“(O)btaining a positive reference from one or more other institutions that have actually observed the applicant interact with minors is the gold standard in screening prospective youth and children’s workers,” Hammar notes.
Your church should ask “whether the institution is aware of any information indicating that the applicant poses a risk of harm to minors,” he adds.
In some instances, an applicant may not have previous experience volunteering or working with a youth-serving organization. When that happens, Hammar recommends limiting the applicant’s personal references to “members of the church, or to members of other churches that are well known to church leadership.”
Be Thorough
When contacting an institutional reference, the date and time of the conversation should be logged, as should the name of the person contacted, the questions asked, and a summary of the responses. Careful written notes should be made and retained permanently with the applicant’s file.
If possible, include a second person on the call who can sign the notes as a witness.
Thoroughness doesn’t stop there, however. Hammar’s full 14-step list includes, among other things, interviewing the applicant and running a criminal background check with a service that reviews local, state, and federal databases.
Though Hammar’s process may appear excessive, the well-being of children hangs in the balance. Along with the harm suffered by a victim and the victim’s family, and the impact an abuse case can have on a congregation, there is also the threat of a civil lawsuit.
A church that has not taken the steps necessary to reduce the risk of a dangerous person contacting children faces an existential threat to its existence, should it later lose a civil lawsuit. The damages awarded to a victim may exceed a church’s insurance coverage, assuming a church has even secured additional coverage since general liability policies typically do not cover abuse claims.
After the Penn State University football program scandal in the early 2010s, the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements in 2017, and the widespread effort of many states to temporarily or permanently pause the statutes of limitation to bring civil claims, the risk is too great for church leaders to take the threat of abuse too lightly.
“The public (your potential “jury pool”) is increasingly intolerant of the inadequate response by churches and other youth-serving charities to incidents of child sexual abuse,” Hammar says. “Church leaders need to review current policies and be prepared to take additional steps to protect minors.”
