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It is the responsibility of every employee and volunteer at RELIANT MISSION (“RELIANT”) to act in the best interest of children and vulnerable adults. Through enforcement of this policy Policy and by education of employees, RELIANT will seek to prevent, correct and discipline behavior that violates this policyPolicy.

RELIANT has a zero tolerance for abuse. All incidents of abuse will be promptly reported in accordance with this policy Policy and state law. 

Any field employee of RELIANT, any RELIANT Central employee, and any employee of any other ministry serving at RELIANT-sponsored events (all referred to in this Policy as “employees”) or RELIANT volunteer who engages in, or fails to report, any allegation or incident of abuse will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including immediate termination of employment or volunteer service and notification to appropriate law enforcement agencies.

Managers and supervisors who knowingly allow or tolerate abuse, including the failure to immediately report allegations of abuse to human resources (HR), are in violation of this policy Policy and subject to discipline.

Any violation or variance of this policy Policy should be immediately reported to a local ministry supervisor and the RELIANT HR Compliance Office by emailing notifyHR@reliant.org.

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“Child” means any person under the age of eighteen years. Throughout this policyPolicy, guidelines applicable to a child also apply to a vulnerable adult.

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RELIANT is committed to providing a safe, secure environment for children and vulnerable adults. To this end, any report of inappropriate behaviors or suspicions of abuse will be taken seriously and will be reported, in accordance with this policy Policy and state law, to Child Protective Services, or another appropriate agency.

In the event that any employee or volunteer observes any inappropriate behavior (i.e. policy Policy violations, neglectful supervision, poor role-modeling, etc.) or suspected abuse or neglect (physical, emotional, or sexual) it is that individual’s responsibility to immediately report these observations to his or her immediate supervisor and to the RELIANT HR Compliance Officer by emailing notifyHR@reliant.org. If the employee or volunteer reports observations to his or her supervisor, the supervisor must immediately notify the HR Compliance Officer by emailing notifyHR@reliant.org.

Because sexual abusers ‘groom’ children for abuse, it is possible an employee or volunteer may witness behavior intended to ‘groom’ a child for sexual abuse. Employees and volunteers are asked to report ‘grooming’ behavior, any policy Policy violations, or any suspicious behaviors to an immediate supervisor and to the RELIANT HR Compliance Officer by emailing notifyHR@reliant.org. If the employee or volunteer reports observations to his or her supervisor, the supervisor must immediately notify the HR Compliance Officer by emailing notifyHR@reliant.org.

Any employee or volunteer who receives a report of abuse or a violation of this policy Policy must immediately notify the HR Compliance Office by emailing notifyHR@reliant.org.

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If an employee or volunteer receives an instruction to behave in a manner that is inconsistent with this policyPolicy, the employee or volunteer should make a report to a local ministry supervisor and the HR Compliance Office by emailing notifyHR@reliant.org.

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Any person found to have committed a prohibited act or any act considered by RELIANT or a partner ministry to be harmful to a child or vulnerable adult or have failed to report a policy Policy violation may be prohibited from future participation as a RELIANT employee or volunteer in all activities and programming that involves children, youth, or vulnerable populations. If the person is a volunteer, such conduct may also result in the termination of the volunteer’s position. If the person is an employee, such conduct may also result in termination of employment from RELIANT.

Failure to report a policy Policy violation is grounds for termination of an employee or volunteer.

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Additional Policies for RELIANT Employees in Children’s and Student Ministry Settings

Discipline

It is the policy Policy of RELIANT that employees and volunteers are prohibited from using physical discipline in any way for behavior management of children. No form of physical discipline is acceptable. This prohibition includes spanking, slapping, pinching, hitting, or any other physical force as retaliation or correction for inappropriate behaviors by children. If a child is unruly or fails to comply with verbal warnings or instructions from employees/volunteers, that child will be asked to leave (if not endangered by doing so) or the child’s parent or guardian will be contacted to pick up the child. In the event of a fight or physical altercation, employees or volunteers will verbally redirect children involved and will try to avoid physical intervention. Uncontrollable or unusual behavior should be reported immediately to parents and the supervising pastor, minister or ministry leader.

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