Background checks alone cannot eliminate the risk of liability and child abuse; we live in a world full of risk.  However, a screening program can reduce the chances of ministry and volunteer liability to an acceptable level, when part of a total risk management program, and help reduce the chances of child abuse. This article focuses on how to utilize screening programs and implement background check techniques and child abuse awareness training related to screening volunteers.

It may help you understand what a screening program can do for you by examining a specific situation with a volunteer accused of child sexual abuse:

One of your volunteers is accused of sexual misconduct and has been arrested and charged with child sexual abuse.  Now several parents are threatening to sue you and the organization.  Are you liable?

With a risk management and screening program in place – no problem.  You have several “layers” of protection.  Here’s how and why.

Because your organization instituted a program of reasonable screening for children’s ministry volunteers, which included a requirement that they complete forms providing information about their background and experience and consent for a criminal background check and you conduct background checks on volunteers working with children, your directors and leaders are not likely to be personally liable for negligently selecting the volunteer, who lied on his application.  However, your organization may still be exposed to vicarious liability for the volunteer’s sexual misconduct.

In addition, your program had an ongoing system for training volunteers on child abuse prevention, and reviewed and evaluated volunteers, including a background check every two years.

Finally, since you knew there was a risk of this kind of claim, you made certain that your liability insurance included coverage for this kind of risk.  You purchased an endorsement to the standard general liability policy for this specific kind of claim.

Without risk management and a screening program in place – bad news. You never imagined it could happen in your ministry.  Because it is so difficult to find reliable volunteers, you accept everyone who signs up, with no questions asked.  Because you took no preventative measures and because some people now are saying that unmistakable signs of the coach’s misconduct were overlooked or ignored, your directors and leaders are exposed to personal liability and gross negligence. Worse, you are dismayed that the organization’s liability insurance explicitly excluded coverage for that kind of claim.

If risk management principles, including the core elements pertaining to a screening program: 1) policies and procedures, 2) education and training 3) and background checks, are applied in your ministry your parents, members and everyone should be made aware of these elements.  Your organization should develop your own policies and procedures and decide how to best apply them to your ministry, e.g. the two-person-rule, the six-month-rule.  Determine if screening will be mandatory for everyone working with children, no matter how long they’ve been in your church.  Every church and ministry is different, so consult with your attorney and utilize the resources available to you as you develop your policies and procedures.  Protect My Ministry provides sample policies and complete starter-kits to help ministries get started toward customizing their own policies and procedures. 

Education and training for volunteers on child abuse is essential and just as important as background checks to the screening process.  Protect My Ministry offers web-based videos for child abuse awareness education and training and online testing to help you implement the training necessary to protect your ministry.  The training is 45 minutes and concludes with a brief online test.  The tests results are updated online for the church or ministry to keep track of all volunteers who have completed the training.

In your child protection policy you should outline your volunteer positions with job descriptions, and which positions require background checks and what types of background checks will be conducted.  The volunteer should be required to fill out the ministry application and background check consent forms and review the position descriptions.  Once your volunteers fill out the forms you need to be careful to store their forms in a secure, protected place, along with a background check report.  The process of collecting forms from volunteers can be time consuming and a labor intensive process.  To help streamline this process Protect My Ministry has developed a fully web-based ministry application system that you can use for the online collection and storage of applications, background check consent forms, and background check reports – called Ministry Mobilizer.

It may help to define the types of background check services available.  The following services are most common to ministries:

•    National Criminal Database Search
•    National Sex Offender Registry Search
•    County Court Search
•    Statewide Search
•    Social Security Verification
•    Address History Trace
•    Motor Vehicle Records Search
•    Credit History Report

A combination of these services will fit most positions in your ministry, including the National Criminal Database Search, National Sex Offender Registry Search, Social Security Verification and Address History Trace.  The price for these services can range from $10 to $25.  An online consultation with criminal background check recommendations is available on the Protect My Ministry website (www.protectmyministry.com).

You have been presented with a potential lawsuit situation involving the sexual misconduct of a volunteer.  Let’s examine another area of risk that you should consider running background checks for - the auto accident. 

Your volunteer offers to drive a group of children to summer camp.  The volunteer is involved in an accident and some of your children are injured.  Are you liable for their injuries?

If your organizations insurance covers the volunteer’s personal vehicle and the passengers, you know your insurance will cover you.  However, what if the volunteer has a driving record and is at fault in the incident and a motor vehicle search would have revealed their prior history and could have prevented the incident.  Your organization could be sued for gross negligence if you failed to perform due diligence by performing a motor vehicle records search on the volunteer. 

The screening program for your ministry will impact the success of your ministry.  For some parents it’s imperative that your children’s ministry take precautions to insure the safety of their children, beyond the standards of facility safety.  The media has exploded over the past several years with stories of abuse, many of which are in the church.  A screening program is no longer an option, but a requirement for effective ministry.

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Brad Snellings (co-founder of Protect My Ministry). Brad is married to Lauren Snellings and they have 3 children (Elizabeth, Emma Jane, and John).  They attend Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, FL. 

Protect My Ministry is an employment and volunteer background screening company established to assist faith-based organizations in implementing and maintaining a thorough background screening process.

Comments from last week's article:

"Very unfortunate experience for the victim at OKC, OK. This is definitely something that church leadership needs to take more seriously; as you note, a preventable crime. Nehemiah did not ignore his responsibility to protect the people under his charge while rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Keep up the good work and continue to message the truth that right, wrong or indifferent, we live in a fallen world." D.J.