They fell in love and married. While we walked, we talked the whole way about what a miracle it was that we had both found the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It was the happiest time I can remember. Since then, the Lord has used a variety of ways to help His Saints care for each other.
Now He has blessed us with strengthened and unified quorums at the ward and stake levels—quorums that work in coordination with all ward organizations. They succeed when the Saints feel the love of Christ for each other above their self-interest. And they succeed when the Holy Ghost guides the caregiver to know what the Lord knows is best for the person whom He is trying to help. Time after time in recent weeks, members of the Church have acted in my presence as if somehow they had anticipated what the Lord was going to do, as has been announced here today.
Let me give you just two examples. One, a simple sacrament meeting talk by a year-old teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood who understands what priesthood holders can accomplish in their service for the Lord. Second, a Melchizedek Priesthood holder who, with the love of Christ, was inspired to serve a family. First, let me give you the words of the young man speaking to a ward sacrament meeting. Try to remember what you were like when you were 14 years old and listen to hear him say more than so young a man could reasonably know:.
A teacher still has all the responsibilities of a deacon plus some new ones. If we are trying to keep the commandments, be kind to each other, be honest, be good friends, and enjoy being together, then we will be able to have the Spirit with us and know what Heavenly Father wants us to do. One thing I really like about the Browns is whenever we go over there, they are all willing to listen and they always have good stories to share. Helping people feel welcome and included at church helps all the members of the ward feel loved and prepared to take the sacrament. I really enjoy passing and preparing the sacrament in this ward because everyone is so reverent.
I always feel the Spirit when I prepare and pass the sacrament. As that young man concluded, I continued to be amazed at his maturity and wisdom. Another story of priesthood service was told a month ago in a ward sacrament meeting. Again, I was there. Here is the gist of his account:. He and a home teaching companion were assigned to serve seven families.
Almost all of them did not want visits. When the home teachers went to their apartments, they refused to answer the door. When they telephoned, they did not get an answer. When they left a message, the call was not returned. This senior companion finally resorted to a letter-writing ministry. He even began to use bright yellow envelopes in the hope of getting a response.
One of the seven families was a less-active single sister who had emigrated from Europe. She had two young children. After many attempts to contact her, he received a text message. She abruptly informed him that she was too busy to meet with home teachers. She had two jobs and was in the military as well. Her primary job was that of a police officer, and her career goal was to become a detective and then return to her native country and continue her work there.
The home teacher never was able to visit with her in her home. He periodically texted her. Every month he sent a handwritten letter, supplemented with holiday cards for each child. He received no response. But she knew who her home teachers were, how to contact them, and that they would persist in their priesthood service. Then one day he received an urgent text from her. She desperately needed help. She did not know who the bishop was, but she did know her home teachers.
In a few days, she had to leave the state for a monthlong military training exercise. She could not take her children with her. Is there any leeway in the definition? How much insurance do we require? Can the insurance company withhold insurance if we do not comply to everything or if we do not comply to portions of the program?
Who do we believe? We don't feel they should be attending, but aren't sure of our legal recourse to state that they should not be attending. We have a person attending our church that has been convicted of a crime against a child. What should we do? Should we avoid all high risk activities and play in our programs? Our organization has a situation where a leader and an unrelated student travel to the youth program together. They are 20 miles from our organization and there are no other students in the area that can be included.
The parents of the student are willing to sign an informed consent which likely doesn't stand up if an incident were to be alleged. Is it OK to use the words "procedures" and "procedure manual" in place of the word "policy"? How do I determine reasonable grounds for reporting suspected abuse to the Department of Social Services? At what point should we report abuse when we suspect inappropriate behaviour of a volunteer or staff member? What are the consequences for failure to report in Ontario? What would you do if another child was threatening the safety of the environment?
For example, sexual comments to other children and leaders, as well as profanities. What is the policy here? What are the steps to take? Our Hall Monitors have asked us what exactly they should do if they walk in on an abusive situation - especially sexual abuse - where the perpetrator could run. Can you make suggestions on how they should respond?
Do we have a legal requirement to report our concern to their parents? Screening and Training 8a Q: We are constantly falling behind on our screening and training. How can we manage this properly? Should the board or senior staff be placing staff and volunteers into positions of responsibility without going through the recruitment and screening process? We have had some of our seniors volunteering for years — is it really necessary to have them go through the recruiting and screening process?
Do we need to ask all the questions on the Volunteer Application Form? The "Information about your ability to work with children and youth" questions are very personal and seem intrusive. Is it really necessary to do it again even if they did it last year or can we just train the new recruits only? Does everyone that works with children, youth and vulnerable persons need to take this training? What if I missed this training? Can we simply distribute our policies instead of conducting training?
We have been informed by a caregiver that a personal care worker will be accompanying an individual with disabilities to our camp. Do we have a responsibility to screen and train the personal care worker? I have a young man who left for a year to go to work with youth internationally and he's back and thinking about volunteering. Does he need to wait 6 months? I have a file for him already because he volunteered in the past.
If so, what should be included in the training? In our policy, we expect volunteers to take training one time per year initial Orientation training, and Refresher training every year after that. She feels like it is too much to ask our volunteers to attend training every year! What are the requirements we should be meeting for our personnel training? We recruit young people to work with children! What do we need to keep in mind and do they have to be screened and trained? Why do we have to do abuse prevention training? No one wants to come! How should we screen short-term and occasional volunteers quickly?
Are there steps we can skip? Social Media 9a Q: Our personnel are asking if they can email the minors. Can we post pictures on the internet? We have campers and counselors bringing their cameras to camp, then posting pictures on Facebook and tagging the photos. Can we control this on our end? We would like to include a policy on photography for our camp policies. What would you advise? Today young people use social media for communication and community building. How can we use social media to engage our young people and still demonstrate care, accountability, and integrity?
It seems like information regarding Criminal Record Checks are changing once again. I just heard about a new component called Local Notes and FIP - what are these and can we accept them as part of our screening? It is too costly for our organization to do police records checks on all of our volunteers — what do you suggest? Do we need to do police records checks? If so, how often do we need to do them?
What is the definition of vulnerable sector? A candidate has disclosed that they have a criminal record on their file. If someone was accused 20 years ago but never convicted or found guilty of a violent crime and then changed for the better, why do you recommend that they not be able to serve vulnerable sector individuals? Do we really need to do these? Can we use high-level clearance checks, for example Government Security Clearance, or Nexus? How can we know if the Security Clearance certificate is legitimate?
Many of the parents in our community discipline children with spanking. Some of them use objects to punish. What is reasonable force in punishment of children? Do you ever recommend physical punishment? We have a child who has been diagnosed with Autism who is prone to outbursts.
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There have been times during our programs that they have become physically and verbally abusive to other program attendees. The caregiver has informed us that the individual needs to be restrained when they are like this, but we have been resisting this. What are the standard protocols that we should follow? What should we do if we see parents disciplining their children in a way we would consider "inappropriate"? How often should we review and update our policies? Have we seen the last of the changes to the requirements that will be put into place for vulnerable sector protection?
We are concerned about putting policies in place. We are thinking it is better to not put the policies in place, than to have them and not comply with them. Is it even possible to keep all the attendance forms and personnel files permanently? We find it difficult to collect all the forms back from our people — any suggestions?
As a smaller organization, we know everyone who attends. Do you have a job description? Disability Concerns 14a Q: How can we ensure our organization is doing everything we can to accommodate people with disabilities? We have concerns about using bleach. Do you have guidelines or recommendations regarding inclement weather and outdoor activities? We ask our volunteers and staff to sign a Code of Conduct. However, they are pushing back.
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How can we explain the importance of signing this document? To which family members does this refer? How should we respond if we suspect or know of a vulnerable sector individual who is exposed to domestic violence? How can we address domestic violence in our community? We have community programs where there is no childcare provided, but parents bring their children and they are left on their own in our building while the program is being held. The children run around the building unsupervised. What responsibility does the organization have when this happens?
As they are graduates of High School, do we still have to apply the same standard of protection with screening and protection procedures, etc.? Can we allow them to attend our High School age programs, and what steps should we follow to maintain safety in our programs? Bullying is a problem among our students. How should we handle bullying when we encounter it in our programming? We have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying within our program. How can we enforce this policy?
Where can I find more information on bullying and cyber bullying? We do use hall monitors to help with escorting children to the washrooms. If I am correct about woman being the only ones to assist, if we only have male hall monitors on duty, can they go as the second adult, when escorting through the halls to the washrooms?
Our leadership just received notice from a family in our organization who has decided NOT to have their children vaccinated. This raises some concerns as we have other children in our programs who have very weak immune systems. Our executive director is thinking that some form of policy must be put in place, what are your thoughts regarding this issue?
What should the procedure be if a concussion is suspected in a participant of one of our programs? Back to top Vulnerable Adults 16a Q: Do we need to include policies and procedures for the Elderly and Vulnerable Adults 16b Q: We have volunteers and staff visit shut-ins and the elderly. When we arrive, the family member or caregiver has asked if they can run errands while we are there?
We are concerned that this will put us in a position of being alone or even being asked to provide personal care. How should we respond in this situation and how can we provide a safe environment? What if I suspect or know of an Elderly Person being abused?
- How to Format a Childrens or Teen Book Manuscript (Writing for Children and Teens: A Crash Course 3).
- FAQs - Plan to Protect.
- Im gewohnten Geleis (German Edition).
- THE YOUNG FORESTER (non illustrated).
- Europe in the Caribbean: The Policies of Great Britain, France and The Netherlands Towards Their West Indian Territories.
- Ritrovarsi a san valentino (Italian Edition).
We have a Jr. High student that informed us he is transitioning. The student has asked not to use the male bathroom and change room, rather the female bathroom and change room. Can we put a policy in place that states the student must use the bathroom of the gender of birth? All individuals placed in a position of trust should be screened. Adhere to ratios for supervision, and any exception to two unrelated screened, adult workers in the activity room would be cause to have the door open with a hall monitor acting as the second overseer.
You can use other people connected to your community in the activity room. We would not encourage you to have them be alone in an activity room unless they are over 16 years of age. Even then the door should be left open and there should be a hall monitor. As we lose volunteers temporarily to sickness and other circumstances, what do we do if we cannot meet our staff to vulnerable person ratio?
Thinking ahead and screening additional staff will be helpful for these occasions. The courts will hold you to the same level of protection and care even during the challenge of staff shortages. Research in all areas of education has shown that low staff to child ratios are critical for learning to take place.
Also, one of the ways an organization can demonstrate that they are fulfilling their duty of care to their staff and volunteers is to manage appropriately child-to-staff ratios. Program leaders must seek out funding to ensure that they can maintain low ratios. They can also enlist the support of volunteers, including parents and other family members, senior citizens or older teens. Volunteers, like other staff members, should be screened and have experience working with children and youth, and should be trained before they begin.
These volunteers should have meaningful experiences and skills to share, thereby helping to build a community of learners. The formula for establishing ratios is based on the age of the child or young person, the age, experience, training and qualifications of the staff member or volunteer, and the level of risk of the program. If you are primarily utilizing volunteers that are not qualified and educated workers i.
We strongly recommend you establish ratios for what is best for the children and young people, not what your organization can manage based on staffing. It is better that you not hold a program or expand your program and enrollment if it means putting the children and your workers at risk. Remember that demonstrating due diligence is anticipating the worst-case scenario, then planning to prevent that outcome, through risk avoidance measures. Recently we reviewed a policy from a client.
Their established ratios were one volunteer to every six infants between the ages of months. This ratio is extremely high. It would be impossible. This does not even take into consideration the love, care and nurture that would be difficult to provide this many young children. Our recommended ratio for this age group would be 1: A best practice we learned from another client, Compass Church in Regina, Saskatchewan was a point system formula for ratios that can be used when you have mixed ages in your classes:.
When age groups are combined: Infants birth to 15 months will be 3 points. Toddlers and Preschoolers 15 months to 5 years will be 2 points. Elementary aged children 6 years to Gr. Junior High Youth Gr. Senior High Youth Gr. The ratio then would be two personnel staff or volunteers for 20 points. During off-site trips, it would be two personnel for 10 points. Every once in a while individuals will ask why we lower the ratios for Junior High Youth.
Those with experience working with Junior High Youth can quickly list off the many reasons, including but not limited: My final thought on the topic is a tip I provide in our Orientation and Refresher training on abuse prevention and protection. With continuity in staffing, your staff and volunteers will get know the children and young people in the classroom including their specific needs and disabilities, and behaviour.
Based on this knowledge and experience, you may also need to ask for additional assistance. Persistence and building awareness are your best vehicles for moving abuse prevention forward. We suggest that you present your recommendations to the Board as a whole rather than to individuals alone. Follow up your recommendations with written communication. Board members are often motivated by risk management and concerns regarding liability, however sometimes presenting it from a different angle will also be advantageous i.
As a leader, you can make day-to-day decisions that will begin to provide an environment of protection for your organization. We would encourage you to work within the parameters that have been given to you. Continue to be diligent in your protection of the vulnerable sector individuals, and be diligent in seeking your leadership's participation in this important task.
We recognize that implementing an abuse prevention plan is an overwhelming task. Let the manual guide you step by step. If you need additional support our implementation memberships is the perfect tool. You can continue to build on the work you have already done and become very familiar with the new manual. Assess your progress and see where there may be opportunities for your organization to complete compliance. There are a number of new or updated portions in the manual including: The templates that we have provided to you, including the application were carefully reviewed by legal counsel and insurance companies.
The Volunteer Application was crafted by a lawyer specializing in employment and human rights law. We recommend you avoid questions that would conflict with human rights issues, i. We do though however recommend you ask pertinent questions that will help gather critical information for you to make an informed decision regarding the candidate, including area of interests, experience and criminal convictions in the past.
Once legal counsel has reviewed your policy and forms, they will be ready for board approval. When you are first launching a program for children, youth and vulnerable adults this is the perfect time to set in place good habits, strong practices and disciplines which you will carry forward as your organization grows. When securing a location, observe the environment and structural settings: Communicate with the on-site caretaker and in the rental agreement to limit access to the building.
Recognizing that many small organizations have limited personnel, the recruitment and screening of a hall monitor to walk through the facility throughout the duration of program activities will enable you to provide programs with the minimal requirement of personnel. This is very important considering schools are public settings and visitors can easily come in unnoticed.
If an organization decides to allow the rental or use of their facilities by an outside group, organization or individual, it is extremely important to transfer the responsibility for legal liability to the tenant and to verify that the tenant has the resources to back up the legal responsibility for their potential negligence in the supervision and operations of their activities at the host premises.
It also satisfies the principle of accountability; that leaders should only assume responsibility when they also exert full authority and control. This documentation should be provided to the host site prior to use of the facilities. We are always surprised when we speak to music instructors, tutors, dance teachers, babysitters, etc.
We strongly recommend that you contact your insurance company. If the program is not an activity sanctioned by your Board, an insurance certificate from the renter or user is advisable. If it is a program or activity of your organization we would strongly recommend they comply with your protection procedures. Many times they have never considered managing risk. If an individual was abused and it did occur at your facilities, there may be a risk to you if the insurance certificate did not cover the claim.
They may try to piggyback your organization and say you could have done more to prevent the abuse as you provided a venue for the abuse to occur. We also recommend you ask your insurance company for further criteria for risk management. Most insurance companies state drivers driving on behalf of the organization should be 25 years of age or older with a good driving history. If you lower the level, we strongly encourage you to seek legal and insurance counsel.
Precautions should be taken for all meetings, including those that are small group events taking place in a house setting. Screen and train any and all individuals that will be caring for vulnerable sector as part of your programming and strive to create an atmosphere of accountability through compliance to policies. It is wise to remember that often these settings are where abuse can easily happen.
We are planning for our summer programs with retreats, off-site trips and camps. It is recommended that all drivers: Transportation plans must be outlined on your Letters of Informed Consent. Lastly, remember to adhere to the recommendations of having 2 screened leaders in each vehicle. Our recommendation would be that either the school should provide a second screened adult on the bus as a monitor or the school or bus company should strive to arrange their schedule as much as possible for a bus pick-up area where a group of students would be picked up not an isolated student.
If group pick up is not a possibility, parents should sign an Informed Letter of Consent, not only that their child is riding the bus but communicating that their child would be alone with only one adult on the bus. The bus driver should be fully screened and trained on child protection.
Both the child and the bus driver are being placed in a position of high risk as there could be harm done to the child or allegations that the bus driver would not be able to defend. We have written policies for transportation companies and schools for this purpose. Back to top 5f Q: What constitutes as a"clean" driving record? Is there any leeway in this definition? While clean is a relative term, along with our advisory council, we would consider a clean drivers history someone who has been licensed for 5 years or more, and has less than 2 minor infractions.
We encourage you to confirm that your general liability policy does not contain an exclusion or limitation for physical or sexual abuse, harassment, molestation, or prohibited conduct. Yes, there have been many incidents when insurance coverage has been withheld or put on hold if the organization does not acknowledge compliance to the requirements outlined by the insurance company which is deemed as due diligence.
We have secured input from both our legal team and from an insurance company that specializes in protecting churches and non-profit organizations. Both parties reviewed the document and adjustments were made following their recommendations. We are confident that we are providing you with the best and most reliable research available at the point of publication. We do encourage you to secure legal advice from your own lawyer. We discovered even in our research that if you ask 10 people, even experts, you may receive 10 different answers. Our publications are not legal bills or regulations but rather recommendations to use to compile policies and procedures for providing safe environments for vulnerable persons.
These guidelines will also ensure due diligence if your organization is named in a lawsuit. We encourage you not to cut corners, but to take every precaution to protect the vulnerable sector. We can only advise you from a protection perspective. There are a few issues of caution we want to alert you to: Having young children at youth events could put their own children at risk, as we have heard of too many stories wherein youth abuse children. We are assuming all of your youth are not all screened and trained, which would mean they would not be aware of the protection procedures we recommend for children, nor would you know if the youth have a history of child abuse.
We also would think that this could be distracting for the youth leaders as they now have to provide oversight to their own children and may be distracted from providing care to youth that they have been assigned to. They may also not be able to provide adequate supervision to their own children. If you don't currently have abuse coverage, I would recommend you contact your insurance company right away and ask for it to be added to your insurance. Some insurance companies will charge for this coverage, other companies will add it without it being an additional cost.
You do need to qualify for it, though, and most insurance companies will be looking to see that you have indeed developed a written policy and established procedures in place, including: Some insurance companies will ask you to provide in detail the steps you have taken and are taking to minimize abuse on the application form, others will ask you to complete a Declaration form.
Some insurance companies will ask that you submit a copy of your abuse prevention policies for review, though most do not ask to review it. If you already have the abuse coverage included in your personal injury coverage, they will ask for confirmation on an annual basis that you are maintaining compliance and adherence to the policies and procedures. More and more we are hearing of insurance companies that are requiring the Board to audit the organization or insurance companies that are conducting on-site Audits themselves. If you are interested, we offer the service of Policy Audits.
If the insurance company finds you are not up to date on your abuse prevention strategies, they will give you a time frame for compliance to be completed. Our services and training will help you with compliance. We can help you meet your deadline! This is a question we receive often. There are many great chaplains serving in our prisons ministering to offenders and I am deeply grateful for their service.
Once an offender has been released, many have a desire to establish themselves in a new community group where they can continue to grow in their faith, be held accountable, and make lifestyle changes. Is a church, parish or synagogue a good place for them? They are also public settings where individuals from different age groups attend.
I know in my own life, church was a second home. With this in mind, we would encourage faith communities to not let their guard down if an individual discloses that they have a history of crimes of abuse. Parameters should be put into place restricting access to Children and Youth utilizing established guidelines. We would also recommend that you meet on a quarterly or bi-annual basis to check-in on progress and accountability. When I think of my favourite childhood memories, I think of building forts in the woods, climbing trees, canoeing, ice skating, swimming, sleep overs, and camping trips.
It involves a consideration of the benefits against the possible undesirable consequences of the behaviour as well as the probability of success or failure. There are benefits to risk. Many educators and child development professionals encourage Risky Play. Risky play can be defined as a thrilling and exciting activity that involves a risk of physical injury, and play that provides opportunities for challenge, testing limits, exploring boundaries and learning about injury risk.
If children and young people are not allowed to explore and learn through playing and taking part in positive activities, they will not learn how to judge risks and manage them for themselves. These skills a child or young person learns through play and other activities can act as a powerful form of prevention in other situations where children and young people are placed in positions of risk. We do believe that organizations should be planning on how to protect children and young people as part of the programming. Determining whether or not to retain the risks that are associated with an activity should be a leadership decision.
Program personnel should present a well thought out and researched plan on the benefits that will be gained by doing the high risk activity versus consequences that could result from doing the activity. Do your homework …. Present your written plan to your leadership …. Contact your insurance company to determine if the risk can be transferred to your insurance policy …. And share the risks with parents so they can make an informed decision whether or not to allow their child to participate. We also encourage you to communicate in brochures, signs, newsletters etc.: We want children to feel safe to take risks - to be daring.
We cannot guarantee accidents will not happen. Definition of Duty of Care: The concept of duty of care identifies the relationship that exists between two persons e. As organizational leaders, we are so grateful for our volunteers and staff, but we often forget that they have a duty to care for our organization as we also have a duty to care for them. An exercise we do in the course is to list ways that volunteers and employees can demonstrate their care for an organization, and ways an organization can demonstrate their care to the volunteers and employees.
The is long … and can training, confidentiality, truthfulness, identification of risk, established ratios, policies, adherence to policies, communication, accountability, supervision, resources, etc. In a court of law, it is the first element that must be established to proceed with an action of negligence. Once a duty exists, the plaintiff must show that the defendant breached it. This is generally treated as the second element of negligence in United States and Canada.
Breach involves testing the defendant's actions against the standard of a reasonable person, which varies depending on the facts of the case. Due Diligence is anticipating the worst-case scenario, then planning to prevent that outcome, through risk avoidance measures. This is a tough question, and one that I hear very often. We strongly recommend that organizations and program only allow transportation if there are two screened volunteers or staff members in the vehicle. Relation in Canada now within the court system is relationship only by marriage.
The laws were changed on this last year. Two completed unrelated screened adults with a group of students. Good or better than good: There is only one adult and one student. We strongly discourage this. If an emergency arose and it was needed, we would say the organization should have the parent sign a letter of Informed Consent, release and waiver. Other ways to minimize the risk would be calling a parent and having the parent on the phone while you are transporting the student.
This should not be a weekly or regular occurrence. If the organization allowed this, they are putting both the student and the leader at risk. We would strongly recommend they avoid bad at all costs. If the organization is concerned that the student come to the program, they should go out of their way to provide transportation which meets insurance requirements and demonstrates they care for the protection of the student and the volunteer.
If the adult was not a volunteer or staff member, and a parent asked a friend to transport the minor to the organization, that should be done without any involvement of the organization, only between two family friends. If the organization is helping to coordinate this, they should require the parent to arrange transportation on their own without involving a volunteer or staff member; or drive the student on their own. There is no legal requirement to screen your volunteers, have a policy or prevention procedures to prevent abuse. There are laws around reporting abuse.
In Canada , if someone knows of or suspects that a child is being abused, that person has a legal responsibility to report the known or suspected abuse. It is your duty to report. In the USA , anyone who knows of or suspects that a child is being abused, that person may report the known or suspected abuse. However, professionals and mandated reporters are required under the law to report. In some states, everyone is required to report abuse.
Organizations must be able to demonstrate in a court of law how they protected the vulnerable sector in which they serve, and how they demonstrated their duty of care to the volunteers and staff that they utilize if there was ever a lawsuit against them. Organization that desire to qualify for abuse coverage must demonstrate that they have the following in place: Establish policy and procedures including but not limited to:.
Screen your volunteers and staff working with the child care, including:. Train your volunteers and staff working with in the programs; and 4. Is it OK to use the words "procedures" and "procedure manual" in place of the word "policies"? You can certainly separate policies from procedures, but for your own protection, you should establish policies that the Board or Leadership is requiring to be adhered to in all cases. Otherwise, there are no parameters put on your staff and volunteers, identifying how they will demonstrate care to the vulnerable or the organization.
Insurance companies also require policies to be put in place to qualify for abuse coverage. Policies should spell out who they apply to, and if any exceptions are made to the policies, how and when those exceptions should be handled i. Written permission from leadership and parents. Back to top 7. Reasonable grounds are what an average person, given his or her training, background and experience, exercising normal and honest judgment, would assume to be an action that needs attention. No action would be taken against a person making a report unless it is made maliciously or without reasonable grounds for the belief.
These characteristics may be indicators of abuse, although they are not necessarily proof. One sign alone does not constitute abuse and may simply be indicative of other issues. Some of this touch or interaction may not yet be clearly defined as abuse but it may be the start of behaviour that is crossing the line.
It is very important for you to document your discipline steps. If your concerns escalate, and you hear of an allegation or you have reasonable suspicion of abuse or inappropriate behaviour; do not confront the individual, nor should you ask leading questions of the victim. The laws in Canada require that you immediately report the suspicion or allegation to child protection agencies.
This is the most important of child protection laws in Canada. The laws are provincially legislated, however the wording across Canada is very similar. The report must be a direct report, immediate and it is an on-going duty to report. Leave the investigation to the officials, yet cooperate with them. What are the consequences for failure to report? There are a number of consequences for failure to report. Failure to report alleged or suspected abuse may put an individual at risk of further harm.
We know that abuse is progressive in nature and will not stop unless there is some intervention to address it.
Pastoral Care
There are consequences written into the provincial legislation for failure to report Child and Family Services Act. Professionals have the same duty as any member of the public to report a suspicion of abuse. Clergy, priests, rabbis, youth and children's workers are also considered professionals. If your work involves the vulnerable sector, you are considered to be a professional for purposes of the duty to report. If the child does not stop then you can elevate this with a longer suspension from the program.
You could also require the parent to sit in the program with their child for a few weeks. Also, recognize that the behaviour the child is exhibiting may be indicators of abuse. If you see a pattern, you should notify Child and Family Services. If there is a year age difference between the two children involved we would suggest you also contact Child and Family Services and ask what your legal duty is in this situation. Child and Family Services will assess the situation and determine if you have a duty to report.
As with any volunteer or staff member, we would recommend that if they walk in on, observe, or have a suspicion of any form of abuse including sexual misconduct , that they should immediately record and report it. If the individuals involved are of the age of majority, the hall monitor should notify the Senior Leader and document their observation and conversation, submitting this to leadership.
Many organizations have whistleblowing policy in place for this purpose. If one or both of the individuals involved are minors, the hall monitor should immediately call for the abuse or misconduct to cease, remove the individual from the situation, and at the earliest opportunity document their observation, conversations and actions on the Suspected Abuse Report Form. The hall monitor should also notify organization leadership and immediately contact Child and Family Services or Children's Aid Society.
Nothing should delay the report to the appropriate protection authorities.
If the individuals are a child and adult not a family member , the caregivers of the individual should be notified by the Senior Leader or designate. Caregivers should also be notified if children or youth are engaged in abusive behaviour including sexual misconduct with each other. If the sexual engagement is between minors of the same age and it appears to be consensual, parents should be notified but child protection authorities would not need to be notified. If the sexual engagement involves minors but there is an age difference of three years or if it is not consensual, child protection authorities should be notified along with the parents.
In most cases, proof is not required and the law protects you in your reporting if you are not malicious in your reporting. They do have a duty to report if they feel the child is in need of protection. If the parent is indeed drunk, I would distract the parent and delay the pick-up and immediately call the police. I would do whatever is necessary to not allow the child to leave with the parent without causing too much of a distraction.
I may avoid speaking directly to the parent about them being inebriated as this could cause more aggressive behaviour and put others in danger. If they see further indicators, they should report this to authorities as noted above. If we suspect a minor is self-harming what would be the proper action to take? The pain within is so intense they are trying to draw attention away from that pain. The self-injury is a coping mechanism. The one suspecting the self-harming behaviour can talk with the minor about it.
The concern should also be shared with the parent although I don't believe there is any legal requirement just a moral one. As a parent, I would want to know that my child was self-harming and provide whatever is needed to help my child overcome this.
- Portraits de femmes (French Edition)?
- April 2018 General Conference;
- Pastoral Care.
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The parent can call their local children's mental health agency for assistance as well or their medical doctor. A CMH Agency and medical doctors have the duty to report if they believe the child is in need of protection. Bottom line, this minor needs caring people to come along side of them and help rebuild the walls of protection they need. I think the worst thing we could do is to ignore it and just believe this is a craze among young people. Our hope is that the parents will be part of the solution, and it will take a community to build hope, healing and restore value in the young person's life.
From an organization perspective, we would recommend you have policies and procedures in place that stipulate how situations like this should be dealt. We would recommend that the staff member or volunteer complete an Incident Report, and notify leadership. After speaking to the young person, and informing the parents, regular follow-up should occur to continue to support the young person and if possible the parents. Help and Healing for Kids who Cut by Dr. Self Harm by Brett Ullman https: What should we do if a volunteer or staff member wants to report abuse, but we disagree.
Each province, state and territory has its own legislation about duty to report child abuse and the age of a child entitled to protection under the law. The statute of limitations also varies depending on where you reside. Back to top 8. The steps of recruiting and screening we recommend include: This chart will be a helpful guide on who to do a Criminal Record Check on. We have all been in that difficult place where we need someone to fill in for a teacher or assistant that does not show up in the classroom and we need someone to be a substitute teacher.
If you have a current list of individuals within your community who have been screened and trained, you will have a pool of personnel available to draw from. On the other hand, someone may never be entrusted to the care of children, but their role may be one where a child or youth would look up to them and consider them an authority figure that they are to obey — these people would still be considered a person in a position of trust and would be someone you should screen.
It is a challenge keeping this in the forefront in our minds. Most organizations would readily say that protection is one of their core values. However, we think there is a disconnect as we let ourselves think of protection as a necessary evil and major headache to our programming. We do realize that it adds to your TO DO list. Our best recommendation is to make sure you have the right person s doing the screening and administration.
We encourage you to stay organized and set aside time to do the administration of screening. Abuse prevention is not a task for one person, it takes a whole community to protect the vulnerable sector. As staff and volunteers we can step up to the plate and provide up-to-date criminal record checks and offer to take annual training.
As board members and administrators we cannot put this task on our program leaders and leave it to them to do it on their own. If those are not your strengths, admit it. We recommend you carve out time on your calendar, well in advance of your program starting. We must be held accountable for protection. No one person should make these decisions on their own. If protection is one of our core values, we really need a different perspective when it comes to the process of protection.
Instead of looking at it as an obstacle, we need to see it as a means of valuing and caring for vulnerable persons. Remember also that the process of how we do our work is as important as the end result. Finally, as you continue to develop your character, strive for and role model integrity and accountability.
Once policy has been developed and approved by the Board, no one person should make these decisions to not observe these policies on their own. Once policies are approved by the board, everyone is responsible to submit to these policies as they provide the parameters which will offer protection those involved with the organization. We encourage you to not cut corners, but to take every precaution to protect the vulnerable sector. We recommend that you have a no-exception rule for recruitment and screening. Establishing a no-exception rule will take the responsibility off of your shoulders to determine who you will require it from and who is exempt.
Otherwise, where do you draw the line? Your approach with seniors serving in the organization should be with sensitivity. Individuals responsible for recruitment and screening can make the process easier for seniors by offering to drive them to get a police records check, meeting them in their home for the interview while providing an opportunity to hear their stories and memories.
Thank them for being positive role models. We would recommend that you commit the same level of care and attention to recruiting volunteers as you would to the hiring of employees. One comment we received from our legal counsel was that volunteers have the same rights as employees in relation to human rights and we must avoid any appearance or cause for them to believe they were discriminated against. You certainly have the option to change or revise the questions. We strongly recommend that you have your lawyers review your forms and your policies.
As laws differ in certain geographic areas, we would also encourage you to research your particular provincial guidelines. If they continue to volunteer the next year, we recommend that they attend a 1 Hr. Going forward we then recommend that they attend the above-mentioned Refresher training on a yearly basis so that they can be properly informed of any new policies or procedures that have been implemented. Yes, it is a required training that any business or organization including churches in Ontario that provides goods or services to the public must add to their policies and procedures and provide training to their representative staff and volunteers.
Please see the link provided for more specific information regarding the AODA requirements and how it affects your organization here. The policies do not replace the discussion that takes place during the training seminar, the explanation of the policies and prevention procedures, and the illustrations that help to put the policies into perspective. Many insurance companies are now requiring annual training for all personnel.
We have provided you recommended training schedules, templates, PowerPoint presentations and contact information for securing needed resources. Check our website for online training options and an overview of our Certification Training for Trainers. The best training option is to hold on-site, face-to-face training in a group setting where there is opportunity for interaction and discussion and a walk-through of your facilities.
We would encourage you to pursue the highest level of training for your personnel, and avoid shortcuts. Another option is having that individual take our on-line training or live webinar. However, as this individual will be interacting with other vulnerable persons in your programs, and be recognized as a helper, you may be held responsible for their actions. We would recommend that you follow your protection policies and procedures with personal care workers.
As this individual may not be well known within your community, we would recommend that you provide additional supervision of those interacting with youth in your program ensuring they comply to your policies and protocols. A strong abuse prevention screening process includes a completed volunteer application form, interview, references, criminal record check, training, and supervision. I believe he grew up in our organization, and I have a file for him already because he volunteered in the past.
We do not think it is necessary to ask the individual to wait an additional six months, but because he has been gone for a length of time we would recommend that you screen him again i. He should also take the annual refresher training to remind him of your protocols and procedures. According to insurance companies, to qualify for abuse coverage, the following requirements are stated: Training for all staff members and volunteers who regularly work with vulnerable persons to assist in the prevention of abuse through the following means: Educating workers about their legal obligation to report suspected abuse and to recognize and identify the signs and symptoms of abuse and operation procedures for protection.
Refresher training can be done at any time including during team meetings. Reviewing the ongoing suitability of existing workers including updated criminal record checks and a recommitment of care. Yes, we strongly recommend that all staff and volunteers in a position of trust participate in annual refresher training.
This can be offered on-site or on-line. Refresher training is approximately 60 minutes in length. Each module is approximately minutes in length. Students also apply their learning when examining case studies relating to the module. Once students successfully complete the training on-line, they will receive a certificate of completion and the program leader will receive a monthly report indicating the students who completed the training. The on-line refresher training reflects the high standard of content and excellence of our on-line orientation training.
If you are offering training within your organization on site, we recommend that the trainer be certified and equipped to provide the training. With certification, you receive PowerPoints, Instructor and Student notes, and creative methods of training, along with recommended media clips to enhance your training. Certification is valid for three years. Taking attendance at your training and maintain records of trainings as an additional step towards demonstrating due diligence and a strong standard of care. We recommend this for a number of reasons: Each individual organization is able to modify their policy and procedures as they see fit though.
However, we would HIGHLY recommend that if you are making ANY changes to your policy for example only requiring training every three years , that you first check with your insurance company and consult with a lawyer followed with board approval. No individuals or team leaders should change policy without board approval first. And, you should note that if you are making this change that it is contrary to what is recommended.
But, yes training is very important. The truth is that the importance of training cannot be understated. Doing initial orientation training and annual refresher training with your volunteers and staff may be an insurance requirement but it is also a critical step in protecting the vulnerable sector. If you need help making your training creative we recommend checking out our Train the Trainer course. Training should include awareness what is abuse and how prevalent is it , protection what are the different types of abuse, what are the indicators of abuse, how do you report abuse and protect the vulnerable sector and prevention what policies and procedures does your organization have to prevent abuse to the vulnerable sector.
We truly believe - and insurance companies require - that training should be taught by qualified and knowledgeable instructors, which is why we have developed a Train the Trainer Certification course.