An Angel Tree church has contacted me for the incarcerated parent(al figure) to give the child a gift, but there is a protective order in place. Don't you screen the applicants?

We are sorry that this happened. Angel Tree employs several reasonable precautions to screen participation.

When filling out the Angel Tree application, each incarcerated individual must sign a statement affirming that there is no court order, law, regulation, or other legal requirement preventing contact with the children listed. Unsigned applications do not make it into our system.

The prison chaplains, corrections officials and volunteers who collect these applications are encouraged to vet them prior to submitting, and many inappropriate submissions are caught at that time. Some prisons prohibit participation from those convicted of a sex offense, however, this decision is made by the facility and/or state by state basis by the Department of Corrections.

 Church partners are instructed to contact the parent or guardian to verify the information and ask if the family agrees to participate. The parent or guardian is the decisive step in the approval process. Throughout the year, churches notify Angel Tree of children who should not be included – these are marked in our system and future participation is prevented.

 Please call us at 800-55-ANGEL(26435) so that you can confirm with our Angel Tree staff that there is a protective order. We will flag the application to prevent further contact. Again, we are sorry that this happened.