CHILD PROTECTION COHORT
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Meets virtually from 3:00pm to 4:30pm (CT) on the third Thursday of each month on a semesterly basis.
Spring: January through May
Fall: August through December
The aim of the Child Protection Cohort is to provide support for leaders of a child/youth-serving organization to increase the protection standards of their programs. The Cohort is a five-month program that equips leaders to consider, develop, implement, and review safety measures that reflect the Child Safety Standards of the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention. This will be accomplished through required readings of assigned books and cohort discussions designed to put knowledge into practice and aid in understanding the fundamentals of creating and implementing a child protection program. Cohort discussions are 1.5 hours, each month, for five months. Students are expected to have read the required reading before the discussion and participate during discussions.
Fall 2026 Schedule
August 20th – Standard 1: Governance
September 17th – Standard 2: Child Safety Operations
October 15th – Standard 3: Screening
November 19th – Standard 4: Training
December 17th – Standard 5: Response
Participants are expected to attend all five sessions.
Required Textbooks
- “Road Map to Child Safety,” by ECAP
- “On Guard,” by Deepak Reju
- “Safeguards,” by Julie Lowe
- Various articles by leading experts
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will be able to understand and explain the 73 indicators of the ECAP safety standards.
- Students will identify and connect ECAP indicators to the child safety policies of their organization.
- Students will be able to discuss and consider options for creating new policies.
- Students will be able to complete and implement an ECAP-compliant child protection policy.
Meet Your Instructor
Jeremy Herron was part of the expert panel that created the ECAP Child Safety Standards and now is our Executive Director. He is also the Children’s Ministry Pastor at Eastmont Church in Bend, Oregon. Using the experience he gained from years of reshaping and leading kids ministries, Jeremy began to see that his impact on local churches could have a broader reach and the passion for keeping children safe could be instilled at ministries across the nation. Over time, these conversations developed into Fortified Consulting to create a more formal approach to see every church, school and ministry be stronger and safer for the children and youth in these programs.
Get a copy of Road Map to Child Safety
A copy of this new resource is provided to each registered student.
