Background checks for Volunteer Groups
When the New Year arrives, every member of the staff at the United Methodist Church of La Mirada and every Sunday School teacher, counselor and volunteer will have undergone a background check.
It's just one of the policies instituted by the La Mirada church and all of the United Methodist churches in Southern California, Guam, Hawaii and Saipan as part of an effort to stem any sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church from occurring in United Methodist churches.
"We'd like the community to know that if they bring their children to our Sunday School, we're doing everything we can to ensure your children are safe at our church," said Linda Tremain, a member of the La Mirada church's Safe Sanctuary Committee that wrote up its plan.
"We've never had a problem at our church, but we are protecting ourselves," Tremain said.
The "Safe Sanctuary" policy - set by the California Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church was instituted after its insurance company required it.
That's a good thing, said John Hergesheimer, lay leader for the East Whittier United Methodist Church.
"It is a kick in the pants that we needed," Hergesheimer said. "We all have the sense we're playing catch up. We see it as a moral imperative."
The policies at all of the churches will include background checks, safety procedures such as having two or more non-related adults present in a classroom or at an activity and development of an ongoing education plan.
"We believe the Christian faith calls us to offer both hospitality and protection to the little ones, the children," said Larry Hygh, communications director for the California Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church, "The
Social Principles of The United Methodist Church" state that children must be protected from economic, physical, emotional, and sexual exploitation and abuse."
The La Mirada church also will have doors with windows and the ability to look into classes from the outside. Youth counseling will be done in a public or other visibly observable location and the adult teachers will have to be at least five years older than the oldest participant.
Whittier-area church officials say they haven't had any problems with sexual abuse scandals, but that doesn't mean the Methodist Church hasn't had problems.
There have been news reports about scandals in Detroit and Long Beach.
Hergesheimer said he's not surprised that the Methodist Church also would have problems.
"There's no reason Protestants should have an advantage," Hergesheimer said. "You just have to figure that when people are inclined to molest kids they are going to seek settings which kids trust adults. What better places than schools, youth organizations and churches?"
The East Whittier United Methodist Church is in the planning stages for its "Safe Sanctuary" policy, Hergesheimer said.
On Monday, the church's leadership council will vote on a proposed plan.
The policy would include requiring background checks on staff and volunteers who deal with youth, guidelines on how to supervise children and procedures for handling complaints.
Prevention is the best method of damage control. Not only do background checks minimize your exposure to negligent hiring lawsuits, they also eliminate the loss of good will as your crisis management team works overtime to repair the damage in the hearts and minds of your customers. Order a comprehensive background check from Corra Group.
posted by Nicholas Gustavson @ 8:52 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home