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Safe Sanctuaries for Children and Youth

What is Safe Sanctuaries?

“Safe Sanctuaries is an overt expression of a faith community in making a congregation a safe place where children and youth may experience the abiding love of God and fellowship within the community of faith.
In 1996, the UMC’s General Conference delegates passed a resolution requiring all conferences to adopt policies to safeguard children and youth. Through the program, churches train and certify persons as safe workers with children and youth in United Methodist ministries. Safe Sanctuaries policies include such things as screening and checking references for paid employees and volunteers; preventing abuse, recognizing signs of abuse and reporting incidents of abuse; making sure insurance coverage is adequate; and developing building usage policies.”

Take the Self-Evaluation
Use this checklist to help your congregation assess its policy needs for the prevention of abuse in your church’s ministry with children and youth. You'll see at a glance the areas needing attention.

· We screen and check references for all paid employees, including clergy, who have any contact with children and/or youth. ( ) YES ( ) NO ( ) UNSURE

· We screen all volunteer workers for any position involving work with children and / or youth.

( ) YES ( ) NO ( ) UNSURE

· We train at least annually all volunteer and/or paid workers with children/youth to understand the nature of abuse and to recognize indicators of abuse. ( ) YES ( ) NO ( ) UNSURE

· We train at least annually all volunteer and/or paid workers with children/youth in how to carry out our policies to prevent abuse. ( ) YES ( ) NO ( ) UNSURE

· Our workers and volunteers are informed of state law requirements regarding abuse and their responsibility for reporting incidents. ( ) YES ( ) NO ( ) UNSURE

· We have a clear reporting procedure for a suspected incident of abuse that follows the requirements of our state law. ( ) YES ( ) NO ( ) UNSURE

· We have insurance coverage available in case a complaint of abuse occurs. ( ) YES ( ) NO ( ) UNSURE

· We have a clearly defined building usage strategy as a component of our abuse prevention plan. ( ) YES ( ) NO ( ) UNSURE

· We have a clearly defined response plan to be implemented in case an allegation of abuse is made against someone in our church. ( ) YES ( ) NO ( ) UNSURE

· We offer at least annual education opportunities to parents of children and youth about how to recognize and reduce risks of abuse. ( ) YES ( ) NO ( ) UNSURE

· We take our policies to prevent abuse seriously, and we are committed to their enforcement for the safety and security of all our children, youth and the adults who work with them. ( ) YES ( ) NO ( ) UNSURE

—from Safe Sanctuaries: Reducing the Risk of Child Abuse in The Church

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