Confidentiality, Mandatory Reporting, and Protecting the Vulnerable

What You Will Learn

• Explain confidentiality and its limits for correctional volunteers
• Name situations that must always be reported to staff or the chaplain
• Describe the general purpose of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)
• Follow the facility's reporting chain without investigating on your own

Lesson Notes

Keeping Confidence Faithfully

A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter (Proverbs 11:13). Residents may share painful stories. A faithful volunteer does not repeat them to friends, at church, as prayer requests with details, or on social media. Do not discuss residents' names, cases, or stories outside of what the chaplain allows.

Remember too that inside a facility, conversations, mail, and phone calls may be monitored. Volunteers never promise residents that anything will be kept completely private.

The Limits of Confidentiality

Some things must always be reported, right away, to staff or the chaplain according to facility procedure:

• Threats to harm anyone: staff, residents, volunteers, or people outside.
• Self-harm or suicide: any talk of wanting to die, self-harm, or not wanting to be here.
• Abuse: sexual abuse or harassment, physical abuse, or abuse of a child, elder, or vulnerable adult, whether happening inside or outside.
• Security concerns: escape plans, contraband, or threats to facility safety.
• Anything facility policy or the law requires to be reported.

A good way to explain this to a resident: I care about you. I won't gossip about what you share. But if someone may be hurt, including you, I have to tell staff or the chaplain so you can get help.

PREA and Zero Tolerance

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) is a federal law aimed at preventing, detecting, and responding to sexual abuse and sexual harassment in confinement settings. Facilities have policies under this law, and volunteers are often trained on them during orientation. In general, volunteers are expected to report any knowledge, suspicion, or information about sexual abuse or sexual harassment immediately, following the facility's procedure.

This course does not teach the details of the law. Learn your facility's PREA policy and reporting procedure during orientation and write it here: PREA reporting contact: ______________. Procedure: ______________.

Report, Don't Investigate

Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction (Proverbs 31:8). Speaking up for the vulnerable is godly. But volunteers do not investigate, question residents for details, confront anyone, or promise outcomes. Your job is to listen calmly, avoid asking leading questions, tell the person you need to get help, and report promptly and factually to staff or the chaplain.

Mandatory reporting duties differ by state and role, and volunteers may have their own duties. Do not guess. Ask the chaplain and volunteer office, and write your reporting chain: First contact: ______________. If unavailable: ______________. After the visit, write a brief note as directed: ______________.

Key Terms

In-Class Activities

Keep or Report?

Read ten composite statements a resident might make. Mark each Keep (private, no gossip) or Report now (tell staff or the chaplain). For each Report now, write who you would tell and the first calm words you would say to the resident.

Building the Reporting Chain

Fill in the reporting chain template: who you tell first, who you tell if that person is unavailable, how quickly, and what you write down afterward. Use blanks for names and numbers you will get from the volunteer office.

Assignment: My Confidentiality and Reporting Page

Write one page for your handbook:

• A plain-language confidentiality statement you could say to a resident, including its limits.
• The five kinds of concerns you will always report.
• A short description of PREA in your own words and blanks for your facility's procedure.
• Your reporting chain with blanks: ______________.
• Three things you will never do when a concern arises (for example, investigate, confront, or promise secrecy).
• Psalm 82:3 or Proverbs 31:8 written out with one sentence of application.

Graded with the Module Assignment Rubric.

Reflection Journal

Psalm 82:3 calls us to defend the afflicted and needy. How can a volunteer keep confidences faithfully and still speak up for someone in danger? What makes that balance hard?

Prayer focus: Ask God to make you a faithful keeper of confidences and a courageous voice for anyone who may be in danger.

Faithful Keeper, Courageous Voice

Residents may share painful parts of their lives with you. A faithful volunteer does not repeat those stories, not to friends, not at church, not as detailed prayer requests, and not online. He that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter (Proverbs 11:13).

But confidentiality has limits. Threats to harm anyone, talk of suicide or self-harm, abuse of any kind, security concerns, and anything the law or facility policy requires must be reported right away to staff or the chaplain. Never promise that everything will stay private; inside a facility, conversations may also be monitored.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) is a federal law aimed at preventing, detecting, and responding to sexual abuse and sexual harassment in confinement settings. Facilities have policies under it, and volunteers are often trained on them in orientation. In general, volunteers report any knowledge or suspicion of sexual abuse or harassment immediately, following the facility's procedure.

Your role is not to investigate. Listen calmly, do not press for details, tell the person you need to get help, and report promptly and factually. Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction (Proverbs 31:8). Speaking up for someone in danger is an act of love.

Think About It

1. How will you explain the limits of confidentiality kindly? ______________________
2. Who is first in your reporting chain? ______________________
3. Why is reporting, not investigating, the volunteer's role? ______________________

Daily Devotions for Week 5

Concealing the Matter

A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.— Proverbs 11:13 (KJV)

A faithful spirit protects what others entrust to her.

Reflect: Has someone kept your story safe?

Pray: Lord, make me trustworthy.

Do: Turn away from one conversation that drifts into gossip.

Defend the Afflicted

Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.— Psalm 82:3 (KJV)

God cares deeply about the vulnerable, and He calls us to stand up for them.

Reflect: Who around you needs someone to speak up?

Pray: Lord, make me a defender of the afflicted.

Do: Pray for people in danger who have no one to speak for them.

Open Thy Mouth

Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.— Proverbs 31:8 (KJV)

Silence can leave someone in harm's way. Reporting is a way of speaking up.

Reflect: What makes speaking up hard for you?

Pray: Lord, give me courage to speak.

Do: Write the first person you would tell in your reporting chain.

Guard My Lips

Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.— Psalm 141:3 (KJV)

We need God's help to keep what is private and share only what is needed.

Reflect: When is it hardest to keep quiet?

Pray: Lord, keep the door of my lips.

Do: Before speaking about anyone today, ask, Is this mine to share?

Little Ones

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.— Matthew 18:6 (KJV)

Jesus takes harm to the vulnerable very seriously. So should we.

Reflect: How can you help protect the vulnerable?

Pray: Lord, protect the little ones.

Do: Review the five kinds of concerns you will always report.