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[Back to index of September articles] Safeguarding God’s Children By Dana Wilkie Prompted in part by the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church, congregations of all denominations have stepped up efforts to protect children and youths. That includes the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, which has trained more than 1,200 clergy and laity using a new curriculum that emphasizes detecting signs of abuse, recognizing the characteristics of abusers and understanding the types of situations in which abuse can occur. “The church has an incredible responsibility to be a safe place—emotionally, physically and spiritually—for everyone, but especially for children and youth,” said Paul Canady, deputy for youth ministry. “Those who work with young people... need to be aware of appropriate boundaries and of warning signs of abuse.” The Episcopal Church now requires that all church workers who are in contact with children receive sexual misconduct prevention training. This includes volunteers such as Sunday School teachers or youth leaders. Such training has been widely available since 1994, when the Church Insurance Company—which provides liability insurance to Episcopal churches and institutions—began requiring it. The sexual misconduct prevention training program now in use—”Safeguarding God’s Children”—is a revised version of an older format that involved two four-hour training sessions, but which did not go over well with many participants. “Many commented that the format seemed more focused on insurance requirements to reduce liability claims rather than on any positive perspective and … theological grounding,” said Cheryl Daves Wilburn, special assistant to Bishop John Chane. The newer version was previewed at the last General Convention in 2003. Training materials were made available in early 2004 through all of the nation’s Episcopal dioceses. The training now involves only one session that is three hours long. It typically starts at 6:30 p.m. on weeknights or 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays. “The current program runs a couple of hours shorter, and also puts a great deal of focus on the safety of the young people,” Canady said. The trainers—about 20 of them—include clergy and lay people, all of whom are first recommended by their own parish clergy. Collectively, they have in the past year conducted more than 25 seminars at dozens of parishes and schools across the diocese. In the past 18 months, the program’s more than 1,200 participants have included clergy, teachers, social workers, attorneys, nurses, counselors, administrators and others. Participants are taught to recognize the “red flags” that indicate potential abuse: meetings behind closed or locked doors; inappropriate touching that may include full frontal hugs, tickling or wrestling; and too much attention to one child, such as frequent private meetings or gift-giving. They’re also taught to look for warning signs in children: a sudden change in behavior; withdrawing from or becoming secretive with family, friends and peers; signs of depression, shame or self-blame; behavior that is confrontational; signs of anxiety; problems with concentrating; a change in bathroom habits, such as sudden bedwetting; or a reluctance to be touched by or to spend time with a particular adult. The program recommends teaching children the names for their body parts and which areas are inappropriate for others to touch. Some children identify these parts as “whatever your bathing suit covers.” The program also recommends teaching children how to tell a person to stop inappropriate behavior and how to speak to an adult if they are being harassed. Videos are fundamental to the training. One video covers the types of sexual offenders, control techniques they use to keep children from telling about abuse, and the potential warning signs and behavioral changes that could indicate a child is being abused. The second video covers how to prevent abuse. Key to the training sessions is a discussion on how each ministry or church can create a plan to ensure children’s safety. Hiring practices can be a problem area for churches; because volunteers are so welcomed, churches and ministries typically require no application process, references or background checks. “Experience has shown that very few churches have an overall plan in place,” said Gloria Lewis, a trainer from Silver Spring’s Grace Episcopal Church who was certified last October. Among the prevention techniques that are taught are how to screen those working in children’s ministries; how to lay down clear guidelines and boundaries for interacting with children; and how to create an environment that discourages abuse, such as requiring children’s ministers to work in pairs and in public places, ideally with windows and opened doors. Lewis said some “participants seem taken by surprise by restrictions regarding driving a child home alone, being the sole adult with a group or (the need for) canceling a youth meeting or trip when there are not two diocesan-certified (and) trained adults present.” Finally, participants are advised which steps to take if they suspect abuse. These can include monitoring the situation more closely, removing the child from the program, reporting suspicions through the congregation’s chain of command, or contacting social services authorities. Some participants come to the training program reluctantly, Lewis said, “with an attitude that they don’t need to take the training because they are knowledgeable in the field or have had previous training.” But by the end, she said, most participants “express appreciation for the information presented, giving high marks for the videos” as well as the handouts that provide phone numbers for agencies that help the abused and that show people how to locate sexual offenders in their communities. Moreover, she said participants respond much better than they did to the older program, which “stressed liability over safeguarding.” Said Canady: “It’s not a perfect program, but nothing is. One of the best parts… is the heavy emphasis on the baptismal covenant, that each of us is responsible for the safety of these young people… not just those who work directly with children… but everyone in the church.” [Back to index of September articles]
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