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3.  Appropriate Age Difference Between Leaders and Participants
 
 Leaders of children and youth (teachers, camp counselors, youth workers) should be at least five years older than the participants that are under their immediate supervision. 

 Rationale:  Leaders whose age is within five years of the participants may not exercise appropriate boundaries in their relationships with those in their care.  They may not have developed the level of judgement needed to be placed in responsible situations with children and youth.  Finally, they many not command the respect of those they are entrusted to supervise.

 Implications:  Conference leadership should work to provide younger volunteers the opportunity to volunteer in situations where this age difference can be maintained.

4.  Appropriate Age Range Among Participants

  Events should not be planned that include only youth and young adults as participants.

 Rationale:  While little developmental difference may be observed between a 17 year old and a 19 year old, there is in the United States a vast legal difference.  An adult in an intimate relationship with a minor could be charged with child abuse or rape.  There is a further discomfort in U.S. culture with high school youth building relationships with legal adults, even college students.

 Implications:  Recent high school graduates may desire to continue “reliving” their high school youth or camp experiences.  The church may be called to help some of these young adults move on to new areas of involvement.

 Young adult event participants—some of whom may be out of school and in professional positions—should not be expected to abide by the same rules and curfews as youth participants.  It behooves us to honor these young adults by treating them as such.  Avoiding events that create these situations will be to everyone’s benefit.

 Some meetings and events attended by youth such as Annual Conference will be mult-generational and among unscreened adults.  Flexibility and intentionality will be required to enable the youth to participate fully in these events while maintaining safe boundaries for their time at the event.

5.  Appropriate Written and Electronic Communication Between Youth and Adults

 Written and electronic communications between adults and children and youth should be as open and public as possible.  Persons wishing to post information on the internet may do so only with permission of the sponsoring organization.

 Rationale:  Private conversation between a youth and adult, whether written, texted, e-mailed, phoned, or otherwise sent could signify or be construed as an inappropriate relationship between the adult and the young person.  Staff and volunteers may take appropriate photographs and movies of children and youth, but do not have legal authority to post those on-line.   Finally, webpages, blogs, social networking sites, etc about the camp or event that are not maintained by the sponsoring organization are beyond the Church’s control and could confer false information.

 Implications:  Adults needing to communicate by phone with children or youth about a meeting or similar issue should try to talk to the parents or guardians either at the beginning or end of the phone call;  likewise, they should copy electronic communications such as e-mails to the parents.  A good strategy is to include several issues in a single message, and copy both youth and adults on the message.  Adults should avoid private communication with individual children and youth where they can’t be observed by others (see counseling suggestions in group of three rule).

 Conference permission forms request permission to use photos of the participants in printed and electronic materials.  This does not confer permission to individuals to post pictures on their own websites, myspace pages, etc. Persons that set up pages about camps or events, while usually well meaning, have posted information that is beyond the control of the sponsoring organization.  These postings may or may not represent the organization in the best light.  Participants, volunteers and staff should covenant to not post information about the camp or event on-line without the express permission of the sponsoring organization.

 Volunteers and staff should be aware of what their own “web presence” is.  Were an on-line search for their name done by a child or youth, would anything—photo or written word--come up that they would be embarrassed to have a young person see?  Are there links from pages they operate that lead to material that is inappropriate for children and youth?  Again, we can ask volunteers and staff to covenant to maintain an appropriate web presence.

6.  Reporting Suspected or Known Child Abuse or Neglect

We are both morally and legally responsible to report actions that surround suspected or known child abuse. 

When we suspect that a child or youth in our care has been subjected to abuse or neglect in their home, we should notify Children’s Services.  In Arizona, report suspected abuse 24 hours a day at 1-888-SOS-CHILD.  In Nevada, report suspected abuse 24 hours a day at 1-702-399-0081.

When a it is alleged that a child or youth in our care has been subjected to abuse by someone in the church or Conference event setting, three contacts should be made immediately.  The first is local law enforcement authorities; the second is the Superintendent of the district that the incident occurred in; and the third is the Conference Communications Director, who will activate the Conference Crisis Communications Team.

Rationale:  Our fundamental goal is the protection and well being of the children and youth in our care.  Abuse or neglect cannot remain a secret, nor can it be tolerated–if it is, then we are helping to perpetuate it in this and possibly other children or youth.  We are not to be concerned about “our getting someone else in trouble”.  We are not responsible for the actions of others outside of our realm of supervision.   We are however responsible both morally and legally to promptly report actions that surround suspected child abuse. 

Implications:  Staff and volunteers will need to be trained and resourced in recognizing and reporting signs of suspected child abuse and neglect.   Health and registration forms used at camps and other Conference events will provide helpful information to state agencies or law enforcement.  Once reported, trained professionals from state agencies or law enforcement will conduct interviews to determine if abuse actually has or has not occurred, and will determine further steps to be taken. 

A person making a good-faith report cannot be sued for doing so, and their identity will be kept confidential by those receiving the report. Likewise, we will need a system of recordkeeping and covenants to maintain confidentiality of all parties involved.

If abuse has occurred while a child or youth is in our care, providing the Superintendent and Director of Communications with notification—along with local law enforcement authorities--will ensure appropriate communications among church officials and between church officials and media representatives.