The Safety System

Every Church, youth program, children's ministry or camp activity should enrich the life of the child, while ensuring his or her safety. Safety in youth and children's ministry requires an overlapping system of protection. At Abuse Prevention Systems, we recommend the implementation of a five part system of protection, including:

• Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Training for staff and volunteers
• Training in Skillful Screening
• Appropriate Background Checks
• Effective Policies and Procedures, tailored to individual programs
• Systems for Monitoring and Oversight

Although each element of the system provides a degree of protection, one element alone will not sustain a protective environment for children or teens. Each element is designed to interlock with other elements, creating internal checks and balances within the system. All elements interconnect to provide a protective environment for children and students in the Church, Camp or Christian ministry.

Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Training

An important element of the Abuse Prevention System is Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Training. In the State of Texas this training is required for Youth Camps by the Youth Camp Act, and Abuse Prevention Systems is a state-approved provider of the training. In addition, Abuse Prevention Systems offers Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Training for a myriad of ministry settings, including Churches, para-Church ministries and charities. When staff members or volunteers have an awareness of the basic characteristics of a sexual abuser, the process by which an abuser picks and prepares a child for abuse, and indicators of child sexual abuse, they are better equipped to recognize and prevent abuse in ministry programs. We recommend that each ministry employee and volunteer complete Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Training.

Policies and Procedures

Every Church, Camp, or Christian ministry should operate within carefully tailored policies and procedures which balance the mission of the ministry with the risks inherent in children's programming. For every program or activity, inherent risks must be evaluated and addressed in policies and procedures which reduce the likelihood of harm to children or students. The only circumstance worse than having no policy is having policy that your employees or volunteers don't follow, either because they don't know the policy, or don't believe it to be practical or applicable to their ministry. Policies and procedures cobbled together from various sources are rarely effective, because 'patchwork' policies are seldom tailored to a ministry's activities, physical facilities and specific programming risks. Effective policies and procedures minimize or prevent risk. Staff members and volunteers who are trained to understand and apply effective policy will reduce the risks inherent in children's programming.

Appropriate Background Checks

At Abuse Prevention Systems, we believe every staff member and volunteer should undergo an appropriate criminal background check. Many services provide criminal background checks, at varying degrees of effectiveness. For each staff member or volunteer, the depth of a criminal background check should be determined by the extent of direct contact with children and degree of authority within a ministry activity or program. For a higher level employee, or a volunteer or staff member with extensive contact with children or students, a more comprehensive background check may be advisable. An appropriate background check alone will not insure the safety of children in ministry programs, because so many molesters will never be criminally prosecuted. Experts estimate fewer than 10% of perpetrators are ever criminally prosecuted, due to the passage of time, legal time limits, adults who minimize an abuse outcry, or kids who never tell.

Systems for Monitoring and Oversight

No safety system is complete without accountability. At Abuse Prevention Systems, our training modules include checks and balances within the system to monitor compliance and encourage the flow of information from staff members and volunteers to supervisors.