kept on all children's and youth programs sponsored
by All Saints. Teachers, group leaders and care providers will document
attendance. The program director will see that these records are stored for
three (3) years.
11. No person
shall use or be under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs while conducting
activities for children or youth at All Saints.
12. All
suspected child abuse must be reported immediately to the director of the
program and/or the Rector.
13. This policy
will be distributed and reviewed with all volunteers at their orientation.
Each volunteer will sign a statement saying he/she has received and
reviewed these policies.
Appendix A
Application to Volunteer
All Saints Episcopal Church
Name_________________________________________________
Last name
First name
Middle name Gender_____ Date of
Birth_________________ Driver’s License
identification Card
number_________________ state of Issue________ Full Street
Address__________________________________________
__________________________________________ Have you EVER been
convicted of any crime Yes______
No______ If Yes, List the date
and all cities and states in which you have a criminal conviction
Under the Policy of
All saint’s Episcopal Church volunteer privileges will be denied to anyone
convicted of certain felonies and misdemeanors (ORS 342.143) Volunteer
privileges may be revoked at any time if the volunteers presence is considered
disruptive or unsafe. Any person who refuses
a criminal background check will not be allowed to volunteer.
There are no exceptions. Applicant’s
signature_________________________________________________
Date____________________ Reviewed by
______date______ Backgound check
cleared_____date______ Appendix A continued
Child Safety Policy Acknowledgement of
Child Safety Policy and requirements All Saints’ Episcopal
Church I,
__________________________________hereby acknowledge I have received a copy of
and am familiar with the Safe church Policy for All Saints Episcopal Church
Portland Oregon. I Further agree to
adhere to the policies outlined and to help maintain a safe environment for our
Children.
Signed______________________________________
Date________________________________________ Witnessed
by_________________________________
Appendix A Item 2
Child Safety Policies
Transportation Policy
1. There must be at least two trained
adults accompanying every group of children that are traveling as part of any
All Saints sponsored activity. (It is not required that there be two trained
adults in every vehicle, only that there be two trained adults with the entire
group.)
2. Drivers providing transportation for an
All Saints sponsored activity for children or youth must:
a) Be at least 21 years of age
b) Have a current valid driver's license
c) Be insured as required by Oregon State
law
d) Have on file at the church a completed
application for volunteering
with children and youth
3. Before leaving the church premises, the
adult who is responsible for the group should have in his or her possession a
signed permission slip (including emergency Medical information) for every child
or youth being transported.
4. Before leaving the church the adult who
is responsible for the group must leave a copy of the group's travel plans in
the church office. The travel plan must include:
a) The group's destination (including
address and phone numbers)
b) Estimated times of arrivals and
departures
c) A general overview of the group's
planned activities
d) A list of drivers and passengers for
each vehicle
e) A list of parents/guardians names and
phone numbers for use in
case of emergency or change of plans
5. If the group is traveling out-of-town,
each driver must have a copy of the group's travel plan and copies of the signed
permission slips for every child or youth traveling in that vehicle.
6. If the group is traveling at any time
when the church office is not open (evenings or weekends), a parent or other
adult must be designated as the emergency contact person. The emergency contact
person must have a copy of the travel plan as
indicated above.
7. Every person in the vehicle shall have
and use a seat belt.
8. It is recommended that each vehicle be
equipped with a first aid kit and a cell phone.
9. There should be at least two children or
youth in every vehicle. Pick-ups and drop-offs should be organized to minimize
instances of one-on-one situations between adults and children or youth. If a
one-on-one situation is unavoidable, the driver should contact parents or
guardians to ask permission and to give an estimated time of pick-up and/or
drop-off.
Child Safety Policies
Mandatory Reporting Oregon State law
requires certain professions to be mandatory reporters.
These are adults who are in a position to work with children in an
official capacity such as a Minister, a teacher, a counselor.
At All Saints we recognize that it is imperative that anyone with a
concern about the safety of a child report that to a mandatory reporter, which
would be the Rector or The Sunday School program director or the Youth ministry
director. The mandatory reporter can then file a report to the authorities.
In addition, anyone
can file an anonymous report to Child protective services if they choose. Please see Appendix B
for guidelines.
Appendix B
Confidential Notice of Concern
Individual(s) of Concern:
Date of occurrence: Time of occurrence: Type of Concern: [
] Inappropriate behavior with a child or youth [
] Policy violation with a child or youth [
] Possible risk of abuse [
] Other concern: Describe the
situation: What happened, where it happened, when it happened, who was
involved, who was present, who was notified? If reported to the State,
what was their recommendation about investigating? Attach additional
sheets if needed. Has this situation
ever occurred previously? Attach additional sheets if needed. What action was taken?
How was the situation handled, who was involved, who was
questioned, were police called? Attach additional sheets if needed. Confidential Notice of
Concern (continued) What is the follow-up
plan? Does anyone else need to be notified? Will the situation
need monitoring? Would you like someone to call you to discuss this situation?
Appendix B continued Attach additional
sheets if needed. Submitted by: (Please
print) Telephone number: Location and address: Signature: Date: Reviewed by: Appendix B Item 2
Child Safety Policies
Regarding Conduct and Supervision of
Children These are additional
guidelines developed by the committee of 2009. 1.
During church services children under 10 are to be supervised at
all times. This supervision should
come from the responsible adult (parent/guardian/other) who brought the child to
church. Sunday school teachers and
Childcare Providers will also provide supervision to children during class time.
Sunday School teachers will escort children back to their responsible
adult when classes are over. The
Childcare Provider will have a sign in/sign out sheet in the childcare room.
Children must be checked in by the responsible adult and may not leave
unless checked out by the responsible adult.
This includes leaving church during the service to go to the restroom.
Since our Church is in an urban setting, and we cannot see the Narthex
during the service, children need to be accompanied by the responsible adult to
insure safety. 2.
Before and after the church services
children will be supervised by a responsible adult and stay in designated areas
of the church and property.
Designated areas include the Parish Hall, the outside play yard, and the
preschool Sunday School room. At
times the Childcare Provider may be available and will provide supervision in
the preschool room. If the
Childcare Provider is not available another responsible adult must provide the
supervision. 3.
Children need to stay out of:
The basement area (including the “library”)
and Youth Room unless there is scheduled activity.
The upstairs area over the Sunday School
wing
The upstairs Bell tower and Acolyte Room,
unless they are serving as acolytes
The sanctuary (unless they are there for
practice) 4.
In addition, children should not play on the stairs in the church lobby
or on the ramp leading to the sanctuary so that there is clear access for
parishioners who need to use ramps and handrails. Children need to be monitored
in the Parish Hall so that their running and play is a safe distance from
others. 5.
Childcare should be consistently provided after church to allow moms with
young children to attend meetings, sing in choir or just have respite. 6. Additional help
needs to be available in the nursery on an as needed basis.
For example, if a toddler needs to use the restroom, our nursery
personnel needs a qualified person to
watch the nursery while the need is attended to.
It is recommended a list of cell phone numbers be made available for our
Nursery attendant to use during services. Additional
Ideas/recommendations for consideration by the Vestry:
(In other words, this is
not part of the policy) Ideas that could be
implemented by interested parents:
After the service the drive-through area in
front of the church could be blocked off with traffic cones so that children
could more safely cross to the play yard.
A designated area could be made available
after church for children too old for the nursery and too young for Middle
school activities. This area would
be supervised by a parent.
The tree in the courtyard:
Many children enjoy climbing this tree, however, sometimes they do not
realize they are really two big for it and are in danger of breaking a branch.
Since the canopy is over a deteriorating fence it is not wise to allow
them to climb, past a certain age or weight, and if they are little they should
not climb too high. This becomes a
problem because if there is not any “clear cut” policy, sometimes children feel
they have been singled out for correction if told to stop climbing.
In the interest of fairness to all, and physical safety to our kids, we
recommend the tree not be climbed.
Safety issues that
should be addressed: The boiler room
downstairs and the storage room just inside the Acolyte room would benefit from
having locks, fire code permitting. To The Vestry I was asked to create
a safe church policy for our Parish
of All Saints’. I formed a committee
and we met once formally and did much more communication via e mails and
conversations at church. I
submitted a draft to members of my committee before bringing it to the Vestry. I owe much to the
previous committee that worked on this task who were David Champion, Anna Rose,
Misty, Sarah Springer, Donna woodruff and Rosalie Grafe.
My committee was Sarah Gibson, Dawn Odell, Carolyn Clesby, and Miriam
Lain. I used the Diocese
recommendations and borrowed heavily from St. Thomas Episcopal church in Eugene. If the policy is
adopted, there will be required changes, primarily more documentation and
screening of who is working with our children, careful documentation
if there are issues needing reporting, documentation of attendance of
children at Sunday School and youth events, mandatory training in Safe church
policies for Vestry and personnel, and annual reviews by the Vestry re examining
the policy to be certain it is up to date. These are necessary
items to be certain our children are safe, and our parishioners and staff are
protected as well. Respectfully Patricia Ryall Chair Sara Gibson Carolyn Cleasby Miriam Lane Dawn Odell Februray 17, 2009
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