Thank you for your interest in protecting children and supporting survivors in the Church. Here are some helpful links and documents.
Most people have a child advocacy center nearby! We highly recommend connecting with a child advocacy center, a child protection agency, or other child serving organization for training on mandated reporting and ongoing partnership in child protection. Here are some tools for finding your local child advocacy center.
Looking for some information on mandated reporting? This document contains details about mandated reporting laws and guidelines in every state. Even if staff or volunteers at your church or ministry are not mandated reporters, it can still be a policy at your organization.
While background checks and screenings alone are not sufficient for protection, it is a great way to send a message that your church or organization does not tolerate abuse. Here are resources for conducting background checks and searching registries in the US.
There are organizations that exist to help safeguard child safety in churches and ministries. They can assist with training, standards of practice, institutional response investigations, and more. Two we recommend are GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in a Christian Environment) and ECAP (Evangelical Counsel on Abuse Prevention).
GENERAL RESOURCES
Darkness to Light Evidence-based training for all adults on recognizing and responding to child sexual abuse.
Polaris Project Data, research, and training about human trafficking in the United States.
Child Welfare Information Gateway Research-driven publications, resources, and learning tools about child welfare and the systems that support it.
Thorn Research, information, and training on preventing online sexual exploitation of children.