An Introduction to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada’s Policy for Protection of Children, Youth and Other Vulnerable People (PPCYOVP)
April 2007
Feedback to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC)’s National Office is that some leaders within our church have found working with the PPCYOVP to be a very involved process. To assist with congregations that are currently working on compliance with the ELCIC’s PPCYOVP, our National Church Council (NCC) requested that an introduction to the policy be prepared.
The PPCYOVP is an official policy of the ELCIC, as approved by NCC in March, 2004. It has eight sections:
1. Understanding the Need
2. Understanding Abuse
3. The Church’s Legal Vulnerability 4. Protection Procedures
5. Recruitment of Volunteers
6. Incident Reporting Procedures
7. Response to Allegations of Abuse 8. Implementation and Accountability
As well, the ELCIC provides 10 model documents to assist congregations with the implementation of this policy. These documents are labeled A to J and are referred to in the PPCYOVP.
At the heart of the PPCYOVP is the Ten Commitments. These commitments can be found on page 6 of the policy; to reduce risk in the ELCIC, all congregations and organization of our church are being asked to make these commitments. A copy of these commitments is attached to this document.