| Definitions: |
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The Collingswood First United Methodist Church is committed toward providing
a safe and friendly atmosphere for its congregation, its children, its
employees and those volunteers who frequent the property and buildings
owned by the church as well as its supervised activities away from its
structures.
This safety statement includes reliable protection in the form of background
checks, parental permission forms, provisions to inhibit any form of sexual
abuse, complaint procedures, education of volunteers, and informative sessions
with paid staff designed to insure the safe keeping of all of God’s children.
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The First United Methodist Church will also insure all paid positions will
not be subject to discriminatory practices in regard to race, age or sex.
The church will conduct interviews based on skill, experience, and faith
based policies which will be presented during all personnel search procedures.
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Collingswood First United Methodist Church states its practice to avoid
discrimination or harassment in the work place. The church will not
tolerate harassment or discrimination by anyone including supervisors,
co-workers, vendors and/or contractors.
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Safe Sanctuary Policy
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| This policy, as adopted by Church Council, protects the integrity of
our staff, volunteers, children, and those leaders who are responsible
for their care. It includes the following practices: |
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Background checks of all adults both paid and volunteer who work with children
under the age of 18
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Educational policies and sessions designed to train staff and volunteers
about sexual abuse, harassment, or misconduct.
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Ensuring adults give children information on protecting themselves and
filing complaints
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Obtaining parental permission slips in all activities where children leave
the facility under adult care
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Insure children are normally supervised by at least 2 adult leaders when
there is only 1 child in a room
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Report any suspicious behavior to appropriate adult authority as soon as
possible
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Provide as much light as possible to all classrooms or recreational facilities
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Insure all adult supervision in overnight activities has the approval of
the Youth Director or appropriate pastor
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Insure all youth workers are aware of the safe sanctuary policies
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Provide privacy to children over 2 years of age in the bathroom areas by
remaining outside the area unless the child specifically asks for help
or is handicapped.
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Provide adequate reporting forms for staff, children, parents, and youth
workers should there be an incident
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| All of these practices need to be followed to avoid any abuse or sexual
misconduct in a property owned by the church or a program facilitated by
the church. The church will practice a safe sanctuary on a daily
basis and insure all God’s children are protected from any harm while in
our care. |
| Those protected include the following classes: |
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Children under age 18
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Nursery
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Visitors
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Handicapped or special need adults and children
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Special groups using the facility under our supervision
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Required Activities
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Application forms for Sunday School teachers
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Screening processes
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Youth training
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Forms for parental permission
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Planned disciplined from verbal warning through termination of services
or legal action
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Direction of Education Committee or Youth Director
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Training of all adults both volunteer and paid staff
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Complaint forms
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Posted practices throughout the facility
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State ratio quotas of adults to students as defined by the State of New
Jersey Department of Education
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Summary
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| The First United Methodist Church of Collingswood New Jersey will
implement a Safe Sanctuary policy. It will insure its employees are
protected from harassment or abuse. It will maintain employment practices
in line with its statement of faith and avoid discrimination based on sex,
race, and age. |
