Sarah is a quiet and hardworking 17-year-old who was hired in June to be an intern with a not-for-profit during her gap year between high school and university. Over the course of the year, some staff noticed she had become noticeably close with her supervisor, Jared. The working relationship between Sarah and Jared seemed to be progressing beyond a professional team relationship to working alone on several projects together, grabbing lunches alone together, working late into the evening together, and travelling together to conferences. Her parents initially thought it was great that Sarah had a mentor, but they soon started to question Jared’s motives.

When other staff questioned some of their actions, Jared would respond, “there is nothing wrong with grabbing lunch together,” “there is nothing wrong with having dinner together,” or “we both like video games, so we're hanging out together.” Staff members took him at his word, and stayed silent, suspecting that the two were becoming much too close and intimate.

Sarah’s parents raised concerns, when they learned that Jared asked Sarah not to tell anyone what had happened between the two of them, and that they couldn’t be friends anymore. Jared pulled away and told Sarah if she said anything, he would lose his job and marriage, and she would have trouble ever landing a job again!

Eventually, the fact that the relationship had become sexual came out. Both parties were blamed and Jared was asked to quietly resign. In some versions of this case study, I hear of parties thrown in Jared’s honour and gifts of appreciation given for his service. Sarah is dismissed and asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement...



Why is this case study an all-too-common occurrence?

I have heard this story told so many times. The names change, the ages vary slightly, the activities vary somewhat, but the common denominators include a power differential, a young intern or student, blurred professional boundaries, private conversations, isolation, and a lack of accountability and supervision.

Thankfully, in some cases, leadership do get it right. If it involves a minor, they call Child and Family Services. If it involves an adult, they call for a third-party investigation.

However, more frequently, I hear that that the Supervisor is not fired. I don’t hear that a trauma-informed approach and care plan is put in place, leaving the family and victim contemplating if they should go to the police, file a lawsuit, or take their story to the media. If the supervisor does move on, they move on to another location where they will have more access to young adults.

These stories break my heart! Do they break yours?

If we are going to tackle these incidents and reduce the risk of repeat occurrence, we need a multi-faceted approach of principles and values that shape the culture of each organization. Over the course of the next ten months, I will be tackling a different principle in each newsletter.



This is a member benefit, join today!

Crisis Response and Management Course

One of the best kept secrets at Plan to Protect^® is our Crisis Response and Management Course. I am so deeply grateful for the work of Barrie Doyle and Roundtable Video in collaborating with us to develop this course. This course is designed to help organizations respond appropriately during a crisis. If you have not taken the Crisis Response and Management Course, I strongly recommend it. No organization should be without a Crisis Plan, so that case studies like the one in this newsletter don’t occur, and if they do, they are handled appropriately. 

“The course will prepare any organization for a crisis. I would recommend all churches and youth organizations take this course.”

- Lewis Coulter, Broken Arrow Youth Ranch



You currently are not a member of Plan to Protect^®,

and you are missing out on so much!

I recently asked some of our members what they felt was the most valuable benefit included in their Basic Membership ~ 100% of the respondents said, “the email and phone support we receive from Plan to Protect®.” One member said, “I feel like we have you on our team. Whenever we have a question or concern, we reach out to your office, and we immediately have our questions answered.” Recently we have assigned every member an Account Manager.



"I feel like we have you on our team. Whenever we have a question or concern, we reach out to your office, and we immediately have our questions answered."

We are only able to provide email and phone support to members ~ so no better time to become a member than today!



Enhanced Criminal Record Check

During the month of March, save $3

on every criminal record check you process!

If you aren’t using the Alpha platform for screening yet, request more information on our Enhanced Criminal Record Checks.



In Canada, all Criminal Record Checks require the candidate’s informed consent and their identity verified.

A Criminal Record Check determines if an individual has been charged/convicted of a criminal offence, or, if there are other outstanding conditions (see below). Information is collected and reported in the form of Clear or Unclear.



What is our offer to you?

An Enhanced Criminal Record Check

The enhanced check is comprised of two components:

1. A query based on the name and date-of-birth of active criminal files in the RCMP National Repository of Criminal Records. This search will report any Canadian criminal convictions that have not been pardoned, discharged, or sealed by a record suspension. Basic Criminal Record Checks do not report on summary convictions or pending charges before the courts.
2. As well as a query of the Investigative and Identification data banks of CPIC. This comprehensive search provides indicators of the following key areas:

• Discharged findings of guilt may be identified if relevant and releasable (Absolute discharges within 1 year and conditional discharges within 3 years).
• Additional convictions, either indictable or summary, that have not yet been populated into the RCMP’s National Repository of Criminal Records.
• Summary convictions, within the past five years.
• Outstanding warrants; criminal charges presently before the courts, including restrictive bail or release conditions; peace bonds and prohibition or probation orders in effect.



In the case study noted above, Jared would not have a criminal record.

A strong screening process requires a combination of an application, reference checks from previous employers and organizations where they have worked, reference checks, training, and a Criminal Record Check.