Everyone working with children needs to understand the camp's care boundaries. The same rules should apply to guest speakers, volunteers, staff, and senior community leaders.
Cover attendance, pickup, toilets, changing, touch, private conversations, transport, photos, gifts, digital contact, and reporting. Use organization-wide resources such as Commit to Kids to support the prevention plan.1
Create an independent route for concerns about the camp director or faith leader. A person should not have to report harm only to the alleged wrongdoer or their close colleague.
Teach the response to a disclosure: listen, avoid leading questions, record the person's words, and follow applicable protection and reporting duties. Do not delay a required report for an internal religious or community process.
Do not promise secrecy, pressure forgiveness, or use community reputation as a reason to keep quiet. Support the person and protect against retaliation.
Practise the process with realistic scenarios. A signed conduct form without training and follow-through is not enough.
Your task: Ask every worker to name the reporting route and explain what they would do about a concern involving a senior leader.
Sources for this page
- Canadian Centre for Child Protection, Commit to Kids. Abuse-prevention resources for organizations that serve children. Not a statement of every local reporting law. ↩