DMK SafetyNet Questionnaire for Mission Boards regarding Allegations of Abuse ~ Response Wycliffe and SIL

	Further information available: Becky Leverington, SIL International Child Safety Office Director in Dallas, TX, Phone 972-7087688. Wycliffe USA is a recruiting and sending agency for SIL International.
Does your organization have a policy regarding the handling of allegations or suspicion of abuse of children in schools operated by you or schools where the children of your missionaries are sent?	Yes. (MK Safety Net received a 35 page report from SIL/Wycliffe. This should be consulted for full details. In the abbreviated responses below, we have endeavored to be accurate, but the full report provides needed details.) The appendixes are: A) Wycliffe USA Personnel Policies B) Standards of Conduct Policy C) SIL Intl Policy on Child Abuse D)SIL Intl Child Abuse Response Procedures Manual: Preface E) Child Abuse Response Procedures Manual F1) Reporting and Investigative Procedure F2) National Report Laws F3) Child Abuse or Neglect Reporting Form G) Supporting a survivor of Child Sexual Abuse H) Child Sexual Abuse Prevention I) Child Sexual Abuse Response J) How Colleagues Can Respond when a Child is abused K) Resources
If you have a written policy, would you provide us with a copy of that policy?	Yes
How does your organization define abuse?	Child abuse is the ill-treatment of a child under the age of 18 by parents....or anyone who works with or around children in the context of a relationship of responsibility, truth, or power: includes sexual, physical, emotional or neglect. (Summary of 2-page definition of abuse)
Is your policy disseminated to the missionaries serving under your board as well as to school staff and any others who are entrusted with the care of the children of your missionaries?	Yes.
If so, how is it disseminated?	By the SIL International Child Safety Office facilitating training for members and leadership in our SIL entities. By Wycliffe USA Personnel Administration informing all new members. By posting the Child Abuse Policy and procedures in the International corporate intranet open to all staff.
What happens when it is alleged or suspected that an adult abused a child who is currently or was formerly part of a missionary community?	In cases where adult MKs report abuse that occurred to them as children living on SIL centers or attending SIL schools or committed by SIL members, these cases will follow the Internal Investigation Procedure.
Who investigated the allegation?	This involves a review and internal investigation of the allegations and ordinarily results in a Statement of Findings and Action Plan, administrative follow-up, and determination of and referral or provision for care to both victims(s) and their families and the alleged offender and his/her family. (additional details in Appendix F1) (F3 is a 4-page Child Abuse or Neglect Reporting Form for every alleged abuse or neglect no matter how minor.)
Is it reported to any outside agency?
If so, to what agency or agencies?	Appendix F2.
If the allegation is substantiated, is the investigation broadened?
If so, to whom?	Appendix F2.
If the allegation is substantiated, who is informed?	Appendix F2...the Entity Director... reports all abuse incidents to the VPP...who seeks to evaluate relevant legal requirements ...in the context of the circumstances. Normally, SIL will report to the state civil authorities in ..Texas where SIL is incorporated and the state/country where the offender currently resides.
If the perpetrator is dismissed, who is informed?	SIL..will determine the appropriate reporting response under the statues of the reporting community's government authorities...the offender is returned to his/her home/passport country..the Sending Organization will be involved. (details F2)
What provisions are made for appropriate treatment for the victim?
(Please speak to psychological therapy, counseling of parents to support their child, help for the parents.)	This is spelled out in the Action Plan section of the Statement of Findings. We offer a variety of resources to the victims and their families to help them work through the effect of the abuse. These include: 1) A safety plan to ensure victim's safety, in addition to those the family may have already instituted. 2) Materials to help them understand the nature of abuse, methods of recovery, and how to support one another during the process. 3)Professional counseling resources with expertise in this area of speciality to help them and their families heal from the trauma. For SIL members the planning includes any modifications of or adjustments to assignment that would be indicated to free up the family to focus on this priority as needed. 4) For families who have not previously taught their children child safety principles, resources to do so. 5) Retreats or other resources to do so. See Appendix F1 (Reporting and Investigative Procedure Summary & Checklist).
What happens when it is alleged or suspected that an older child abused a younger child who is currently part of a missionary community?	The same procedures are followed as above.
Who investigated the allegation?	The same procedures are followed as above.
Is it reported to any outside agency?
If so, to what agency or agencies?	The same procedures are followed as above.
If the allegation is substantiated, is the investigation broadened?
If yes, who is contacted?	The same procedures are followed as above.
If the allegation of abuse is substantiated, who is informed?	The same procedures are followed as above.
Who decides whether or when the juvenile perpetrator is psychologically fit to be allowed back into the school (or dorm or mission hostel, etc.) where the abuse took place?	The professional counselor's evaluation would be one key piece of this decision.
Is psychological therapy made available to the juvenile perpetrator?	It would be required for the child if the child's parents wish to remain a part of the organization.
Is psychological therapy made available to the child who was abused?	Yes, same as #6 above.
Are the parents of the perpetrator and the child who was abused counseled?
If so, are family members free to see therapists of their own choosing?	In all cases SIL works with the families and their field administrators to find qualified professional counselors with this area of specialty, and the family may choose from those qualified counselors.
When an adult (former MK) alleges that he or she was abused as a child by a missionary caretaker, what procedures are in place to investigate the allegation?	In answer to this question and those below see Appendixes D (Preface and Introduction), F1 (Reporting and Investigative Procedure Summary & Checklist), F2 (Child Abuse or Neglect Reporting Forum) and F3(National Reporting Laws).
Who conducts the investigation? (Please speak to the affiliation, credentials, training and manner of the investigation.)
Who will be contacted and interviewed?
Will the investigators attempts to contact and interview all adult former MKs and others who, because they were once in the alleged perpetrator's care or lived in close proximity to him or her, were vulnerable to abuse?
When an allegation of abuse is found to have validity, what is the process for investigating the allegation?
If the allegation is substantiated, who is informed?
Is it reported to any outside agency?
If so, to what agency or agencies?
If the perpetrator is currently employed at a school, church, or other institution where he or she has contact with children, who is responsible for informing the employer about the perpetrator's history of abuse?
Who in your organization is responsible for ensuring that the perpetrator does not again gain employment in a school, church, or other institution where he or she would have access to children?
What steps are taken to help the victim heal?	In answer to this question and those below please see the answer given in #6 above.
Is psychological therapy available to the abuse victim?
If so, is the therapist of the victim’s choosing?
What support services will be made available to the parents and siblings of the abused survivor?

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