Children - Chesapeake Conference of Seventh

Quick Access Guide
Shield the Vulnerable
Go to www.shieldthevulnerable.org and create a user
account. Then select “Seventh-day Adventist” as your
church affiliation as well as “Columbia Union” and
“Chesapeake Conference” as your territories. You will
need to provide three (3) personal references—a pastor
and two individuals who are not relatives.
Select and complete the “Protect Children” training
course (the required training). Other additional training
is available.
After your training is complete, click on the My Account
tab, then the Screening tab to enter your personal
information and authorize the background check. Final
authorization can take a few days.
The STV training and background check application can be
done on any computer or smartdevice with internet access
in about 60 to 90 minutes.
Protecting
Children
Our
Chesapeake Conference
Child Safety
Certification Services
Chesapeake Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
6600 Martin Road · Columbia MD 21044 | (410) 995-1910
E-mail: info@ccosda.org | ccosda.org
Shield the Vulnerable
“Why
are our churches and schools now requiring
children and youth ministries volunteers to undergo
criminal background screening and training in child
abuse awareness and prevention? I’ve volunteered
and worked with children for over twenty years and
now my character is being questioned?”
This question deserves an answer to help alleviate the fears of our
dedicated volunteers and employees who give faithfully of their time
and talents. As members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, we
must always guard three sacred trusts:
Our biblical mandate1 and moral responsibility to protect children
from harm at all times
The responsibility owed to faithful employees and adult volunteers
in ministry to properly equip them for service
To uphold and protect the integrity and mission of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church
As adults, we are role models for children and youth and are
responsible for the reputation of our churches and schools within
the community. Our organizations should be places where children
experience Jesus and that parents can trust with the safety of their
precious children.2
The scary statistics:
1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys will be sexually
abused before they reach the age of 18.
In 85 percent of sexual
abuse situations
children and teens are
abused by someone
they know and trust.3
We must be on guard constantly to protect our children and
teenagers from harm.
The presence of the screening process in our churches
and schools serves as a deterrent to offenders who may
consider “hanging around” our children and youth.
In October of 2011, the North American Division (NAD) of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church passed Working Policy FB-204, which
mandates training and background screening for all church volunteers
who work with children/youth in all Seventh-day Adventist ministries.
In keeping with this mandate, the Chesapeake Conference requires
the active support and cooperation of ministers, educators, all
church members, leaders, and volunteers implementing child safety
procedures in any and all activities. The North American Division,
Adventist Risk Management, and Chesapeake Conference have
partnered with an organization called Shield the Vulnerable5 that
takes the protection solution to another level. This program includes
an educational component and a national database for background
screening, making Shield the Vulnerable (STV) a more flexible and
complete option for our churches and schools.
All Chesapeake Conference employees, and all volunteers who work
with youth and children, are required to complete the online child
protection training and authorize a background screening through
Shield the Vulnerable. New employees and volunteers will not be
allowed to begin service until they have completed the required STV
training and background check. No exceptions.
Training
The training courses are intuitive, informative, and individualized.
Because the instruction is completely web-based, you may start and
stop, go back and review and complete the coursework whenever
it is the most convenient. Courses can even be completed on
smartphones.
A closer look at both mandatory training and additional training
options offered by STV show how valuable this resource is. The
required training course “Protecting Children” includes how to
detect predators and how to recognize and report child abuse.
Additionally, when you complete the required class, you have access
to other STV classes for a full year, including Cyberspace: Risks and
Solutions, Eliminating Bullying, and Cyber Safety for Teens, etc. The
required training will achieve our goal of greater child safety in four
important ways.
After you complete the training you will be able to:
Identify signs of abuse or neglect
Know how to report suspected abuse
Know the techniques and methods of predators
Know how to interact appropriately with children and youth
This training arms the church with a well-trained, educated
workforce that will not only make our churches and schools safer,
but our communities as well.
Process and Certification
The process is simple and completely online. Participants just click
on the link to the STV home page that is located on the Conference’s
website (ccosda.org) and follow a few simple instructions. Personal
information, including a unique username and personal password,
will be recorded, along with the city and state of residence. Local
information is necessary so that participants can receive their statespecific instructions for reporting abuse.
Once you have successfully registered, training may begin. When the
required course is completed, a printable certificate is available.
Criminal Background Screening
National Database
The screening information page will appear when the required course
is completed.
One of the greatest benefits of this
program is that the information will
be held in a secure, national database
housed on secure servers at STV.
Churches will not have to worry about
security issues involving hacked church
servers or lost laptops that contain
personal information stored on them.
You will be asked for additional information and permissions.
Following completion of an electronic signature page, your name is
forwarded to Employment Screening Resources6 for background
screening.
Results of the screening will be returned to the Chesapeake
Conference STV Level I Administrator. Then, one of four designations
will be visible to the STV designated administrator of the local entity
(church, school, daycare, etc.). Details regarding a criminal record will not
be forwarded to the local entity. Screenings are good for three years.
The four designations are:
Eligible
The individual has completed both the training and
screening and is eligible for service.
Application
Pending
Either the individual has not yet completed the
required training course or the background
screening has not yet been completed.
Advisory
Ineligible
There is either outstanding information or an
area of concern. The Chesapeake Conference
administrator will contact the local church or
school leadership to review the situation.
The individual has completed both the training and
screening but it has been determined that s/he is
not eligible for service in working with children or
youth programs at the local church or school.
Who Pays for the Program?
For all employees: The local church or school
pays for locally funded employees.
For all volunteers working with children
and youth: The local church or school
pays for all volunteers. Local entities
should budget for screening costs.
The cost for this program is quite affordable
as compared to other service providers.
ion
Participat m
gra
in this pro ur
o
to protect
children is
required.
References:
1. Luke 18:16, Matthew 18:6.
2. Arthur Blinci, “Giving Our Best for God’s Children,” CALLED—NAD Best Practices Newsletter,
August 17, 2014, http://www.nadministerial.org.
3. http://theadvocacycenter.org/adv_abuse.html.
4. “NAD FB-20 Child Protection & Volunteer Screening Policies for Children/Youth Ministries,”
http://www.adventistrisk.org/Prevention/ChildProtection.aspx.
5. “A service of LawRoom, Inc. Shield the Vulnerable is dedicated to raising awareness and
prevention of mistreatment of children and the elderly by training young people and adults about
abuse, neglect, predators, bullying, boundaries, respect, and the perils of cyberspace,”
http://www.shieldthevulnerable.org.
6. Employment Screening Resources (ESR) is the firm that literally wrote the book on
background screening with “The Safe Hiring Manual.” ESR was rated the top U.S. employment
screening firm in the first independent study of the industry. http://www.esrcheck.com.
All photos © 2014 Thinkstock.