Volunteer Protocols, Ethics & Safety

Course Syllabus

Course Description

This final course of the Chaplaincy Assistant & Prison Ministry Certificate prepares you to serve inside correctional settings safely, ethically, and under authority. You will learn how people become approved volunteers (applications, background checks, orientation and training, and identification badges) and why each facility makes its own eligibility decisions. You will study dress and conduct norms, the nothing in, nothing out principle, and the boundaries that protect residents, volunteers, and the ministry: no personal relationships, no favors, no gifts, no sharing personal contact information unless policy allows, and no contact after release outside approved programs. You will learn to recognize manipulation and respond with grace, understand confidentiality and its limits, follow mandatory reporting procedures (including the general purpose of the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act), and follow staff instructions during emergencies and lockdowns. You will practice serving every resident fairly and respecting religious freedom, and you will build habits of documentation, accountability, and self-care. You will finish by writing your own Volunteer Ethics & Safety Handbook and a commissioning statement. Facility and state specifics are left as blanks for you to complete with the chaplain or volunteer office. Every activity can be completed on paper.

Faith Integration

Hebrews 13:3 calls us to remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them. Remembering prisoners is a command, and Jesus counts it as service to Himself: I was in prison, and ye came unto me (Matthew 25:36). Yet the same Scriptures that send us also teach us to go wisely: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16), and Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers (Romans 13:1). In this course we treat facility rules as protection, not obstacles; boundaries as love, not coldness; and accountability to the chaplain and the church as a gift, not a burden. A faithful volunteer keeps the door of ministry open for everyone who comes after her.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the general steps to become an approved correctional volunteer and explain that each facility sets its own eligibility rules, including for applicants who were formerly incarcerated.
2. Apply dress, conduct, and contraband rules, including the nothing in, nothing out principle, and explain why one violation can affect an entire ministry.
3. Set and keep clear boundaries: no personal relationships, favors, gifts, shared contact information, or contact after release outside approved programs.
4. Recognize common patterns of manipulation and respond with grace, honesty, and a clear no, reporting concerns to the chaplain or staff.
5. Explain confidentiality and its limits, follow mandatory reporting procedures for threats, self-harm, and abuse, and describe the general purpose of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).
6. Follow staff instructions during emergencies and lockdowns and describe a volunteer's role in keeping calm and accounted for.
7. Serve every resident fairly, respect religious freedom, and practice servant leadership with integrity, humility, documentation, and accountability to the chaplain and the church.
8. Build a self-care and burnout-prevention plan and complete a Volunteer Ethics & Safety Handbook and commissioning statement.

Course Materials

• This student workbook
• A Bible (King James Version)
• Your notes and work from CPM 261–263
• A folder for your Volunteer Ethics & Safety Handbook
• Pen or pencil (no devices are required; every activity has a paper version)
• Printed scenario cards and templates from the instructor

Weekly Schedule

How You Will Be Graded

To pass this course: earn 70% or higher overall and attend at least 80% of sessions.

Classroom Covenant

• We begin and end each session in prayer. Participation in prayer is always welcome, never required.
• What is shared in class stays in class. We protect one another's stories.
• We speak with respect, listen without interrupting, and disagree with grace.
• We come prepared, do our own work, and ask for help when we need it.
• We follow all facility rules. Safety and security come first.
• We believe the best about one another and about what God can do.

Support & Accommodations

If reading, writing, vision, hearing, or any other need makes a part of this course harder, tell your instructor privately. Materials can be read aloud, enlarged, or completed orally. Missed sessions can be made up using the module pages. If you are transferred or released, your completed work stays on record and you can finish online.

Welcome

Welcome to the final course of the Chaplaincy Assistant & Prison Ministry Certificate. This course teaches you to serve inside correctional settings safely, honestly, and under authority: with clear boundaries, faithful reporting, calm in emergencies, and a servant's heart. This companion walks beside you with a weekly reading, five devotions for the days between sessions, and a Quick Guide you can keep with your Volunteer Ethics & Safety Handbook. Remember: each facility decides who may serve, and if you are on supervision, check with your supervising officer before volunteering anywhere.

How to Use This Companion

• Read the weekly reading after each class session. It takes about 10 minutes.
• Reflect on the questions. These are for you; you do not have to turn them in.
• Meet with God through the five daily devotions between sessions.
• Keep the Quick Guide at the end to carry home after release.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.— Psalm 119:105 (KJV)