| Soli Deo Gloria |
| "For the glory of God alone" |
| 05/18/09 - Church Security: Preparing for the summer programs and kids |
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Anytime you are dealing with children and their care, there is a great amount of responsibility, liability, and risk that comes with it. Even the usual Sunday Bible School or Child Day Care requires security and emergency planning. But summer brings on greater numbers, longer hours, and usually more volunteer staff that may not be as well trained to handle situations if they occur. Most churches are ramping up for summer camps, VBS, and other special summer kids programs. Now is the time to start to develop some key programs and training for all staff and volunteers that will be working with children. The first thing is what we always “preach” at the Christian Security Network, and that is “security starts from within” – this means background checks. All staff and volunteers should have a thorough, reliable background check conducted on them. Even if they are only working with for your church or ministry a short time or they have worked for you in the past, one needs to be completed. Proper checking in and checking out of the kids is critical. Most churches, day-cares and ministries have these procedures in place, whether they are simple matching wrist bands to electronic security systems. Making sure that you know of any medical conditions, permission to treat and transport to the hospital if necessary, emergency contact numbers, and if there are any “special” domestic situations that the staff and volunteers should be aware. All staff and volunteers should be trained in CPR/AED, especially for children and your AED (we are assuming everyone has at least one AED) is equipped with pediatric pads which are meant for young children in cardiac arrest – they are different from the adult pads that come with the AED. In addition to the medical training, all staff and volunteers should be well versed in emergency procedures to include Emergency Evacuation, Shelter-in-Place, Lost/Missing Child, and potential violent situations. One of the aspects of training that we often see neglected in training of those who deal with the children is what possible domestic situations might occur. We all like to think the best of people and when a child runs up to a parent or grandparent and hugs them, should we assume that that person has the right to be with that child? Out of all the missing children in the U.S. every year, parental-abductions make up the greatest percentage and what better place for an estranged parent to abduct their child than a church, camp or ministry where they know resistance will probably be minimal. But staff and volunteers have to be trained to stick to established procedures and have a way to deal with a suspicious situation if it should occur. If your check in procedure entails a matching wrist-band between the adult checking them in and the child, than the staff or volunteer should not, under any circumstances, let that child go with any other adult. If a situation should develop where an adult insists on taking the child, again, procedures have to be in place as to how the staff member or volunteers deals with the situation without having it escalate into possible violence. Definitely if you have a potential domestic situation with one of the children and an estranged parent that may show up, you want to make the police department aware with the custody parent’s permission. As we always stress, communication with your local police, fire, and emergency medical services is also important. Don’t assume that they know you are going to be running a summer camp every day for a month. With all the residences, businesses, schools and other organizations most jurisdictions deal with on a daily basis they may not know that you have extra risks for a certain period of time. It may help them in their planning and response. Now is the time to make sure the procedures and plans are in place. Take this opportunity to review your summer programs and ramp up your security and emergency planning. In Christ, Jeff Hawkins Executive Director |
