Church leaders carry a special duty to ensure that all church employees and volunteers are suitable to be in positions of trust with children and vulnerable persons, and that all church-sponsored activities and programs are conducted in a safe environment.
In its implementation of the initiative, the Archdiocese of Edmonton used the Called to Protect for Ministries program to provide training for all clergy, employees and lay volunteer leaders. The Archdiocese has since adopted updated training requirements to ensure continued vigilance and best practices for the safeguarding of those being served throughout the Archdiocese. The new safe environment training platform, Praesidium Academy, an online, self-directed, module based training program, individuals are assigned courses based on their risk assessment level of low, medium or high (See Policy 261A).
As with Called to Protect, Praesidium Academy is mandatory for all clergy, archdiocesan and parish employees, camp staff and volunteers serving in the Archdiocese of Edmonton.
Praesidium Academy’s basic and foundational modules for ministry leaders and volunteers focus on identifying signs of child abuse and how abusers come to commit their offences.
Courses aimed at church ministries detail more specific learning for abuse prevention in the church environment.
In the Praesidium Academy modules, participants learn tools to help identify inappropriate behaviours, methods for reporting potential abuse, and best practices in ministering safely to the young and vulnerable.
Five-step model for keeping parishes safe
- Screening: What to look for on an application, how to get useful information from references, the importance of sex offender and criminal background checks, and questions to ask during interviews.
- Interacting: How to use policies to define acceptable verbal and physical interactions between adults and children, and how to identify interactions that could indicate a child may be at risk for abuse or is already being abused.
- Monitoring: Why child molesters need privacy and how to monitor high risk building locations, activities, and interactions between adults and children and between children.
- Training: What church leaders, parents, and youths need to know to contribute to creating and maintaining safe environments and how abuse affects children, their parents, and those who serve and care for them.
- Responding: Understand the difference between suspicious or inappropriate interactions and allegations of abuse, and how to respond in ways that respect the rights of everyone while complying with the law.
ALL clergy, staff and parish volunteers 18 and over are required to complete three minimum modules:
- Preventing Abuse & Exploitation in Pastoral Ministry
- Keeping your Church Safe
- Duty to Report
Please contact the Volunteer Coordinator or pastor in your parish for volunteers serving in medium to high risk positions, particularly positions serving children, elderly and vulnerable persons.