4 Child Protection Goals for 2021

We join you in celebrating a new year—2021! Many of us have yet to know how our personal, work, and church lives will unfold in the coming months. Still, we are hopeful for some kind of normalcy. In that spirit, we offer this challenge to you and your faith community: commit to at least one of these important child protection goals this year. 

1. Train your adult volunteers with our new 38-minute video resource. View it together as a group or by individuals on their own devices on their own time. The video covers child abuse, why and how to implement a policy, information about Circle of Grace, reporting suspected abuse, tech and social media safety, and consent and safe touch.

2. Bring in an outside speaker via Zoom to address a specific audience within your congregation. Examples include addressing a committee working on updating your policy, a Circle of Grace training session for Sunday school teachers, or a live or recorded sermon on “Creating Safety for Children and Vulnerable Adults.”

3. Check in with teachers and volunteers about best practices for virtual programming with children and youth. Our website offers many resources on the strengths and vulnerabilities of conducting virtual activities and what adults might want to be more aware of. Support them, encourage them, and remind them of expectations. Also touch base, even if it’s brief, with parents of the children involved about their experience and ask for their feedback.

4. Demonstrate love for the kids in your church. Many church leaders remain concerned that virtual church leaves children behind. We lack easy answers or quick fixes but suggest these small ways to remember and honor the youngest members of your communities: tap a volunteer to drop off activity/snack bags one Sunday morning, feature videos from young families during the service, and, of course, offer children’s time during worship.

NEW 38-Minute Training Video Now Available

This new training video is available to you and the adult volunteers at your church for a one-time fee of $75. For $200, we offer the video and a one-hour Zoom discussion facilitated by a Dove's Nest expert. See a one-minute preview of the training here!

Steps to access the video:
1. Pay the one-time $75 fee online or by mailing a check.
2. Notify Anna Groff (anna [at] dovesnest.net) that you made this payment for the video.
3. A link to download or stream the training video will be sent to you in one business day. 
4. The video can be viewed an unlimited amount of times, as well as downloaded.