S.T.O.P. Child Abuse
No church can afford to ignore these preventive measures

By David O. Middlebrook

With several thousand allegations of sexual abuse occurring annually within Protestant and Catholic churches, lawsuits are regularly being filed with the potential to bring multimillion-dollar judgments or settlements. The following are some revealing statistics from various sources:

• One national study found that 27 percent of women and 16 percent of men had experienced some form of child sexual victimization.
• In 1994 state Child Protective Services agencies received an estimated 2 million reports of abuse and neglect involving 2.9 million children.
• Several thousand allegations of sexual abuse occur annually within Protestant and Catholic churches.

Common sense leads to the conclusion that large, fast-growing churches with many new and young faces have tremendous exposure unless action is taken to avoid or greatly reduce the risk of an incident of child abuse and particularly child sexual abuse.

Screening new hires

Each church must establish a workable and effective screening form to be completed by applicants for a position, whether voluntary or compensated, that involves supervision of minors. This is not to be confused with an employment application.

The information which is sought by the screening form is directed to and seeks information about past church work and experience, history of abuse in the life of the applicant and information concerning prior criminal charges or convictions. The screening form should include a release to be secured from the individual to contact references to obtain information about their character, fitness and ability to work with children and youth. The screening application should also release the church from any liability for usage of the authorization to obtain information.

Screening application forms should include an authorization for the church to conduct a criminal records background check. The screening application should include a place to list references as well as previous establishments where the applicant has worked with children. The church should seek competent legal counsel to assist in the preparation of the screening form so as to comply with the laws of your particular state.

If the screening form information reveals a history that involves incidences of child abuse, even where the applicant is or was a victim, it is highly advisable that the applicant not be further considered for a position working with children and youth. If the applicant was a victim of child abuse, it is very important that the next several steps be given great attention if he or she is given further consideration for a position as an employee or a volunteer.

Contact each reference listed on the application and make a written record of each contact. The notes of each contact should be kept with the screening form application and maintained in a file. If churches or references listed on the screening form are reluctant to provide you information regarding the applicant's prior conduct, provide them with a copy of the release that is a part of the screening form that allows the church to obtain such information from references without legal liability.

If an individual is applying for a position that would permit largely unsupervised activities with either male or female minors then that individual should be interviewed by a member of the church staff who is schooled and skilled in screening child care and youth care workers.

With an authorization set forth in the screening application form for the church to conduct a criminal records background check, a criminal records check should be completed on all paid workers whose position necessarily involves incidental but routine contact with children. It is not necessary to conduct a criminal records background check on all volunteers. However, if a question about the conduct of a particular volunteer comes into question, then a criminal records background check should be carefully considered.

If the criminal records check reveals a conviction of a sex-related crime, the individual should be disqualified for childcare and youth work in the church. If the criminal records check reveals a conviction of a crime of moral turpitude it is advisable to contact the church's legal counsel for an opinion as to whether the charge or conviction should disqualify the individual for childcare and youth work in the church.

By implementing these relatively simple, yet effective steps, church leaders can significantly reduce the likelehood of an incident of abuse or molestation occuring. One measure is to have every applicant for childcare and youth work complete an effective screening application form, then follow through with reference contacts and maintain notes of each contact in the applicant's file. When appropriate, conduct personal interviews by a qualified staff member and, where appropriate, conduct criminal record checks.

Training increases awareness

All childcare and youth workers should be educated in order to increase their awareness of the occurrence of child sexual abuse and the importance of guarding against it. Share the statistics available, such as those set forth in this article, with your workers in order to insure that they are sufficiently aware of the potential for abuse. It is especially important that periodic training of workers and staff be conducted to properly implement the programs designed to safeguard against incidents of abuse.

Although your church may adopt an effective screening program and avoid a claim for negligent hiring or negligent volunteer selection, it may still be held for injuries sustained at the church as the result of negligent supervision. Although churches do not guarantee the safety and well-being of the persons who come to the church and participate in its activities, they may be held liable for negligent supervision because of failure to exercise reasonable care in the supervision of church workers and church activities. An allegation of negligent supervision is certainly enhanced by a showing of a lack of education and awareness on the part of the childcare and youth workers.

The employees and volunteers working with children should be supervised by a trained church staff member. The supervisor should be well educated and experienced as a childcare worker. Safeguards include:

• Attention should be given to the number of children each adult has to care for and the size of the group--lower is better.
• Long-term employees indicate good working conditions--lower staff turnover.
• Implement the two-adult rule--require at least two adults to be present and working with each other at any church activity that involves children.
• Utilize a claims check identification procedure that prevents a child from being released to an unidentified or unauthorized adult.
• Church workers should be required to wear a uniform or smock or some other item of clothing that identifies them clearly as a church childcare worker.

Obey reporting requirements

Every state requires mandatory reporting of child abuse. It is incumbent upon the church to train church workers about the specifics of their particular state law regarding what constitutes child abuse, about persons who are mandatory reporters, the time deadline to make a report and the nature and content of the report.

Each state has its own laws that govern child abuse and neglect reporting requirements and you must check the laws of the state in which you serve. This article uses Texas law as an example. The Texas mandatory reporting statute is found in the Texas Family Code, Section 261.101.

The Texas reporting statute establishes that any person who has cause to believe that a child has been adversely affected by abuse or neglect has a duty to report such abuse. The statute does not require the person to be positive or certain; the duty to report arises simply if the person has cause to believe that a child's health or welfare may be adversely affected by abuse or neglect.

In 1995 the Texas Legislature added language to make it clear that professionals have the same duty to report and may not delegate that duty to another.

Under Texas law, all professionals, including those whose communications would ordinarily be privileged, specifically including a member of the clergy, are legally obligated to report child abuse or neglect. The legislature in Texas has clearly taken a strong position in favor of protecting children at the expense of otherwise privileged communications.

Prepare to respond

It must be the goal of any church to be 100 percent effective in eliminating child sexual abuse allegations. However, even taking great care will not eliminate the possibility of an allegation being raised. The church should be prepared to properly respond to such an allegation.

With the assistance of legal counsel, it is advisable to prepare a written plan setting forth guidelines and steps to be taken in responding to a charge. Your insurance provider can provide specific guidelines and procedures that they endorse and should be referenced.

It is recommended that each parent execute an appropriately drawn consent and permission form for their child to be under the care of the church workers, which can include an agreement to submit any claims or disputes to a Christian arbitrator.

You should consult legal counsel immediately upon receiving an allegation of abuse, and you should review and comply with the reporting requirements in your particular insurance agreement.

Great care should be given to appropriately responding to the needs of the victim and the victim's family. Professional counseling for the child should be encouraged.

Care should be utilized in dealing with the caseworkers that will be assigned the case. You may find the caseworker assigned to the case very inexperienced or very burned out, overworked or as a general rule very unsympathetic to your predicament. Rightfully or wrongfully, it is the unwritten policy of Child Protective Service caseworkers to assume allegations of abuse are true.

You should have a plan in place as to how you should deal with the alleged perpetrator in order to enhance a speedy, proper response.

Finally, you should be prepared to respond to CPS caseworkers, law enforcement authorities, the media and concerned members of your congregation.

David O. Middlebrook is a partner in the Irving, TX law firm of Brewer, Brewer, Anthony & Middlebrook. He is an attorney for the American Center for Law and Justice of Texas, Inc.