In accordance with direction beginning with the 1996 General Conference of The United Methodist Church, each Annual Conference and all congregations are required to have Safe Sanctuaries® policy.
The current New England Conference Safe Sanctuaries® Policy was adopted by the New England Annual Conference on June 16, 2017. It appears as Appendix O of the Policies and Procedures of the New England Annual Conference.
Every New England Annual Conference ministry at the local church, District and Conference level that relates to children, youth and vulnerable adults in programming or oversight, shall create procedures for implementing a Safe Sanctuaries® policy. Administrative Teams of local churches, District and Conference ministries and programs, who give oversight to these ministries shall be responsible for implementing and monitoring the compliance of this minimum standard policy and its related procedures.
In order to encourage consistency across the annual conference and to ensure that key elements of Safe Sanctuaries® practices are included, it is highly recommended that local congregations, districts and conference ministries utilize Safe Sanctuaries: Reducing the Risk of Child Abuse in the Church by Joy T. Melton and Safe Sanctuaries: Older Adults – The Church Responds to Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation of Older Adults by Joy T. Melton as resources in the development of their policies.
New England Conference Safe Sanctuaries® Policy
New England Conference Safe Sanctuaries® Policy - Forms (All six forms listed below as one document)
Forms
Safe Sanctuaries® Child Contact, Medical and Photo Release Form
Safe Sanctuaries® Youth Contact, Medical and Photo Release Form
Safe Sanctuaries® Vulnerable Adult Contact, Medical and Photo Release Form