Create Opportunities for Community Dialogue

Creating a community where all members are thoughtfully engaged in safeguarding our youth is a long-term, multi-layered process. The work of creating healthy, vibrant communities in which children are protected and nurtured is far more impactful when shared by a broad range of community members. The famous Talmudic maxim “All Jews are responsible for one another” lays the foundation upon which this communal work is built.

Best Practice 2: Creating Opportunities for Community Dialogue is achieved by engaging the entire community in the child safeguarding initiative. While the Child Safety Committee is designed to build a small group that prioritizes and champions this issue, longer-term culture change depends upon shifting policies and behaviors throughout the community. Ongoing dialogue at every level of the community raises awareness of child maltreatment and signals communal responsibility for safeguarding our children.

Completing this Best Practice requires engaging your boards and organizational leadership as well as introducing your broader community to your safeguarding children initiative, so that all stakeholders are informed and invited to participate. Resources are provided to assist you in grounding this dialogue in Jewish tradition and sensitive language while navigating any resistance you may encounter.