Coffee drinking and child Safe.

The other day I received an email that asked,

Can you tell me what’s the correct procedure with regards to people going to a host family's home for youth coffee. Do they need a working with children’s check? Should they fill in the application to serve in children’s youth ministry...?

This is a great question and touches nerves on a number of issues.

• Should 'informal' activities such as coffee and outings be covered in child safe?
• Does child safe take all the fun and spontaneity out of church life?
• "We have never done this before, and nothing has happened, why should we now?"
• Will restrictive child safe practices encourage people to go behind the back of church leadership?
• Is child safe too restrictive?

In all this there are two overriding questions that need to be answered.

1. Is this a church organised event for which the congregation and Church leadership would expect the church to ensure child safety? To put it negatively, if something went wrong would the recrimination be, "We (the church) should have been more vigilant and careful?"

If so, the second question applies,

2. "Who is responsible for the care and protection of children in this situation?"
Whoever that is, they need to be child safe accredited.

The answers to these two questions form the heart of child safety in the church. Any event, outing, or ministry related to the church that involves children (anyone <18) needs to consider and clarify these two issues.

With regard to coffee drinking: if the answer to the first question is 'yes' then the next question needs to be answered regarding child safe qualifications. If the hosts are the responsible adults, then, in the view of child safe, they should be child safe accredited. If the responsibility lies with the youth leaders then they, but not necessarily the hosts, need to be compliant (in some ways you could look at this like going to a restaurant.)

The important thing is that the responsible adults are child safe and that we actively ensure the safety of children under our care in every program or activity under the supervision of our church.