Category Archives: Volunteering

Child/Youth Protection Training

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Certification Training

Please click the arrow to the right of the image below in order to advance through the training slides. (If you need to move backwards, click the arrow to the left of the slides.)

After you complete the training, please take the multiple-choice test below the image and click the “submit” button to send in the test. You must have a score of 80% or better in order to be certified for the year.

What criteria must be met to be considered a screened adult?

I have keys/door codes to the church buildings but I don't work with children so I don't need to be screened or attend training.

Neglect is considered a category of abuse.

If a child has unexplained burns, bites, bruises or broken bones, we know they are being abused.

Chapter 39 of the Florida Statues mandates that we must report suspected or known abuse to the Department of Children and Families

I walk by a classroom and see an adult strike a child. I should…

It is OK to hug a child or youth back if they initiate the hug.

All classroom activities and child and youth programs require the following number of adults supervising:

All drivers of church vehicles, as well as personal vehicles for church trips, must be approved through the process established by the Florida Conference, take part in the annual CYP Training and pass a criminal background check.

It is OK to take pictures of children and youth at church and post them on my social media accounts.

The Haiti Initiative

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The HAITI INITIATIVE was created in 2013 with a donation from the William and Vivian Joel endowment fund left to the First United Methodist Church to be used in support of the Haitian people.

Since its inception, a board oversees funds that have been used to house, feed, empower, employ and educate the Haitian community in Haiti and South Florida.

Initially, the board worked with members of the local community in the Pignon area of Haiti to support schools with teacher training, help repair orphanages, pour concrete floors and build new homes.

In recent years, our efforts in Haiti have focused on a rural area called Donne, where we have built a new school that serves over 100 students. We support the administration of the school, pay the salaries of the faculty and staff and feed the students a daily meal. We have also financed the installation of a well for clean water at the school and started a garden initiative for the students and the community. Our goal is to make the Haitian people in the area more self-sufficient.

In South Florida, we have developed relationships with Haitian schools and churches in our community. Through food, clothing, toys and furniture drives, we have supported local Haitians in our area.

Our mission has been sustained by church members’ sponsorships, cash donations and partnerships.  Through local food drives, mission trips, contacts in the Pignon region and the Internet we will continue to support the Haitian Community in Haiti and South Florida. For more details and pictures, please CLICK HERE. For more information, please contact Dan Bertotti.