One of my responsibilities as Canon Missioner is to oversee our diocesan Safeguarding God’s Children program. This program is immensely important to the life of our diocese and I appreciate your participation over the years.
After visiting with many clergy and Safeguarding trainers, it became apparent that both our Safeguarding Policy and training program needed modification in order to serve a more functional purpose within our congregations and schools. I am writing to share with you an overview of these modifications, which have been approved by the Executive Board:
New Safeguarding Policy
At their most recent meeting, the Executive Board approved a new Safeguarding Policy. This policy, updated to reflect current Louisiana law and include “best church practices,” can be found online (www.edola.org/safeguarding) along with information concerning how to make a report of abuse or neglect.
Safeguarding Training
Moving forward, Safeguarding training will primarily take place online. This change will allow a consistent message to be shared with trainees, who will be able to take courses at their convenience. It will also bring us into step with the practices of other dioceses in Province IV and allow better oversight of training compliance. Information about how to sign up for online training can be found on our Safeguarding website under “Frequently Asked Questions: How Do I Sign Up?”
Because some people may prefer to be trained in a person-to-person setting, some in-person trainings will continue to be offered each year. A calendar of these trainings will soon be found here: www.edola.org/safeguarding-gods-children-training
In addition to Safeguarding God’s Children training, some people will be required to take additional training modules which may include Safeguarding God’s People and Social Media Use training. Information about required courses can be found on the Safeguarding Training Chart on the Safeguarding page of our website.
Safeguarding Ministers
In order to make sure that congregations have up-to-date information concerning our Safeguarding program, particularly mandatory reporting, each congregation and school will have a Safeguarding Minister. This person will attend a once a year training, hosted by the diocese, and will be the “go-to” person for answering Safeguarding questions within your organization. This person will also be responsible for ensuring that your organization is compliant with diocesan Safeguarding policies.
The dates and locations of trainings for Safeguarding Ministers will soon be announced.
Background Checks
Criminal and sex offender background checks will now be required every six years (instead of three years).
Information about the types of background checks required for certain positions can be found on the Safeguarding Background Check Chart on the Safeguarding page of our website.
Please visit www.edola.org/safeguarding to find more information about our training program moving forward and do not hesitate to be in touch if you have any questions.
I owe immense gratitude to the Rt. Rev’d Morris Thompson, the Rev’d Canon Shannon Manning, the Rev’d Sharon Alexander, Ms. Marsha Wade, Mr. Clyde Jacob, Ms. Karen Mackey, the Diocesan Executive Board and our many Safeguarding God’s Children trainers for their support and guidance with this process.