Safeguarding Our Children
Photo by Phil Hearing on Unsplash
Sierra-Cascades has a new child protection policy, approved in annual sessions 2022 for every member meeting. The target implementation date is October 29th - fall quarterly gathering.
“We hope that everyone involved in the Sierra-Cascades community, whether they have children or not, whether the meeting has children or not, understands that we're all sharing this responsibility together to make our communities safer,” according to Erin Wilson, speaking for the Safeguarding Committee at the July 2022 SCYMF Coordinating Committee meeting.
“This policy is a living, breathing document, because through a relatively quick process, we can make any changes that we need to. As things come up that we didn't think about in advance, or something proves extremely difficult for multiple meetings that's in the policy, maybe we need to adjust the language a little bit so that it allows slightly different scenarios, depending on what the needs are.”
But first, we in the SCYMF faith community have to read the policy and reflect on changes it may require. As difficult as this is, it’s better than putting it off, waiting until something happens, or a sex offender wants to come or is acknowledged among the current attenders. Then the discussion becomes about a specific person who you’ve gotten to know, and a child has experienced pain and a lasting sense of fear and betrayal because of the abuse.
Jade (Souza) Rockwell wrote in an article in Friends Journal, “Many of the meeting policies that were developed after disclosure of abuse are not based on expert recommendations. I learned that the development and implementation of these policies was sometimes undermined by bitter conflicts and committee standstills, at times spanning years. Where new policies were implemented, they were often explosive: causing deep pain, destruction of trust, and sometimes splits of meetings.”
As part of her coursework at the Earlham School of Religion, Jade held extensive interviews with unprogrammed, pastoral and evangelical Friends. She found that Friends share the common misunderstandings of how an abuser gains trust, and how it can happen in small communities of faith. Quakers have their own vulnerabilities:
“Believing that there is that of God in everyone is a difficult thing to square with the very disturbing actions of abuse, which are often far more calculated and sadistic than many people can imagine.” Other vulnerabilities include “our ambivalence about oversight, resistance to formalization of policies, and overreliance on personal relationships in lieu of systems and clear expectations.”
Enthroned Virgin and Child, French, c. 1275
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
Erin Wilson pointed out that member meetings that don't currently have children attending regularly will need to be prepared for the “What do we do if children show up?” question. What if a regular attender brings a grandchild who doesn’t want to sit through the service?
The policy has sections on:
Training and background checks for volunteers
If a sex offender is attending meeting
Outside groups and organizations who use church facilities
Having a point person for the policy in each church - a “person in charge.”
Questions about the policy, and the specific challenges for their own meeting, should be sent to Mark Pratt-Russum at safeguarding@scymf.org
