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Do We Really
Need to Screen Everyone Who Interacts Independently With Children?
Creating and
maintaining safe environments presents a number of
challenges to
dioceses, parishes, schools, and other organizations,
including the
amount of time, money, and resources that are required to
screen volunteers.
While pastors, principals, and administrators
understand the
importance of screening volunteers and staff in the
comprehensive
effort to protect children from sexual predators, the
sheer volume of
work required and the expense to accomplish this
important task
also confront them.
There is no doubt
that those who regularly interact with children must
undergo
comprehensive screening. But what about people from large,
under staffed, or
under financed parishes or schools who participate
only once or twice
a year in events such as festivals, bazaars, and
carnivals but who
nevertheless, have unsupervised contact with
children? Is
screening really necessary? And, if so, how do we screen
them?
To assess the need
for comprehensive screening for each and every volunteer who has any
contact with children, let’s look at the purpose
of each screening
tool and see how it can be used to assure the safety
of everyone at a
major event.
•
Standardized written applications: A written application form that
provides information about the volunteer and his or her history in
ministry tells us
many things. We learn whether someone has a history
of working with
children and what types of ministry he or she has
provided. An
application form is the doorway to the selection process.
It provides a lot
of helpful information in a wide variety of contexts
and is an easy and
inexpensive management tool—both now and for future reference.
When planning for
major events that require a great number of volunteers, written
applications allow organizers to quickly identify those who have
experience working with children. These volunteers can be the first
ones to complete the comprehensive screening process.
They, in turn, can
fill the positions that involve working directly
with children
during the event.
In addition to
filling out an application form “in person,” your parish
or school might
consider providing some simple alternatives that open
the door for the
greatest possible number of volunteers to participate. Some of the
more popular alternatives include providing the application form as a
downloadable document on the parish’s or school’s website,
or accepting applications via the Internet through an interactive form
displayed on your
organization’s website. By making both the
application form
and a list other volunteer opportunities available,
your organization
can give interested volunteers an opportunity to apply for positions
that they want to fill—and to do so at their convenience.
Consider accepting such applications via an interactive
online system, by
fax, or in person at the parish or school.
• Criminal
background checks. Conducting criminal background checks,
particularly fingerprint screening, allows the parish or school to
find out whether a convicted sex offender is seeking access to
children in your faith community. This process will not identify
everyone who is a risk, however, because, some convicted offenders
bargain for reduced charges so that they are not identified as sex
offenders, and offenses committed by juveniles do not appear on
public records. However, anyone who shows up as a convicted sex
offender should clearly be denied the
opportunity to
work with children.
Your volunteer
application form should include permission to conduct a
criminal
background check. Any volunteer who has unsupervised access to
children or will work directly with children must have a criminal
background check. When costs are an issue, some dioceses and other
organizations sometimes ask volunteer applicants to contribute
whatever they can toward the cost of their screening. It is a small
price to pay
to support the
church’s effort to create safe environments for
children.
From time to time
situations arise that make it impractical or
impossible to
conduct timely criminal background checks. For example, this may
become an issue when last-minute volunteers are recruited to help
with an event that suddenly grows to an unexpected scale. In these
circumstances, organizers can minimize the risks by making sure that
these “unscreened” volunteers are always working at least
in tandem
with someone who
is fully screened.
• Checking
References: Following through with reference checks is an
important part of
the screening process. The key question when checking
references for
volunteers and staff who want to work with children is,
“Is this
person safe working with children in a parish or a school?”
The answer may be
“Yes,” or “I don’t know,” or some version of
“I can’t
say” or
“I’d rather not say.” In some extreme cases, you may
even get a
flat-out “No
&ldots; this person is a convicted sex offender.” In any case,
only those with
undisputed “Yes” responses should be allowed to work
with children and
young people.
There are some
ways to check references on a large number of
volunteers
in a parish or
school. For example, you can call on Human Resource
professionals and
specialists in your parish to help with this project.
Ask each
professional to call references for a small number of
applicants who are
scheduled to work with children and young people,
and to report the
results back to you by a specific date.
You can also save
some time and effort by pre-screening the
applications and
limiting such reference checks to those references who
appear to have
information about the applicant’s interactions with
children and young
people. Use your time wisely and focus your efforts on screening
those volunteers who will be working unsupervised and directly with
children and young people.
•
Face-to-face interview: The purpose of this interview is to get to
know the
individual and to communicate the organization’s commitment to
safe environments. It is the opportunity to let people know what is
expected of them
and what they can expect with regard to the monitoring and oversight
of volunteers.
When facing the
daunting task of face-to-face interviews with a large number of
volunteers, you can separate them into groups. Again, the most
important group is the people who will be working directly with
children and young people without the direct supervision of an employee
or program
director for the organization. You must meet with these
people
face-to-face, but not necessarily one-on-one. You, and/or some
others to whom you
entrust this responsibility, could meet with three
to five people at
a time to go over polices, guidelines, etc. After the
group meeting,
each individual should have some minimum required “face
time” alone
with the presenter to make sure that he or she understands
the Church’s
commitment to safe environments and has no unanswered
questions about
the volunteer assignment.
Another group is
those who will be working with children and young
people under the
direct supervision of another adult. You can meet with
these people as a
group and go through the procedures, policies, and
expectations—both
theirs and yours. Let them know that they are
welcome to meet
with you individually if there are any remaining questions.
A third group
includes people who will have virtually no contact with
children and young
people during their staff or volunteer activities.
Meet with them as
a group and go over polices, procedures, and expectations. Include
some of the warning signs that they should be
aware of so that
they too can watch for risky situations. Make sure you
also provide these
individuals with information on how to report
suspicious
behavior. Remind these people that, in their volunteer or
staff capacities,
they are acting as the eyes and ears of the Church.
If you empower
them with this important responsibility, most people
will respond very
seriously and diligently to the task.
The screening
tools are designed to develop information, and
information is
important in the effort to protect children from sexual
abuse. A parish or
school must consider child safety as the top
priority
throughout the decision-making process. Let volunteers know
how important it
is for them to cooperate. Make the screening process
as easy and
efficient as possible, and acknowledge your volunteers for
being part of a
solution to create safe environments for all of God’s
children.
Bottom Line:
Screening procedures are key in the effort to prevent
child sexual
abuse. Use each of the screening tools in the most
effective way to
make sure that the environment is safe for all of
God’s
children. Remember that the ultimate goal is a safe and happy
event, and
accomplishing that goal means planning ahead to make sure that those
who work and play with our children are people who deserve
our trust. |
