There are many terrific activities available for children throughout the year. City-park sponsored programs, YMCA and YWCA day camps, church camp, youth groups, service organizations, scouting, and Camp Fire programs are all examples of the broad range of activities that exist in our communities.

Are there certain criteria that parents can apply to these programs that will help determine that the program has adopted proper guidelines and screening processes to assure that children are safe? Absolutely! Asking certain questions can help determine the extent to which an organization is going to make sure that children are safe in their programs and within their facilities.

What kinds of things should parents know before enrolling their child in an activity? Here are a few things to consider.

What is the screening process for staff and volunteers?
Find out exactly what the organization does to screen. For example:

Is there an application that provides information about other staff or volunteer experience in working with children?

Does the organization conduct face-to-face interviews with all applicants and let them know about policies regarding interactions with young people?

What kind of criminal background check is conducted? Is there a nationwide fingerprint screening process or merely local or state review of criminal records?

Does someone check references and find out what the person's history is with children? Parents need to get answers to these questions and if there is a gap in the screening process, parents need to weigh the factors involved to determine whether the gap is sufficient to warrant denying the child the opportunity to participate.

What are the organization's policies about contacting parents?
Organizations and facilities often create policies about how and when parents can communicate with children in their care. Sometimes the policy is simple. For example, most parents of school age children can visit their child's school almost anytime they want as long as they check in with the office upon arrival and abide by school security procedures.

Other times the policy is more complicated such as when a child goes away to camp. Camp administrators need to deal effectively with children who get homesick and use contacting parents as a way to avoid becoming engaged in camp activities and learning the things the camp is designed to teach.

Any policy that limits a child's ability to contact parents must be evaluated in terms of its impact on a potential child molester's ability to seclude and molest a child without being found out. If a parent is not satisfied that the policies are in the best interest of the child's safety, the only answer may be to find another camp or organization. If the parent has concerns about the safety of the camp or organization, don't allow the child to participate until every concern is resolved.

What other policies impact your ability to protect your child?
Ask the camp or organization for a copy of their policies for employees and staff interactions with children and young people. Look to see whether any of the policies place your child at risk. Check to see whether there are policies about peer-to-peer contact. Look at the guidelines for adult interactions with children and young people to make sure that they demand an atmosphere and an attitude of openness at all times. Find out whether there are policies about adults meeting alone in secluded places with young people or assurances that restricted areas are truly restricted and no children will be allowed there.

Review the policies from the viewpoint of making sure that your child is in a safe environment. Let administrators know when you are dissatisfied with any policy or procedure that includes a "loophole" that a child molester might get through, and if you see that something is missing in the guidelines request that it be added.

What are the guidelines for the ratio of adults to children in the program activities?
Make sure that you know the ratio of adults to children or young people anticipated in the program, as well as the actions that will be taken if the correct number of adults is not available. There is no requirement that programs be held if there are not enough adults to adequately supervise the number of young people involved. No matter how enthusiastic the program directors are about the value of the program, as a parent you must hold them accountable for having the appropriate number of responsible adults to adequately supervise and chaperone the program.

Parents also need to remember that these are your children and ultimately, it is your responsibility to see to their education and care. Therefore, if there are not enough adults present, volunteer to help.

There are other questions that parents can ask depending on the type of program and the specific issues involved. If it is a co-ed overnight program, parents may want to know how the adults will separate and supervise the young people during the night. If the location includes a lake, how will adult sponsors make sure that children and young people are safe around the water? If the program activity requires travel in cars or busses, what arrangements have been made to verify the driving records of all drivers and make sure that vehicles have proper insurance?

Some program directors may find these questions annoying and may even suggest that it is an indication that parents do not trust them. However, responsible program directors will see these questions as an opportunity to look again at the situation and make sure the program has all its bases covered. Looking for gaps in policies is the best way we have of detecting the places where a child molester could gain access to children - and that is one way we protect them from harm.

Sharon Womack Doty, Esq., is a child sexual abuse prevention consultant to the VIRTUS programs. This article is the copyrighted property of The National Catholic Risk Retention Group, Inc. (Copyright @ 1999-2007 by the National Catholic Risk Retention Group, Inc., all rights reserved), and is reprinted here with permission. For more information about VIRTUS@Online or other VIRTUS® services, visit www.virtus.org or call (888) 847-8870. This weekly series of feature stories, commentary and analysis is compiled and edited by an advisory group to the Media Relations Office of the Archdiocese, through which the articles are distributed. This article is the sixty-fourth in the series.