Protecting the children of our churches and church schools is a primary responsibility of all concerned. A child abuse prevention program is recommended for all churches. Samples of a good child abuse prevention program can be found at Church Law Today.
A few common sense guidelines will go a long way in preventing child abuse.
Any employee or volunteer who will work with youth or children should with a background check. At the minimum their name should be submitted to a background check agency to be screened through a registered sexual offender database. CPIP members may go to www.Intellicorp.net and purchase from a variety of pre-employment screening products.
It is recommended that churches adopt a policy stating that no volunteer may work with any children or youth until they have been a regular attendee of the church for a minimum of six months.
It is recommended that churches adopt a policy that no adult may ever be alone with a child. There must always be two adults present when with children.
