Keeping Faith: Empowering Faith Communities to Recognize and Respond to Child Abuse & Neglect

This course empowers faith communities to recognize and respond to cases of sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. Included are discussions detailing the impact of child abuse on a victim’s sense of spirituality and offering concrete suggestions for working with medical and mental health professionals to assist a child in coping with maltreatment. The course also discusses ideal child protection policies for a faith-based institution, including handling a situation in which a convicted sex offender seeks to join a congregation. A review of various child abuse case scenarios and a discussion on appropriate and inappropriate responses allows for real-life problem-solving and feedback.

Why is this training important for every faith community?

• 93% of sex offenders describe themselves as being ‘religious’

• 20% of 2864 church leaders knew of at least one convicted sex offender who was attending or was a member of their church (Christianity Today 2010)
• Child abuse Survivor Quote: “I went online to every faith community in my area trying to find a place in which I felt safe to worship. None of them gave me any information about safety policies in their community so I just gave up trying.”

Intended Audience

Clergy, chaplains, youth ministers, faith leaders, counselors and other members of a faith community who may work with children or families impacted by child abuse.

Presented by:

• Victor Vieth, Chief Program Officer, Education and Research, Zero Abuse Project
• Alison Feigh, Director, Jacob Wetterling Resource Center
• Pete Singer, Executive Director, G.R.A.C.E.; Founding Director, Care in Action, Minnesota

With questions, contact Suzanne at suzanne@zeroabuseproject.org