Vacation Bible School (VBS) is an early summer tradition for many churches across the country.
As you recruit staff and volunteers to support your church’s VBS, it’s important to keep a holistic abuse-prevention plan in view, even when pursuing last-minute help.
That starts with staff and volunteer training that covers all of the needed screening, selection, and supervision efforts, such as Church Law & Tax’s Reducing the Risk available for Advantage Members.
One supervision angle that matters greatly and can easily get overlooked at VBS merits specific attention: the two-adult rule.
What Is The Two-Adult Rule?
The core idea behind the two-adult rule is that no child should ever be alone with an unrelated adult during church activities, including VBS.
Church leadership should establish the rule and make it applicable to all church property and church functions, notes Richard Hammar, attorney and senior editor of Church Law & Tax.
For churches that use underage teenage volunteers for ministry, including VBS, the rule also applies. Leaders must make certain at least one adult is present with a teenager while working with kids (thus maintaining the presence of at least two people—and once children are no longer present, the adult and teenager must then join other adults to maintain the two-adult rule with the teenager).
Tip: The presence of multiple children is an asset. “Some churches follow public school models, allowing one adult with multiple children in a classroom during regular hours,” Hammar says. “This is generally seen as legally acceptable.”
When Can Violations Arise?
Here are common ways the two-adult rule gets compromised during VBS:
- Scenario: A VBS mostly functions outdoors and includes multiple activity stations. Groups of kids, segmented by age, rotate through activities. Shortly after one group arrives at the craft station, one child suddenly needs to use a restroom in the building.
Solution: The craft station leader monitors the group’s remaining kids, while the group’s two adult leaders walk with the child to the restroom. Alternatively, the leaders can ask if other kids need to use the restroom and one adult leader can accompany multiple kids to the restrooms. (Note: The adults should not go with the child into the restroom. For guidance on how to assist young children with bathroom needs, consult with your local school district’s policies to see how such situations get handled.)
- Scenario: At the end of the day’s activities, one child’s parent is running late to pick him up. Staff and volunteers are packing up to leave and all the other kids are gone.
Solution: The two adult leaders for the child’s group should remain present with the child until he gets picked up. If one or both adults need to leave, then they should communicate with the children’s ministry director to ensure at least two other trained adults remain with the child until the parent arrives.
- Scenario: A child’s parent cannot pick her up, due to the parent’s unexpected work conflict.
Solution: This scenario presents an especially high risk. Ideally, your church has already established policies for transportation that include:
- (1) Written consent from parents or guardians,
- (2) Review of insurance coverage with the church’s insurance carrier,
- (3) Screening drivers for suitability.
Beyond this, two trained adults and other children should be present in a vehicle to provide the child a ride, assuming the child will be dropped off to a parent or approved guardian.
The bottom line: One adult providing one child a ride should be prohibited, including scenarios where one adult drives multiple children to their destinations, thus eventually leaving one child alone with the adult. Safe Kids Thrive, an organization serving Massachusetts, offers additional helpful tips regarding transportation.
Why The Two-Adult Rule Exists
Some might believe the two-adult rule is excessive–even unrealistic–given the challenges of finding enough volunteer help for children’s ministries and VBS.
But countless cases of abuse involving church leaders and minors could have been prevented by the two-adult rule. That includes the rape of a 13-year-old by a church volunteer who was supposed to drive her to a church activity, and the rape of a 14-year-old by a youth pastor who conducted events as the only adult present.
That’s why adopting and following a two-adult rule should be central to every church’s child-abuse prevention efforts. As your church readies itself for VBS and other ministry activities, take time now to ensure you have the rule–and everyone knows how to comply with it.