Requirements:

Employment & Volunteering

Completion of the new Safe Environment Protecting God’s Children for Adults awareness session must be completed by all Clergy, Religious, Lay Employees and Volunteers by September 1, 2020, regardless of when they may have previously completed their safe environment certification. All School volunteers, even if current in their Safe Environment certification, must attend one of the new Protecting God’s Children for Adults sessions prior to volunteering in Catholic schools.

Effective immediately, Safe Environment certification is required to be renewed every 2 years by all Clergy, Religious, Lay Employees and Volunteers.

Prior to the start of service all Clergy, Religious, Lay Employees and Volunteers are required to fulfill all mandatory steps, have an acceptable criminal background check and must successfully complete the required ongoing training as a condition of continued employment or volunteer/ministry service.

A hand holding a pen and check off boxes on a form. Mandatory Safe Environment Steps prior to serving in ministry or other volunteer service:

Completion of the Volunteer Ministry Application, including the names and contact information of 3 (non-family member) references, who will be contacted.
Signed Authorization for Release of Information form.
Completion of the National Criminal Search including Sex Offender background check.
Successful completion of the Safe Environment Training.
Signed Code of Conduct Agreement form upon review of the Diocesan Code of Conduct & Behavior Standards for All Clergy, Religious and Lay Ministers.

Safe Environment Participation training is also required for participation in or volunteering for activities or events that are not specifically designed to minister to children/youth, but for which it is reasonable to think that they may at times have contact with children outside the sight or hearing of other responsible adults, (e.g. due to the facilities, location, time, or likely presence of children/youth in the proximity of the activities or events).

Even if someone in volunteer ministry is not interacting with children, or likely to interact with children, Safe Environment training is extremely important to inform and protect not only children and vulnerable persons, but also to protect volunteers from unintentionally violating policies.

Safe Environment training also encourages and reinforces a culture of awareness, knowledge and vigilance in protecting all within the parishes, schools and Diocese.

Any questions or need for clarification as to whether a ministry, activity, event or volunteer service may require Safe Environment training should be directed to the .

Required Steps

Training Certificates will not be issued until all four steps are complete and the background check(s) are returned. Certification Status is available on the Certification Database. All forms are available online by double-click on the hyperlink or you may request them from your local Safe Environment Coordinator. All personal information is held in a confidential filing system.

Click on the sections below to expand them and view more information.

Step 1

Volunteers must complete a Diocesan Adult Volunteer Application or a Teen Volunteer Application and submit it to the school or parish Safe Environment Coordinator where your ministry will be based. If you have applied for a paid position the hiring supervisor will submit your application to the local SEC for processing upon hire.

Note: When filling out these forms, we recommend using Adobe Reader (A free download!) to avoid lost data due to unpredictable browsers.

Volunteer Ministry Application
Solicitud de Ministerio Voluntario
Đăng Ký Tình Nguyện Viên Mục Vụ
Teen Volunteer Application
Solicitud de Voluntarios Adolescentes

Step 2

All applicants 18 years old or older must complete the Authorization for Release of Information for processing a Criminal Background Check.

ALL employees or volunteers whose position requires driving or handling cash or accounting/bookkeeping information, must complete the Authorization for Driving or Credit Check and either the Volunteer Driver Information Sheet or Employee Driver Information Sheet.

Authorization for Release of Information
Autorización para la Divulgación de Información
Employee Driver Information Sheet
Volunteer Driver Information Sheet