Keeping our children safe

Both the diocese and our parish insist that all adults who work or volunteer even on a limited basis with children complete the Virtus program. It does take effort on our part, but we owe it to our children. This whole program is a valuable way to help protect our children. The process involves several steps:

1. Sign up for training. Register with VIRTUS to open an account and choose a live training session. The sessions take place at various locations in the diocese usually on a Saturday morning or a weekday evening. Register at www.virtus.org.
2. Complete the background check through Selection.com. You should see a block on the main page with this option. There is a one-time cost of $25, as long as you stay active and compliant. 
3. Read the Creating a Safe Environment – Procedures for Addressing Sexual Misconduct manual.
4. Complete and sign the Volunteer Application.
5. Complete and sign the Acceptance Form.
6. Return the completed Volunteer Application and Acceptance Form to the parish office for processing through the Diocese.

All forms are available at the parish office or school office.

Background checks are being processed through the Cincinnati-based company, Selection.com. Volunteers  enter their own information for the background check and be charged a one-time fee of $25. Anyone without a credit card can purchase a “token,” which is a code number, from the parish, which is then used in place of a credit card number. With Selection.com, an initial background check is run with additional checks occurring every four months. The fact that someone knows that a background check is being run regularly is another barrier set up. The one-time $25 fee covers the lifetime of background checks processed for the diocese as long as a person stays active, and more databases are being checked with more information provided for greater accuracy. Any questions, call Marylu Steffen at 859-392-1565. 

Read the required monthly training bulletins at www.virtus.org to continue the education process. The bulletins are posted the first Sunday of each month, giving you the month to read it. The status of your online training is shown on the website.

It is necessary to complete all of these steps in order to work with children. If you have not yet signed up for the program, please do so soon so that you can be involved in the various activities here at St. Mary Parish.

For more information or to check on your status, please contact the parish office (635-4188).