Progress Report from UUCL's Safe Congregation Task Force

Safe Congregation Policy      Updated August 27, 2011

The general goal of the Safe Congregation Policy is to be comprehensive, covering everything from building safety, staff & volunteer screening/training, incident reporting procedures, to best practices in working with children, youth and adults.

For years, UUCL has had a "Child and Youth Protection Policy", pertaining mainly to RE class precautions. We plan to incorporate this this policy, and further develop procedures in line with it. 

After having reviewed various documents and letters regarding whether registered sex offenders should be able to attend UUCL, and after much discussion, the UUCL Board of Directors voted unanimously at their August meeting to institute a new policy as part of our this ongoing Safe Congregation policymaking process. This new policy will require registered sex offenders to sign a "Limited Access Agreement," or LAA, which will enable them to attend Sunday services and participate in church groups and activities while ensuring that they are supervised and that they do not have contact with children or youth while they are here. The use of such an agreement is recommended by the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the details of UUCL's LAA are based on their recommendations as well as on Kentucky state law and advice from our insurance company and our attorney.

The Board also voted unanimously to empower the Safe Congregation Task Force (currently Rev. Cynthia Cain, Jessica Bollinger, Davina Warner, Stacey Stone, Sarah Herbener, and Eric Grulke) to oversee the application of the policy in each individual case where it is needed. The Task Force cannot delete any restrictions from the basic LAA, but they can add extra restrictions if they feel it is warranted in any particular case.

There will be opportunities this fall for any church member who wants to participate in discussions and move forward to create a whole church policy. Please watch the Uniview and other church communications for dates and times.

The new policy, the basic LAA, and the documents and letters which the Board reviewed to come to its decisions are included in the August Board meeting's minutes, and anyone wishing to read them can call, (859)-223-1448, or email, office@uucl.org , the church office to request a copy.

We plan on having the policy available for viewing on UUCL's website as part of the process after the policy is completed and approved.

Another part of this process will be offering educational/ awareness raising opportunities for the UUCL community. We are excited about the programs which are currently in the planning phase. We look forward to sharing with you more details, in the near future, of what UUCL will be offering.