Safe Parish

Per the Decree on Child Protection, “a ‘volunteer’ is an adult who is not a cleric or employee (for example, a catechist, scout leader, coach, server coordinator, parent interns, student teachers and others in similar capacities etc.) who function in any capacity to assist in activities with children. This includes all adults accompanying children on any overnight activity.”

1. Submission to and approval from a background check through Selection.com
2. Registration through SafeParish™ and completion of its online training course
3. Remaining compliant by keeping up with quarterly SafeParish™ training modules

The easiest way to determine your eligibility is to attempt a login at aocsafeenvironment.org with your username and password. If you are blocked, then your account is either suspended or non-existent. You can also contact the head of the Parish Service Organization for which you volunteer – a detailed list of active and inactive SafeParish™ accounts is distributed monthly to volunteer coordinators. A final resource is to contact the Safe Environment Coordinator at [email protected]

Selection.com, a national, Catholic faith-based background check company located in the Cincinnati area, provides all background checks for the Archdiocese. The background check is done online and is accessed via your SafeParish™ account if you already have one, or as part of the SafeParish™ registration for new volunteers.

The cost of the background check is $25. This can be paid with credit card or a token requested from [email protected] (for those whose primary volunteer location is Guardian Angels).

To register for a training session, go to aocsafeenvironment.org and create an username & password. If Guardian Angels is your primary volunteer location, please make sure that you indicate that upon registration. The training is provided online, and will not allow your device (phone, tablet, or computer) to multi-task during training. You may complete it all in one setting, or log-on and log-off to complete in portions.

Part of the SafeParish™ program is the ongoing education component via online quarterly training (“bulletins”).  The bulletins are meant to deepen the awareness formed at the SafeParish™ training session. Once a quarterly training is assigned, the user will be emailed and they will have 30 days to complete the module. After this time, the user’s account is suspended and they are not cleared to volunteer with children.

All volunteers must keep up-to-date with their trainig, even outside of their normal volunteering “window.” For instance, a volunteer for a group that only meets with children in the Fall of each year should still remain compliant with their online training throughout Winter, Spring, and Summer. This will ensure that the volunteer is not suspended and is able to work with children immediately when their next volunteer cycle occurs.