Train your people to understand the problem.  The creation of safe environments for children’s programming requires training.  When staff members and volunteers have an awareness of the basic characteristics of a sexual abuser, the process by which an abuser picks and prepares a child for abuse, and key indicators of child sexual abuse, they are better…

An effective safety system for the church should include the following components.  Each of these components is valuable as part of a program, but cannont creat a safe environment standing alone. Sexual Abuse Awareness Training (for all staff members and volunteers). An effective screening process (for screening and hiring of personnel, including volunteers). An appropriate criminal…

Churches all over the country are dealing with the issue of Sexual Offenders:  How should church leadership respond? First, keep in mind the sobering statistics. The US Dept of Justice reports over 550,000 REGISTERED sexual offenders living in the United States today. Conservative studies indicate that preferential offenders, offenders who prefer a child as a…