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What happens if an applicant lies on their assessment? For reference, there was an applicant who lied on their application and was caught due to a discrepancy between what the LT applicant said and the spiritual reference said. This was the discussion/decision result. "We know that we love all these folks and want the best for them spiritually - but our responsibility is really just to determine if they are suitable for LT. At some point what we have to decide is......is knowingly lying on your application a disqualifying behavior or not? I like how we allowed there be some space for explanation (possibilities of miscommunication etc...) but I’m not sure exactly what mitigating circumstances were presented here that we would determine a ‘redo’ is in order. As a read the email thread what is saw was... this participant confessed after they got caught & feels bad. The church leaders like this participant and believe in them (which is wonderful but not surprising). I’m not all that excited about trying to determine the sincerity of an applicant’s repentance. I’m not sure we would ever be able to determine that - especially from afar - and I’m not even sure it’s our place. But I’d probably lean more towards a policy of - in the absence of extenuating circumstances - deceit in your LT application will result in a denial of admission / deferral til the following year." Therefore, it was agreed upon that if an LT participant lies on their application and there weren't extenuating circumstances the result will be that they can not attend LT the program. What happens if an applicant does not want to list their struggles on the assessment? There have been instances where participants did not feel comfortable sharing all of their struggles online in the assessment. We will then work with the local church to gather that information in person with the applicant. Here is a section of an email that was sent to an applicant who sent an email to Reliant saying that they did not feel comfortable with sharing online and requested just telling their local church pastor and not Reliant. ...The LT program is an event administrated by both Reliant and Collegiate. Your church pastor is both a pastor for the Collegiate network and he is employed by Reliant and his role this summer is Collegiate LT director. Reliant does a lot of the administrative work for the Collegiate missionaries and we run the behind the scenes admin for the LT programs. In order for Reliant to be able to provide liability insurance for the LT programs we have to have an assessment and a review vetting process for all of our applicants that helps us make sure the Leadership Training program (the summer ministry designed to help train leaders for our local churches) is the best fit for those applying. I can understand the concern for putting your struggles online in this day and age. So, Reliant would be fine with you meeting with a local church leader to share your answers in person if that would make you feel more comfortable with sharing. However, because Reliant is the administrator for the event, that local church leader will then need to share what you tell him with Reliant before we could move forward with the assessment process. He can speak in generalities (we do not need specific details), but we do need to know for insurance and liability reasons if there are any concerns. So, I wanted to make sure that you understood and knew that your church leader would still be sharing that information with Reliant after you share it with him. |
ACCEPTANCE CONCERNS DECIDED ON THE COLLEGIATE LEVEL- COLLEGIATE REVIEWER/LOCAL PASTOR/PROGRAM DIRECTOR LEVEL
There may be other concern scenarios where Reliant would like the Collegiate Reviewer to decide and work together with the program director and/or local pastor to be aware and to give their consent before approval/acceptance, but Reliant is not requiring a follow up meeting between the local pastor and event participant and Reliant will not send a conditional acceptance email unless requested by the director. These are concerns that Reliant wants to get director approval for, but we do not seem them as serious enough to need follow up discussion with the students (unless the director requests it).
Those scenarios include, but are not limited to:
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We want to leave the final acceptance decision of these concerns in the hands of the Collegiate Reviewer and local pastor and director that will be with the participant all summer.
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ACCEPTANCE CONCERNS DECIDED ON THE NATIONAL REVIEW TEAM LEVEL
Those scenarios include, but are not limited to:
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These above scenarios do not mean automatic Reliant rejection from program acceptance. It just means additional follow up for information and email trails to be able to provide legal protection for Reliant and the program to prove we did our due diligence. These scenarios may include Reliant asking the director or designated representative to discuss with the local pastor to follow up with the individual participant with an in-person interview discussing the concerns and then giving Reliant their candid thoughts prior to potential acceptance. It will then include the overall approval of the director as well as the approval of Reliant. It may also include requiring the participant to have continued follow up meetings with a pastor during the program. It will almost always include a conditional acceptance email from Reliant that is sent to the participant which strengthens our written legal protection for the program to show that we did our due diligence. For those struggling with emotional issues or self-harm there may be additional steps taken prior to acceptance such as asking a counselor's opinion or having them continue counseling over the summer. See Conditions for Acceptance for more details on conditions and the conditional acceptance email.
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COLLEGIATE REVIEWERS DISCUSSES WITH LOCAL PASTOR/SPIRITUAL REFERENCES
Here are steps that we suggest the director Collegiate reviewer taking once they receive an email from Reliant saying they have a concerned participant and Reliant is asking for them to that warrants follow up with the local pastor/spiritual reference and meet necessitates meeting one on one with the participant to discuss the concerns.
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- After the call with the local pastor or spiritual reference, send an email to them explaining everything that was just discussed over the phone again as a way to remind them in written form what you discussed. Ask them to report back details from the conversation with the participant by replying back to this email so that we have it documented in written form the student's responses and the pastor/spiritual reference's recommendation of whether or not they feel like we should accept the participant
- The director would then forward that email along with the director's recommendation and a list of any conditions the director recommends to Reliant (and Collegiate NEB member for LT programs). Reliant will then review the situation and decide if additional conditions need to be added and whether or not they agree with the recommendation to move forward with the acceptance.
- If Reliant decides to move forward with the conditional acceptance, the director would then assign a staff accountability person to meet with the participant and hold the participant accountable during the program to the conditions that have been put in place. We suggest finding someone who has a shepherd's heart and also clearly identify this as part of the role prior to the beginning of the program. If possible, have the staff member reach out to the participant before they arrive at the program to begin discussions and gain trust.
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We have had a few national reviews where we uncover that they have struggled with suicidal concerns prior to 6 months ago. As a formality, we said that all of those still needed a national review before moving forward. The heart behind that was related to how severe the past self-harm struggle was, how close to 6 months ago it occurred, do they still have suicidal thoughts, etc. and to show that we did our due diligence by having multiple eyes on it before acceptance. |
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