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	Keeping Kids Safe: Screening Adults with Access to Children By Erika Tyner Allen The Tidings July 27, 2007 http://www.the-tidings.com/2007/072707/screening.htm United States — The Protecting God's Children™ program asks adults in the faith community to take five steps toward keeping kids safe from sexual abuse. The second step, "control access" reminds you to create mechanisms that allow the church to select carefully the adults who have contact with children. But, as a supervisor or director, how will you explain these screening mechanisms to the adults who are subject to them? Consider the following guidelines for generating support for your screening tools. Explain the context to the long-term staff members and volunteers. Make sure the adults in your parish or program understand that any new or additional screening criteria are part of the sweeping changes reflecting how the church will operate. You do not want an employee or volunteer to worry that he or she has been singled out as appearing to be a threat to children. Explain the importance of screening all adults. Make sure your applicants understand that you are screening carefully because you want all adults to take their role with children seriously. Emphasize that it will take the help of everybody in the parish to eliminate the risk of sexual abuse. Encourage your applicants, and explain that a little extra work or hassle on their part can make a difference throughout the faith community. Explain your tools. Make sure everyone understands the tools you are using to screen applicants (e.g., background checks and reference checks). Some applicants may be especially apprehensive about the background check, so make sure you convey the extent to which you will work to keep findings private. Explain how you are keeping workers and volunteers safe, too. Make sure to stress all the reasons for the screening of employees and volunteers. While the primary focus is to protect children by making sure the people who work with children are above suspicion, a secondary but equally important goal is to protect the adults who work with children. Screening mechanisms will make parents and others more confident in parish activities and programs. Screening will also help ease the concerns of the workers themselves who may worry that others may question their every move. It will take controlling access and all the steps in the Protecting God's Children™ program to effectively protect children. Your work may not always be easy, but it is always important.
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