Youth Ministry Standards

Episcopal Diocese of Vermont
Standards and Practical Applications
For Anyone Volunteering or Working with Children and Youth
May 4, 2005

Relationships among people are at the foundation of Christian ministry and are central to the life of the church. Relationships in ministry should always be experienced as caring and without intention to do harm or allow harm to occur. The Diocese of Vermont is committed to creating and promoting positive, nurturing environments for our ministries -- environments that especially protect children and youth from abuse and our adult sponsors from misunderstandings.

Policies, standards and codes of conduct are meant to assist in defining healthy and safe relationships as well as behaviors and practices that allow the church to demonstrate love and compassion to children and youth in sincere and genuine relationships. These standards and practical applications, approved by Diocesan Council in May 2005, are guidelines for creating and maintaining safe environments at all diocesan events and activities.

All adults ministering with children and youth at diocesan events and activities are asked to review and agree to adhere to these Standards before serving the Diocese of Vermont in any diocesan ministry with children or youth.

All parishes in the Diocese of Vermont are strongly encouraged to require all adults ministering with children and youth at parish events and activities to review and agree to adhere to these Standards before serving the parish in any parish ministry with children or youth.

These Standards and Practical Applications cover four areas: appropriate expressions of affection, interactions with children and youth, screening of employees and volunteers, and monitoring events and activities. All four areas are key components of creating the safest possible environment for ministry with children and youth.

Appropriate Expressions of Affection
Love and affection are part of church life and ministry. There are many ways to demonstrate affection while maintaining positive and safe boundaries with children and youth.

When creating safe boundaries for children and youth, it is important to establish what expressions of affection are appropriate and what are inappropriate. Stating which behaviors are appropriate and inappropriate allows those who minister with children and youth to comfortably show positive affection in ministry, and identify individuals who are not maintaining safe boundaries with children or youth. These standards are based, in large part, on the knowledge of what behaviors child molesters are known to use to groom children or youth and their parents or guardians for future abuse as well as behaviors that can be, in and of themselves, sexual abuse.

The following standards of positive and appropriate forms of affection and inappropriate forms of affections are to be carefully followed by all adults working around or with children or youth.

• POSITIVE and APPROPRIATE forms of affection are:

Brief hugs
Pats on the shoulder or back
Handshakes
"High-fives”
Verbal praise
Touching hands, faces, shoulders and arms of children or youth
Arms around shoulders
Holding hands while walking with small children
Sitting beside small children
Kneeling or bending down for hugs with small children
Holding hands during prayer

• INAPPROPRIATE forms of affection are:

Inappropriate or lengthy embraces
Kisses
Holding children over three years old on the lap
Touching bottoms, chests or genital areas other than for appropriate diapering or toileting of infants and toddlers
Showing affection in isolated areas such as bedrooms, closets, staff only areas or other private rooms
Occupying a bed with a child or youth
Touching knees or legs of children or youth
Wrestling with children or youth
Tickling children or youth
Piggyback rides
Any type of massage given by a child or youth to an adult
Any type of massage given by an adult to a child or youth
Any form of unwanted affection
Comments or compliments, spoken, written, or electronic, that relate to physique or body development i.e. "You sure are developing," or "You look really hot in those jeans."
Snapping bras or giving wedgies or similar touch of underwear whether or not it is covered by other clothing
Giving gifts or money to individual children or youth
Private meals alone with individual children or youth

Interactions with Children and Youth
Guidelines for interacting with children and youth, just like and in addition to, the standards for appropriate expressions of affection, help children and adults feel confident and safe in ministry settings and increase the likelihood that someone who does not have good intentions will be detected.
Ratio of Adults to Children and Youth must be maintained throughout every event and/or gathering, using the following standards:
Infant to 5 years of age: 1 adult for every 4 children
6-18 years of age: 1 adult for every 5 children or youth

Standards for Adult Leadership:
• Adults are defined as 18 years of age or older and must be at least one full year past high school graduation.
• Whenever possible an older adult leader should be placed in a group with older youth participants.
• At least two adults should be present in all groups of children and youth whenever possible.
• When there are both male and female participants, both male and female leaders should be present.
• In an overnight event, where there are male and female participants, both male and female leaders must be present. (See below for more standards regarding overnight events.)
• If only two adults are present for an event or gathering, they should not be related.
• If a situation arises in which a child or youth must be alone with an adult, the child or youth and adult should remain within the sight of another adult leader who has been asked to stand by. If this is impractical, the adult should file a memo with the person designated for the activity or event, noting that a private conference took place. Such memo would not betray the privacy of the conversation, and should a question arise in the future, the memo will be useful for recalling the facts. No adult should ever meet with a child or youth in a secret or unplanned way.
• Adult leaders are expected to model appropriate behaviors and positive nurturing relationships to children and youth. Adult leaders are expected to abide by the same covenant as children and youth participants. Adult leaders are encouraged to use the “Standards for Appropriate Affection” to talk about touch boundaries at all events and gatherings, establishing principles of respectful behavior and learning and/or reinforcing appropriate touch.
• Physical punishment or discipline, harsh language, degrading punishment should never be used.
• Hazing activities, of any kind, are not permitted.
• Adult leaders shall never, under any circumstances:

consume non-sacramental alcohol or illegal drugs or misuse legal drugs at any children’s or youth event
be under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs or have misused legal drugs at any children’s or youth event
engage in illegal behavior or permit other adults or children or youth to engage in illegal behavior
provide children or youth with non-sacramental alcohol, illegal drugs, or pornography
engage in any sexual, romantic, illicit or secretive relationship or conduct with any child or youth,
discuss their own sexual activities or fantasies with children or youth.

• Adults should not dress, undress, bathe or shower in the presence of youth and should not be in a room where youth dress, undress, bathe or shower. If a child or youth needs to undress (for example, to get into a costume or for first aid) another adult of the same gender as the child should be called to be nearby.
• For those participants who need assistance for trips to the bathroom, a safe practice must be worked out ahead of time.
• All adults attending diocesan events and activities are mandatory reporters and are required to report abuse or suspected abuse immediately as outlined in diocesan policy.

Standards for Overnight Activities and Events:
• Sleeping in a Parish Hall, Gymnasium, or other large room:

-Male and female participants must have separate rooms for sleeping.
-Two male leaders must be present with the male group and two female leaders must be present with the female group. If two adult leaders cannot be present with each group, the sole adult leader must sleep outside the participants’ sleeping room with the door to that sleeping room open.

• Sleeping in a Hotel, Conference Center, or tent/camper setting:

-There shall be no less than 3 same-gender youth per room.
-In a hotel, choose one that has rooms open to the interior of the building rather than to the outside.
-Whenever possible, an adult sleeping room should be between two youth sleeping rooms; however, there should be no sharing of adjoining or connecting bathrooms.

• Each youth must have a separate bed, bedding and/or sleeping bag.
• Adult leaders should sleep in modest attire and at least in outer-wear shorts and a tee shirt.
• Adult leaders shall schedule monitoring to take place periodically throughout the night.
• A rooming list shall be maintained, providing the location where each child, youth, and adult is rooming. The rooming list shall be made available to all participants, but in no way to the general public.
• No males, at any time, may enter the room(s) where the females are sleeping and females may not, at any time, enter the room(s) where the males are sleeping.

Transportation
• Parents or guardians must be notified in advance and give written permission for transportation of their child or youth to and/or from an activity or event.
• Prior to transporting children or youth, a “Transporting Children and Youth in a Motor Vehicle” form must be completed by the driver and the driver must be screened by a Motor Vehicle Records search for Driving While Intoxicated or any reckless citation.
• At the conclusion of an activity or event, two adult leaders should stay with children and youth until every child and youth has been picked-up. No child or youth should ever be left alone waiting for a ride.
• Situations in which any adult leader drives a child or youth home alone should be avoided.
• If children or youth attending an activity or event are to be picked up by someone other than their parent or guardian, or dropped off somewhere other than their home, the parent or guardian should indicate that person’s name and phone number on the permission form for the activity or event.

Other Considerations
• If a participant in any diocesan activity or event arrives intoxicated (from either drugs or alcohol), arrangements to have the person taken home shall be made and the event coordinator will be consulted regarding any further intervention.
• Firearms and concealed weapons are prohibited at any child or youth event or activity, with the exception that with prior permission from the event coordinator, off-duty police officers and/or others required to carry firearms may be allowed to do so.
• All paid diocesan children and/or youth ministry staff must have current CPR and First Aid certifications.

Screening of Employees and Volunteers
Screening of all employees and volunteers is an essential element in keeping children and youth safe. Screening is an opportunity to prevent a molester from ever having contact with children and youth in the program. With screening as standard practice, molesters will likely choose to try to become part of a program elsewhere.

• Adults are defined as 18 years of age or older and must be at least one full year past high school graduation. Whenever possible an older leader should be placed in a group with older youth participants.
• All those working with children and/or youth must complete and sign an application form which specifically includes a request for personal references, information concerning any prior adjudication in regard to sexual misconduct and acknowledgement of the church’s right to conduct a confidential background check.
• Prior to transporting children or youth, a “Transporting Children and Youth in a Motor Vehicle” form must be completed by the driver and the driver must be screened by a Motor Vehicle Records search for Driving While Intoxicated or any reckless citation.
• All screening records are filed in the diocesan office.
• All adults attending an overnight activity or event must have completed the safe church training required by the Diocese of Vermont with a certificate of completion on file with the clergy leader of their congregation and the clergy leader must sign off on the adult’s registration form.
• Any adult who volunteers and any adult family member who attends any overnight activity or event (including Rock Point Summer Conferences) or participates in any extended trip, must have a current background and reference screening prior to beginning the activity or event.
• No convicted sex offender should ever be involved with children or youth.
• No person accused of being a sex offender should be involved with children or youth until an investigation is complete and the person has been cleared.

Monitoring of Events and Activities
Monitoring is another essential for keeping children and youth safe. It allows detection of any problems before they turn into an incident of abuse. When monitoring is standard practice, it raises awareness and minimizes the potential for abuse.

• All participants must submit a completed and signed permission form to attend an activity or event. Parents and guardians should be given, in advance, information about the activity or event and be provided emergency contact information.
• Permission slips with activity or event details are vital for all trips off the main event site.
• A media release must be signed for pictures to be displayed on the Diocesan Web Site, in the diocesan newspaper (The Mountain Echo), or any flyer or publication of the Diocese of Vermont. Names of minors are never to be used with photographs.
• A list of participants with parental contact information should be filed in the diocesan office prior to a diocesan event.
• All medications, including prescription and over the counter, must be in the original container with clear instructions and the participants’ name. Medications are collected from participants upon arrival at an activity or event and returned at the end of the activity or event. Medications will be locked in a lock box and administered by a designated adult leader.
• All activities should take place in rooms that are visible through glass doors or doors should be left open.
• Parents and guardians of participants always have the right to visit and observe an activity, event, class or program at any time unannounced.
• Any pattern of private meetings or activities occurring between any adult leader or volunteer and a particular child or youth may be a concern and should be discussed with the leader of the activity or event.
• Movies or videos should be used with caution. Show only age appropriate videos and movies. Appropriate means the movie or video is reviewed and screened for sexual content, language and violence. G rated films may be shown. PG rated movies videos should be reviewed by an adult prior to showing it to youth. PG videos and movies should not be shown to anyone under the age of 13. PG13 movies and videos should not be shown to youth or children under the age of 13. Parents must be made aware and approve of any PG13 videos or movies prior to it being shown.