Scandals within mainstream established churches have highlighted the need for churches to have robust safeguarding procedures to protect and safeguard children from harm and abuse. A system of keep track of incidents and concerns is a vital tool for churches wanting to have robust safeguarding.
The premium version now has a child protection incident reporting module for tracking safeguarding issues. Members of the Safeguarding team can add and edit incidents and an email is sent to the Safeguarding lead, who can decide what action can take.
One church in the UK was paying £1,000 per year for a commercial solution typically used by schools. This module has what most churches would need at the Premium subscription cost of only $65USD or £50GBP per year.
It’s simple to use and allows searching of children involved.
You will need to create a ministry for the Child Protection team – our church has a designated safeguarding lead and deputy.
Then incidents can be logged – even if they are niggling doubts. The safeguarding team contact receives an email letting them know an incident has been logged. Sometimes a pattern of niggling doubts builds a picture of something that needs reporting to social services.
Incidents can be commented on and all edits are logged. Incidents are kept in the system forever as they should be, but can be closed if no action is needed. Aagin this means a pattern of incidents can be built up.
