A023 Authorize and Support the use of the Best Practices Guide and Model Anti-Harassment Policy
Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring,
That the 81st General Convention adopt the Best Practices Guide and Model Anti-Harassment Policy available as a support document on this resolution or viewable as a supplementary material in the Report to the 81st General Convention of the Interim Body to Oversee the Continuing Development of Anti-Harassment Best Practices, Model Policy Examples and Varied Training Materials; and be it further
Resolved, That the 81st General Convention direct the Executive Council to provide for the support and encouragement of the use and adaptation of the Model Policy to Prevent Harassment by dioceses, congregations, and affiliated institutions; and be it further
Resolved, That the Best Practices Guide and Model Policy be hosted on the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society [DFMS] Safe Church website. The website shall be adapted and monitored so that it becomes a site for on-going creation and curation of feedback from experimental use and local adaptation of the Best Practices Guide and Model Policy throughout TEC during the next triennium; and be it further
Resolved, That dioceses, congregations, and affiliated institutions report their feedback and recommendations for further development on the basis of their practice to the DFMS hosted Safe Church website; and be it further
Resolved, That the 81st General Convention of commit itself to the financial support of the continuing development of these materials, and training, as an element of its efforts to advance clergy wellness and reduce liability, as well as to the ability of all members of the Church to live into the Baptismal Covenant, seeking and serving Christ in all persons; and be it further
Resolved, That $75,000 be budgeted for this work over the next triennium.
Explanation
The Best Practices Guide and Model Policy has been reviewed by multiple General Conventions. It needs to be promulgated and utilized across the Episcopal Church. Therefore, it needs to be easily accessible to all members and institutions of The Episcopal Church. The DFMS Safe Church website already provides access to the Model Policies for the Protection of Children and Youth and the Model Policies for the Protection of Vulnerable Adults and is therefore the ideal location for the Anti-Harassment Best Practices Guide and Model Policy documents. Because the needs and the practices of the Church are so diverse with respect to definitions of harassment, and its reduction and elimination, the continuing collection of data and stories is vital to the development of standardized, yet helpfully varied, training.
The Best Practices Guide and Model Anti-Harassment Policy is available as a support document on this resolution. It is also available as a supplemental material in the report to the 81st General Convention of the Interim Body to Oversee the Continuing Development of Anti-Harassment Best Practices, Model Policy Examples and Varied Training Materials.
Support Document: