Child & Youth Safety
Ensuring Safe Ministry for Our Children & Youth
It is a mission critical value for us to both guard the trust of parents who entrust their children to our ministries and to guard the safety of the children we serve. At St. Charles we have policy and practices in place live out this value. All staff and volunteers working directly with children and youth are screened with a national and county-level criminal record background check. We also have all staff and volunteers provide references including someone who can speak to the individual’s interaction with minors. Volunteers must have attended St. Charles regularly for at least six months before serving in children or youth ministry.
Staff and volunteers also complete Protect My Ministry Child Safety Training and annual policy and practices training. We also follow a 2-person policy at St. Charles. There must always be a least 2 staff/volunteers present with children or youth at all times. (We ask parents to stay when dropping students off at an event until at least two staff and/or volunteers have arrived.)
We work by the motto: “If you see something, say something.” Concerns about abuse should be reported directly to state authorities (1-888-713-6115) the Rector of St. Charles and the Bishop’s Office.
Please note: Any parents who stay at a drop-off event (such as a youth night) are also required to complete the same background check and safety training course after their first visit. If you are a parent and would like to attend an event, please notify us at least one week prior to ensure we can properly prepare for you to join us.
We encourage parents to discuss some of our safety practices with their kids. Check out our family discussion guide here.
You can find our Child & Youth Safety Policy here.
Forms for staff and volunteers can be found here.