[Ansteorra] Child safety reposts (was: Bad things)

[Chris Zakes]

Just so everybody is working with the same 
information (rather than rumors, or "I think I 
remember", or policies used in other groups) I am 
reposting all the official announcements on this issue.

One important thing to remember is that this 
policy is still under construction. If you have 
suggestions, criticisms or clever ideas, *NOW* is 
the time to write to the Board about them. 
Venting ideas here may be soul-satisfying, but 
it's unlikely to have any effect on what the Board decides to do.

#1, from April 11th:
>Greetings Ansteorra!
>
>Below you will find information from Master Aaron Swiftrunner, Society
>Seneschal and Vice-President of Operations, regarding a new policy
>that will soon be put into place.  The confidential background checks will
>be performed by a  third-party vendor at an estimated cost of $10 (each).
>Specific details from the background check will not be shared or released to
>anyone not even SCA Corporate by the 3rd party vendor, only a pass/fail
>status.
>
>By no means is this policy complete.  I will be forwarding more information
>to the List as it becomes available.  In the meantime, feel free to email me
>with any questions.
>
>Julia
>Kingdom Seneschal
>
>----
>
>Background checks to work with youth
>
>In response to repeated occurences of the SCA having to deal with abuse of
>minors by SCA participants, risk to our membership from such predatorial
>behavior, and legal liabilities if we fail to execute proper due
>diligence, the SCA will be implementing a background check program to
>minimize risk of harm to our people and the organization. This program
>will revolve around conducting--via a properly licensed vendor--background
>checks on all persons wishing to serve in a leadership or supervisory
>position where minors are expected to be taking direction from--or be in
>the direct control of adults who are not their parent or legal guardian.
>
>An example of officials who must receive the background check are:  Youth
>activities officers at all levels, Adults acting as youth marshals for any
>martial activity, persons organizing/in charge of youth activities for an
>event.
>
>These checks will return a pass/fail status.  A pass status will cause the
>corporate office to issue a card good for two years that must be presented
>in order to be accepted as an official as described above.
>
>It is expected that this process will be streamlined and simplified as
>much as possible without invalidating the value of the background checks
>themselves.  The cost of the checks will be billed back to the Kingdoms
>whose programs these volunteers are supporting.
>
>It is worth noting that these measures are less stringent than those being
>used today by the Boy Scouts of America.
>
>Further details, to include the actual process and an implement-by date
>will accompany the implementing guidelines to be issued after the April
>Board Meeting.
>
>Aaron Faheud Swiftrunner of the Stone Keep OL OP
>c/o George L. Reed
>
>Society Seneschal and Vice President of Operations
>SCA, Inc.

********************************************************

#2, also from April 11th:
>Unto Ansteorra, Greetings!
>
>Below please find some additional information as 
>well as some FAQs regarding the background checks.
>
>In Service,
>Julia
>
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: 
><mailto:seneschal at sca.org>seneschal at sca.org 
><<mailto:seneschal at sca.org>seneschal at sca.org >
>Date: Apr 11, 2007 2:22 PM
>Subject: [SENESCHAL] Background check FAQ
>To: <mailto:sca-seneschal at midrealm.org>sca-seneschal at midrealm.org
>
>The SCA has long had a policy of parents being ultimately responsible for
>their children at SCA activities. We have policies in place prohibiting a
>single adult from being alone in supervising youth that are not their
>children by birth or legal document. These have not sufficed to prevent
>harm to some of our minor participants at the hands of adult participants.
>Since 2002, there have been 88 revocation and denial of membership
>decisions rendered by the Board of Directors. 29 of these have been for
>conviction of predatory crimes. 24 of these have been with regard to abuse
>of minors. It would seem clear that the old policies are not sufficient to
>protect our minor participants. Any number greater than zero of these
>incidents is profoundly unacceptable.
>
>There are many organizations similar to the SCA in that they have
>well-defined programs for minor participants. These organizations conduct
>a due-diligence check of volunteers who would like to be in positions of
>control, teaching, or supervision of minor participants. The vast majority
>of these organizations vet possible volunteers via background check. There
>are a variety of methods used.
>
>The SCA feels a responsibility to the wellbeing of our minor participants
>and will implement a program of background checks to enhance their safety.
>
>Some Questions and answers about this endeavor follow:
>
>Q: Are Kingdoms required to implement the Society policy?
>A: Once upheld by the Board of Directors, the Kingdoms will have a
>timeline to implement the policy or cease offering youth-activity
>programs.
>
>Q: I had a background check for work. Can you just use that?
>A: No. All checks for this program will be performed according to the same
>criteria and by the same vendor for all participants. The vendor is a
>licensed, bonded provider of background examinations.
>
>Q: Will the SCA be privy to specific details of my background, whether I
>pass the exam or not?
>A: No. The SCA will only receive a pass or a fail notice from the
>background-examination provider.
>
>Q: Will my personal information be exposed to other SCA participants?
>A: No. Information is provided directly to the vendor in order to perform
>the background examination, and does not go through the SCA.
>
>Q: How long is my pass status good for?
>A: It is planned that the pass status will be good for two years.
>
>Q: Will all existing officers have to be checked?
>A: All officers/volunteers with supervisory positions, teaching, or direct
>control of minor participants – new or existing – would require a
>background examination.

******************************************************

#3 from April 27th:
>The Directors and Corporate Staff would like to inform the membership of
>the SCA that the SCA, Inc. has been named in two civil suits based on
>alleged sexual misconduct of an adult toward minors. Unfortunately, the
>individual accused of the misconduct was a member of the SCA.  The SCA
>clearly did not sanction the alleged misconduct, had no prior knowledge
>of the misconduct, and had never received any complaints concerning the
>adult involved prior to his arrest.  The adult involved has since been
>subject to absolute banishment from the SCA.
>
>The suits originated in Pennsylvania, USA, and were served on the SCA in
>March of 2007. Complete information regarding the suits is not yet
>known. As we are able, we will continue to update our membership.
>
>Sincerely,
>Hal Simon
>Chairman-SCA, Inc.
>
>Patrick Anderson
>President-SCA, Inc.
>--
>Patrick Anderson
>President
>Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
>president at sca.org
>952-412-4112
>
>
>Comments are strongly encouraged and can be sent to:
>SCA Inc.
>Box 360789
>Milpitas,  CA 95036
>
>You may also email comments at lists.sca.org

*****************************************************

#4, from May 10th:
>In a continuing effort to share information with the SCA's participants
>about the upcoming background check policy, we would like to answer some
>of the questions about the policy we have received thus far. Please bear
>in mind that we have not established any policy to this point, and we
>are still accepting all input into the policy development. Our answers
>here reflect our understanding of the policy development as we have
>researched to date. This policy is still in the developmental stages.
>
>. Q: Should we use the "2 adults not related by blood or
>marriage/relationship at all official youth activities" rule (aka: the
>'two-deep' rule)? A: Yes. The two-deep rule is already listed in our
>rules. (This is located in the Seneschals Handbook, page 9 and appendix
>A)
>
>. Q: Why are we doing this? A: Part of the Board's job is to see that
>effective policies and procedures for the SCA are in place. In that
>regard, the Board periodically reviews policies and procedures to ensure
>that they remain consistent with the SCA's goals and values. After a
>review of an East Kingdom law which required the Kingdom to review all
>applicants for a position of youth officer and check to see if the
>applicants were on a Megan's List, the Board concluded that an
>organization-wide system of background checks for all youth officers
>(martial and non-martial) would provide even more protection to the SCA,
>Inc. and its youth members. For that reason, the Board has decided to
>move forward with the new background check policy.
>
>. Q: What are the specific numbers of minor related cases? A: Of the 29
>R&D cases involving predatory criminal convictions, 6 involved warranted
>youth officials.
>
>. Q: Who will perform the background checks? A: The background checks
>will be done by a third party. The SCA is still in the process of
>selecting the background check vendor. The SCA will not have access to
>specific background details, as indicated previously. We will simply
>receive a pass or fail notice.
>
>. Q: How can I resolve a false positive? A: You will have to follow the
>resolution/error checking policy of the background check vendor.
>
>. Q: What exactly will the background check be for? A: The background
>check will only be checking for crimes against minors, not for traffic
>tickets or prior arrests UNLESS of a sexual nature against minors.
>
>. Q: What indication will I receive that I passed? A: The applicant will
>receive a report from the background check vendor. As mentioned
>previously, the pass status will be good for 2 years.
>
>. Q: Is this a United States of America (USA)-only policy? Will this be
>instituted in other countries outside of the USA? A: At this time, this
>policy will only be instituted in North America (this includes Canada).
>Currently, we are unable to implement this policy outside of North
>America. This is due to overwhelming financial charges that we felt were
>irresponsible to pass onto our membership. It is to be noted that we are
>continuing to research ways of implementing this for our international
>members in a fiscally responsible manner. Also, while we are planning to
>initially use a USA based background check vendor, we are looking into
>vendors who are authorized to conduct checks throughout North America.
>
>. Q: This is a done deal - Why are you informing us of this after the
>fact? A: It is important to note that this policy is not yet in force.
>We continue to revise and update the policy based on the input we are
>receiving from the SCA's members. Once we have finished developing the
>policy, it will be released to the populace of the SCA for comment
>before it is implemented.
>
>We have also included the original questions and the answer statement
>that was released to the SCA's members, in an effort to consolidate all
>of the questions and answers about the upcoming background check policy
>in one place. They follow below.
>
>. Q: Are Kingdoms required to implement the Society policy? A: Once
>upheld by the Board of Directors, the Kingdoms will have a time-line to
>implement the policy-or cease youth programs as a part of their activity
>offering.
>
>. Q: I had a background check for work. Can you just use that? A: No.
>All checks for this program will be done according to the same criteria
>and by the same vendor for all participants. The vendor is a licensed,
>bonded provider of background examinations.
>
>. Q: Will the SCA be privy to specific details of my background, whether
>I pass the exam or not? A: No. The SCA will receive a pass or a fail
>notice.
>
>. Q: Will my personal information be exposed to other SCA participants?
>A: Information provided to the vendor in order to perform the check is
>not provided to the SCA.
>
>. Q: How long is my pass status good for? A: It is planned that the pass
>status will be good for two years.
>
>. Q: Will all existing officers have to be checked? A: All
>officers/volunteers with supervisory positions, teaching, or direct
>control of minor participants, new or existing would require the
>clearance.
>
>Again, we would like to thank you for your concern regarding the
>upcoming policy. It is shared among many in the society. We are
>committed to seeking the opinions of our membership and taking proper
>action to insure that this is a fair process for everyone.
>
>We encourage you to continue sending your comments on the upcoming
>policy to comments at sca.org.
>
>In service,
>
>Aaron L. Lloyd - Director, SCA Inc.
>Ombudsman, Background Check Policy
>
>(Baron Aaron Palomides of Buckminster, KSCA, OP)


Reposts by Tivar Moondragon



>Hal Simon - Chairman, SCA Inc.
>
>(Baron Edwin FitzLloyd, OP, OL)
>--
>Patrick Anderson
>President
>Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
>president at sca.org
>952-412-4112
>
>
>Comments are strongly encouraged and can be sent to:
>SCA Inc.
>Box 360789
>Milpitas,  CA 95036
>
>You may also email comments at lists.sca.org