Churches Move to Protect The Youths in Their Care

But recent allegations of abuse of children by lay members in the presbytery suggest that such safeguards may be inadequate, McFail said, and more churches are considering criminal background checks for all paid and unpaid workers.

One place where background checks for staff are required is Camp Glenkirk, a summer camp near Gainesville that is owned and operated by the presbytery. Because adults are with children 24 hours a day there, criminal background checks have been required for the camp's staff since the mid-1990s, director Cheryl Hartman said.

Local applicants for camp counselor submit their names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and five most recent addresses -- all of which is sent to National Background Investigations Inc., a private company in Stevensville, Md. Foreign applicants, whose numbers have increased in recent years, must bring a certified statement clearing them of convictions in their home country.

Ingrid Botes, a 22-year-old counselor from Pretoria, South Africa, said she applied for a Camp Glenkirk job through an international employment agency. As part of the screening process, she had to register with a police bureau near her home and fax the results to the employment agency.

"It's logical [to have a background check], especially when you're working in another country," said Botes, who plans a career in Web design and computer animation. "If I were a parent I would like to have that peace of mind, whether it's for a day in day care or a week."

Background checks are "a very necessary thing when you're working at a camp with children," agreed Ben Bear, 20, a counselor from Nokesville.

"You have to take it real seriously because it's somebody's kid entrusted to you for the entire week," said Bear, a member of the Church of the Brethren and a voice and bassoon major at West Liberty State College in West Virginia. Each group of weekly campers is not only his responsibility but also his "temporary family," he said.

Many denominations and individual churches began addressing the child protection issue long before the clergy sex abuse scandal in the 66 million-member Roman Catholic Church broke in 2002, said Parachini, whose Nathan Network grew out of an earlier committee to prevent sexual exploitation of adults and youth by clergy. But the unfolding revelations about the extent of abuse "raised the visibility and urgency," he said.

The growing number of sexual abuse lawsuits against nonprofit organizations has contributed to the sense of urgency, accompanied by increased liability insurance premiums and, in some cases, threats by by insurance companies to drop churches with inadequate child protection policies.

"People are scared and they ought to be scared," Parachini said. "This is a growth industry as far as trial lawyers are concerned."

The legal term for improved oversight is "tightening the standards of due diligence," which applies equally to paid staff and volunteers, Parachini said. That's why an increasing number of religious organizations are reexamining child protection policies or writing new ones that require everyone who works with children to have criminal background checks and to receive training in child abuse prevention.

The training course mentioned in Metropolitan Baptist's memo is one of several nationally recognized programs for teaching those who work with youths about appropriate behaviors and how to recognize signs of abuse.

Expediency sometimes prevents the preferred training course from being completed, as was the case with the youth choir trip to Disney World. And for parents who are willing to take vacation time for a five-day trip and spend hundreds of dollars to chaperone, getting a notice of the required criminal background check can be jarring.

Some youth choir parents were unaware they had to provide their names and birth dates for a background check. But once it was explained that the policy was for the protection of children and adults alike, McMillan said, "they were all open to it. None complained."

"It's not that people are bad, but bad things happen," she said. "It's all a preventive measure."

Staff writer Caryle Murphy contributed to this report.