Concerned Assessments go through multiple stages of Review. 

Reliant reviews event reviews program applications and accepts the event participants. If there are no concerns then Reliant will accept the applicant without any further steps needed.   (The director can also request that they see the list of everyone who is ready to be approved by Reliant to confirm their acceptance). This page outlines the steps taken for applications that have concerns. If Reliant sees anything of concern with an applicant, Reliant event coordinator (Sarah) will send an email to the appropriate program director to inform them of the specific concern. 

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• SEE ALSO: Conditions for Acceptance
• SEE ALSO: Not Accepted for the Program/Event

CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT

There is one important caveat to these concerns...before Reliant can move forward with:

1. Sharing the concern with the appropriate program director 
2. Pursuing a local pastoral interview with the applicant's pastor, or
3. Follow up with their named reference(s) given by the applicant

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Image RemovedPARENTAL CONCERNS

In 2017 there was only one participant that Reliant choose not to accept and that was due to a parent saying “absolutely No” to their child attending Honduras Leadership Training. 

The only case that Reliant would say absolutely NO to accepting an applicant, is in cases such as where the parent has clearly stated that in no way they want their son/daughter to attend LT. It would say on the application "WE HAVE PERSONALLY ADVISED OUR SON/DAUGHTER NOT TO PARTICIPATE FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS".  and an example of a reason would be... "I have read that this location has a high crime rate and as her mom, I am NOT OK with this."  In the case of a parent saying no way they absolutely can not go, then Reliant cannot accept them due to insurance liability reasons.  

In the scenario of parental concerns, Reliant will ask the local pastor or director to follow up with parent and probably follow up with the applicant to help relieve concerns.  Emails and documentation will be needed to confirm that parents are willing to move forward with their child’s participation in the program.  If the parent has clearly written “No, my child may not attend”, Reliant and the church/network must respect the desires of the parent and will unfortunately not be able to accept the applicant into the program due to insurance and liability reasons.

In general, most parents say they have concerns and those are usually adequately addressed after the parents have a discussion with the director.  You may see written on the application: "WE ARE NOT OPPOSED TO OUR SON/DAUGHTER PARTICIPATING, BUT WE HAVE THE FOLLOWING RESERVATIONS THAT WE SIMPLY WANT TO MAKE RELIANT AWARE OF"....... and that usually follows with a question or concern from the parent. Reliant will then send an email to the director to ask that the director follow up with the parent to discuss and seek to resolve the reservations/concerns.

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ACCEPTANCE OF A MINOR

There have been times where a participant under 18 desires to attend the program.  In the case of the Collegiate LT program this happens often with children of Reliant missionaries who are also attending the program with their parents wanting to be participants. The YMCA has been known to hire participants under the age of 18 for the Collegiate LT participants. However, the YMCA is not legally allowed to let them live in their provided employee housing. In this case, if a director wants the minor to attend the program they will need to find separate housing for that participant. In the case of a Reliant missionary son/daughter, the participant can live outside of the dorms on YMCA property with their parents.  If this is not the case, the director will need to discuss the living situation options for the minor with Reliant before moving forward with finding housing off YMCA property as this is a higher liability for all.  Here is an example of a liability form created for a minor staying off site. A special waiver will need to be created with specifics of location, dates, transportation expected to and from,  etc. for each one of these unique circumstances that will need to be signed by both parent and minor.

  Reliant Release and Liab Waiver for Minor Example

CONCERNED APPLICATIONS

ACCEPTANCE FOR PARTICIPANTS WITH NO CONCERNS

Reliant will automatically accept all participants that have no concerns on their application. However, the director may request that all acceptance names first be sent to them to confirm their acceptance prior to officially being accepted. 

ACCEPTANCE DECIDED ON A RELIANT LEVEL

There are a few smaller more frequently seen concerns listed below that typically appear on applications. It is Reliant’s understanding that in these scenarios a director and/or local pastor does not need to be notified and that acceptance is considered approved without notifying the church/network and is simply accepted with no questions by Reliant.  The director may also request that all acceptance names first be sent to them to confirm their acceptance prior to officially being accepted. 

• If a participant mentions that they have struggled with slipping once or twice with underage drinking 

• If they have slipped once sexual purity but it is no longer a struggle

• If they struggle with masturbation but have accountability

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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.

If a few smaller concerns are found, Reliant may still accept with no further review needed. 

If noteworthy concerns are found then the assessment is sent to the Collegiate Review stage. This typically means the Collegiate Reviewer will talk with the local pastor about the concerns and usually will ask the local pastor to meet with the applicant to discuss these concerns. 

If the concerns are more serious, then the assessment is moved into the National Review stage. The Collegiate Reviewer will first confirm that the LT director would like to move forward. If so, then the national reviewers are asked to approve the applicant. The national reviewers consist of Reliant leadership and Collegiate national leadership (national LT director and a member of the collegiate national board). 

Acceptance Criteria

ACCEPTANCE FOR PARTICIPANTS WITH NO CONCERNS

Reliant will automatically accept all participants that have no concerns on their application. 

There are also a few smaller more frequently seen concerns listed below that typically appear on applications. It is Reliant’s understanding that in these scenarios the collegiate reviewer does not need to be notified and that acceptance is considered approved without notifying any further reviewers and is simply accepted with no questions by Reliant.  

• If a participant mentions that they have struggled with slipping once or twice with underage drinking 

• If they have slipped once sexual purity but it is no longer a struggle

• If they struggle with masturbation but have accountability

ACCEPTANCE CONCERNS DECIDED ON THE COLLEGIATE REVIEW 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.

Those scenarios include, but are not limited to:

• An applicant applies for an LT program that is not associated with the school they are attending

• Depression/anxiety (seeing a counselor and/or taking medication but it seems under control)

• Alcohol usage (habitual underage drinking and/or lack of seeing underage drinking as an issue)

• Sexual purity (continued issue and/or no accountability listed)

• Pornography/masturbation (continued issue and/or no accountability listed),

• Multiple concerns listed

• Spiritual reference is unaware of the struggles listed by the participant

• or the spiritual reference listed struggles that the participant did not.

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.

ACCEPTANCE CONCERNS DECIDED ON THE NATIONAL REVIEW TEAM LEVEL

Those scenarios include, but are not limited to: 

• severe depression/anxiety (hospitalized, panic attacks)
• any kind of self harm/abuse (eating disorders, cutting, etc.)
• suicidal thoughts or attempts
• substance abuse (drunkenness, prescription drug abuse, etc.)
• illegal drugs
• sexual addiction
• parental issues
• multiple (more serious) concerns listed
• their spiritual reference is unaware of the serious struggles listed by the participant
• or their spiritual reference listed more serious concerns that the participant did not.  

With any of the above concerns, we want to create information email trails to be able to provide legal protection for Reliant, Collegiate, and the LT program to prove we did our due diligence in vetting this participant with the additional follow up that was done by the Collegiate reviewer with the local pastor and the participant. Reliant will offer candid thoughts (speaking from a legal liability standpoint) prior to potential acceptance. It will almost always include a conditional acceptance from Reliant and those conditions are sent to the participant which strengthens our written legal protection for the program to show that we have diligently vetted the participant. 

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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Acceptance of a minor Acceptance of a minor

ACCEPTANCE OF A MINOR

There have been times where a participant under 18 desires to attend the program. Lt@reliant.org will be notified during the assessment process and will reach out to the LT director to let them know. 

In the case of the Collegiate LT program this happens often with children of Reliant missionaries who are also attending the program with their parents wanting to be participants. The YMCA has been known to hire participants under the age of 18 for the Collegiate LT participants. However, the YMCA is not legally allowed to let them live in their provided employee housing. In the case of a Reliant missionary son/daughter, the participant can live outside of the dorms on YMCA property with their parents. 

If the applicant is not a child of a Reliant missionary that is also a part of the LT program, if a director wants the minor to attend the program they will need to find separate housing for that participant. The director will need to discuss the living situation options for the minor with Reliant before moving forward with finding housing off YMCA property as this is a higher liability for all

• SEE ALSO: Conditions for Acceptance
• SEE ALSO: Counseling for Event Acceptance
• SEE ALSO: Not Accepted for the Program/Event

ACCEPTANCE CONCERNS DECIDED ON THE LOCAL PASTOR/PROGRAM DIRECTOR LEVEL

There may be other concern scenarios where Reliant would like 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:

• Depression/anxiety (seeing a counselor and/or taking medication but it seems under control)

• Alcohol usage (habitual underage drinking and/or lack of seeing underage drinking as an issue)

• Sexual purity (continued issue and/or no accountability listed)

• Pornography/masturbation (continued issue and/or no accountability listed),

• Multiple concerns listed

• Spiritual reference is unaware of the struggles listed by the participant

• or the spiritual reference listed struggles that the participant did not.

We want to leave the final acceptance decision of these concerns in the hands of the local pastor and director that will be with the participant all summer.

RELIANT AND THE PROGRAM DIRECTORS DECIDE ACCEPTANCE  TOGETHER

Those scenarios include, but are not limited to: 

• severe depression/anxiety (hospitalized, panic attacks)
• any kind of self harm/abuse (eating disorders, cutting, etc.)
• suicidal thoughts or attempts
• substance abuse (drunkenness, prescription drug abuse, etc.)
• illegal drugs
• sexual addiction
• parental issues
• multiple (more serious) concerns listed
• their spiritual reference is unaware of the serious struggles listed by the participant
• or their spiritual reference listed more serious concerns that the participant did not.  

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.

PROGRAM DIRECTORS DISCUSS WITH LOCAL PASTOR/SPIRITUAL REFERENCES

Here are steps that we suggest the director taking once they receive an email from Reliant saying they have a concerned participant and Reliant is asking for them to follow up with the local pastor/spiritual reference and meet one on one with the participant to discuss the concerns.

• Text the local pastor or spiritual reference listed on the application to set up a time to discuss the concerns.
• Call and talk through the concerns with the pastor/spiritual reference and explain the below expectations. 

-Ask them to help you know more about who the person is and what you would be getting into by accepting them into the program. 
-Discuss specific questions that you would want them to ask the participant in regards to the specific concerns.
-Remind them to take notes and report back via email so that we have written documentation about how we handled the concern.
-Explain the process to them so that they know what our expectations are:

• • We are asking them to follow up one on one with the concerned participant and discuss the concerns in more detail. We want to explain to the participant that we care about them and our heart is to help them have a good experience during the program and we want to figure out the best place for them if that's to attend or not to attend the program. 
  • If we feel like the best place is the attend the program, then let them know there will likely be conditions put in place for them to follow (for example meeting with a staff member bi-weekly for accountability and/or asking them to refrain from what they are doing, etc.)  and make sure that they are willing to agree to those conditions. 
  • Let the participant know that if we decide to move forward with acceptance, they will be receiving a conditional email. The email will sound more formal and perhaps a little intense and will list policies and conditions that we are asking them to agree to follow. The wording on the email has been created for liability reasons so it will sound more legal and less friendly so we just want to let them know so that they are not surprised by the way it is worded. 

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