As a child worker at your church, have you ever wondered if one of the children in your Sunday School class or missions group is being abused or neglected at home?
Statistics say it’s possible.
More than 900,000 children were reported as victims of child abuse or neglect in 2006, according to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System.
Early identification can help stop future injuries, but ignorance on the part of many teachers and child caregivers regarding the symptoms of abuse often prevents such identification, according to information released at a past "Children and the Church II" conference sponsored by national Woman’s Missionary Union.
That said, ensuring that children can find help and security at church is a vital ministry, noted Dale Huff, director of the office of LeaderCare and church administration for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM).
"It is critical in prevention and therapeutic care for children who have been abused that the church is a loving, safe place for them to be," he said.
Childabuse.net offers tips on how to recognize child abuse victims, and it and other child abuse-related sites offer various resources on where to go for help.
Providing love for these children is an important ministry, Huff said. But helping children stay safe not only means ministering to those who may have been abused but also taking every precaution possible to make sure abuse doesn’t happen at the church, he explained.
It’s been a sad reality for Alabama Baptists to realize that child abuse is a real issue within the very walls of their church. At the 2007 Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting, messengers deemed it such a high priority that they passed a resolution urging churches to "exercise moral stewardship" by performing background checks on employees and hiring child workers in a responsible manner.
A task force appointed by SBOM Executive Director Rick Lance has also devoted time over the last several months to compile suggested guidelines for churches to use "for doing due diligence in protecting children by means of background checking, etc.," Lance said.
The project is nearing completion, and Lance said he hopes the resources will be ready this month. (Watch for more information in the coming weeks.)
In the meantime, Huff offered several policy ideas to help keep their children’s ministries safe.
"A church should have adopted policies concerning those who work with minors," he said, noting that in addition to background checks churches could instate a "six-month rule," meaning a person must have been a member of the church for at least six months before he or she is allowed to work with children.
"Churches should also follow a two-adult rule where reasonable effort is made to have two adult workers — not husband and wife — present or nearby during activities," Huff said.
For more information on how to prevent child abuse in the church, call Huff at 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 263.
To report suspected abuse, visit www.dhr.alabama.gov/counties.asp to find contact information for each county. (TAB)
Share with others: