“For over a decade Robertson Hall Insurance has recommended Plan To Protect to our church client organizations. The updated version is even more user-friendly, practical and understandable for church and charity leaders as they seek effective ways to protect the children and youth in their care against potential harm and protect their ministry workers from false allegations. Plenty of great examples, training ideas and sample forms means that your organization doesn't have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to abuse prevention. Having the new edition and updated materials as a resource and template for abuse prevention policies and procedures is like the benefit of an expert without having one in your congregation. We applaud the efforts of Melodie Bissell and Winning Kids for making effective abuse prevention more understandable and achievable … !"
Kenneth A. Hall, President, Robertson Hall Insurance Inc., London, Canada
"I have really appreciated being able to call and ask questions. I have found it easy to discuss our situation even when difficult and know that it will be handled professionally. Being connected with you makes me feel more confident and knowledgeable regarding protecting children, using common sense, what the law requires etc. I have felt supported and that means a lot when you are responsible for other people's children."
Esther Sangalli, Kingdom Culture, Ottawa, ON
“I highly recommend Winning Kids and Plan to Protect to any organization looking to develop safety and protection policies. Winning Kids has made it easy to develop effective policies and tools to allow effective training for everyone involved with children & vulnerable adults.”
Debbie Hastings, (Retired) Ecclesiastical Insurance, Toronto, ON
"Children are among society's most vulnerable members, and child-serving organizations must make the protection of children a key concern. World Vision believes child protection standards are an essential tool to help safeguard children from exploitation and abuse. Then, once the standards are on paper, they must be enforced and there must be a commitment to continually examine efforts to reduce risks to children, and to heighten awareness of child protection in the community and home. Plan to Protect is a valuable tool to aid in the process."
Dave Toycen, President, World Vision Canada, Mississauga, Canada
“BackCheck™, Canada’s largest and leading provider of pre-employment background and criminal history checks, is delighted to be teamed up with Winning Kids Inc., to help ensure a safer future for young people across the country. Plan to Protect is an important and much needed tool in promoting the safety of today’s children. Only consistent and thorough processes are of any effect in providing protection.”
Dave Dinesen, President and CEO, BackCheck, Vancouver, Canada
“I strongly recommend ‘Plan to Protect’ for any church of any size in any location. It is extremely user-friendly and loaded with applicable forms and guidelines. No church or ministry that has anything to do with children and/or youth should be without “Plan to Protect.”
Michael Boutot, Executive Director, Institute of Church Safety and Risk Management
“In these times of security risks in our society, both in our communities and unfortunately, within the walls of the church itself, the need for providing a safe environment for our children cannot be overstated. In addition to praying for a hedge of protection around our families, we should be wise and discerning about how our kids are cared for. When churches consider developing and improving policies and standard operating procedures within their children's programs, it is essential that they have good information about the resources and options available to them. 'Plan to Protect' is an excellent resource for not only beginning the discussion but also following through with implementation of the plan. Winning Kids Inc. could be an outstanding partner for your faith-based organization."
John Kim Cook, Ph.D. , President & CEO Cook Strategies LLC, former director of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
“Having devoted the majority of my career to managing and insuring the risks of religious and secular nonprofits, I know well the pitfalls of having inadequate protection for their most vulnerable constituents. Plan to Protect provides a cost-effective, comprehensive, turnkey risk management solution that can be easily adapted to the specific needs of any religious entity -- from the parish church to a denominational headquarters. I know of no other resource providing this depth and quality of actionable, hands-on content approaching this price point, and I commend Plan to Protect to any institution seeking to fortify its youth risk management programming."
Scott R. Konrad, Senior Vice President, Willis of New York, Inc.
“I strongly recommend Winning Kids and Plan to Protect to any organization looking to ensure the safety and protection of children as they inter-relate with ministries. Winning Kids has made it easy to develop impactful policies and methods to allow very useful training for those involved with ministries to children & vulnerable adults.”
Chris Mandel, former President of RIMS, 04 Risk Mgr. of the year, President of Enterprise Indemnity.
"We at Calvary are very grateful for the Winning Kids Inc. Going the Distance membership. In July 2009 I took Admin/Leader and Train the Trainer courses on the recommendation of our AGC Office Administration. After taking the training I soon realized that our current Child Protection policy really needed to be updated.
After our Christian Education Committee struggled with doing this on our own for the next year, we decided that we needed more help and so opted to upgrade our Membership from Basic to Enhanced and take advantage of all that membership had to offer, including Police Checks through BackCheck as Winning Kids members, help in customizing a Plan to Protect® policy for our Church, presentation to our Board of Elders, unlimited Online Orientation Training for our volunteers and training for our staff, as well as mentoring and personal assistance throughout the process and a free Orientation Training done by Winning Kids Inc. staff. At the end of the year of Enhanced membership, we were invited to continue our membership with the new Going the Distance Program that would enable us to continue receiving support through the process. In April 2012 we were delighted to be able to present to our Board of Elders the draft of our new policy for approval, that was given and we were able to continue with the implementation process, being supported and encouraged by Winning Kids Inc. staff every step of the way. We are delighted to be continuing our "Going the distance "membership for a third year as we train our Children's Ministry Coordinator and finalize all the implementation for our Fall start up.
We also received invaluable assistance in learning what to do with all the mounds of record keeping that has to be kept forever! And as a result we are well on our way to establishing a Church-wide record keeping system for all our Ministries, including our Food Bank and Community Dinner Programs. Having recertified my initial training this year, I was delighted to be able to run the Orientation training on my own with this summer's Day Camp staff and to report that our record keeping for Day Camp is also under control! We at Calvary would highly recommend the Going the Distance Membership to everyone."
Judy Panter
Office Administrator, Executive Assistance
Day Camp Administrator and Christian Education
“We need to be proactive in preventing the physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children. Every child is a treasure with incomparable worth. Abuse can damage a child terribly for the rest of his or her life. Plan to Protect provides a beacon, the means and the structure to prevent and counter different forms of abuse. The use of this detailed and holistic plan allows us to hope for a better society where the safety and well-being of children are assured. To the writers of this manual, Bravo!"
Danielle Lajeunesse, Director, Quebec Protestant Partnership on Education,Liaison to the Ministry of Education, CDI, Quebec, Canada
“This program should become a part of the education system for teachers and parent volunteers.”
Judy Yearwood, Toronto Children’s Concert Choir, Toronto ON
“I am a Girl Guide leader and have been filling out multiple forms for each event for all these years. After this day I finally appreciate their values.”
Christine Taylor, Girl Guide Leader and Catechist Leader with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince Albert
“Plan to Protect® is a valuable source of important and up to date information and strategies that will assist churches and child focused organizations in providing safe and caring environments for children. Our children deserve nothing less!”
Don Hepburn, Supervisor and Senior Manager with the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. (Retired)
“As a entertainer who performs around the world and for many different audiences, I know the importance of safety when it comes to working with children. It is so important for us to see that children are provided the safest, risk-free environment possible so that they can freely enjoy the exciting things that are available to them. As a professional entertainer, I am committed to paying close attention to making sure that I have done all that I can to ensure this safety is provided. Plan to Protect provides the information and resources needed to juggle both work and the safety of children.”
Bob Cates, Entertainer/Comedian, Comedy in Motion, Best One Man Show, 2006 & 2007 Canadian Comedy Awards, Nominee
“Everyone should sit in at least once to hear of the dangers and what precautions you need to think of. Anything can happen!”
Kim Kakakaway, Samaritan’s Purse, Calgary, AB
“Just wanted to take a moment to say how grateful we are here at Grandview for the package deal that was offered for Online Training. We obviously took full advantage of it and have now had 62 volunteers register to take this course. 22 completed to date. How wonderful to be able to involve so many of our workers in this important educational process! We never would have been able to train so many if this package was not available, so THANK YOU Winning Kids! A savings to us as well as the best opportunity to help keep our kids and youth safe here at Grandview.”
Carol Bell, Grandview Baptist Church, Kitchener, ON
"As an ECE working in daycares for over 15 years, I can't believe how little I know about abuse and it's many forms until I attended a Plan to Protect workshop! Not only did this educate me on what to look for but it also taught me what to do if I encountered a situation where abuse was happening. The training also provided me with tools to protect myself from any allegations of abuse and opened my eyes to what my obligations are when it comes to abuse and what the law requires of me. "
- G. Yip, ECE, Toronto, ON
“As the administrator / principal of my own childcare centre and private school, I know the importance of being knowledgeable about current policies and practices that enable our young children to have a positive and safe learning environment. The Plan to Protect manual is an excellent resource that is user friendly and has proven to be of great value as a training manual to the whole school, staff and student body.”
Stephanie Ling, PhD., Administrator / Principal, Children’s Primary Centre / Cornerstone Preparatory School, Toronto, Canada
“This course can really reveal how unprepared we are to deal with or prevent abuse in our churches. Thank you for getting us started on this important matter!”
Warren Dungen, Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince Albert
“Great information, and very good speakers! I learned a lot and have complete confidence training within my organization!”
Becca Bandfield, Springs Church, Calgary, AB
“A very humanizing, informative, empowered day spent learning information that previously seemed overwhelming and inaccessible.”
Tama Ward Balisky, Grandview Calvary Baptist Church, Vancouver, BC
Canada: Printable version
United States: Printable version
We appreciate your testimonials of how Winning Kids Inc. has helped you in developing a plan to protect children and youth. Please send your testimonials to info@winningkidsinc.ca
