Children's Ministry Leader Resource: Keeping Kids Safe

Many well-meaning children’s ministry directors see the importance of child safety and want to change their practices, but they try to do it alone. If you want to implement lasting change that will transcend seasons in ministry, engage your church staff. They can help equip you with the resources you need, and their approval will specify clear goals. Getting your leadership on board will catalyze organizational change as the members of your church buy into the vision of child safety.

After leadership buy-in, it is extremely important to ask others to join you in the writing and implementation of new policies and procedures. If you try to handle this alone, you will get stuck. Child safety is a collaborative effort. It is extremely important that you have different perspectives to help you see gaps in the Child Safety Program, as well as other people to encourage you to stay the course when the going gets tough.

We encourage you to pursue accreditation with ECAP. During the accreditation process your organization’s policies and practices are compared to ECAP’s objective: established Child Safety Standards to verify that your program is in compliance with those standards. Your first step is to apply. Once your application is approved, you will begin comparing your current policies with ECAP Standards; and with the help of our staff and additional resources, you will start bringing your organization into compliance.

By becoming an ECAP Accredited Member, you are prizing transparency and demonstrating to a watching world that you take child safety seriously. You get objective, quality evidence your ministry protects children, and the peace of mind that comes with knowing your organization is following Child Safety Standards developed by experts in the field.

You can review our Standards for free on the ECAP website. We also encourage you to visit ecap.net/start-here for next steps, where you’ll find assessment tools and the application for accreditation.