As a Parish, School and Religious Education Program, we welcome the participation of all, we also take very seriously the Diocesan Safe Environment Policy. This policy was created to take every possible measure to assure that Church personnel and all those who have regular contact with minors are committed to providing a safe environment for children and youth. We must ensure that all those regularly involved with parish-sponsored and school-sponsored, CCD-sponsored activities are capable of identifying and preventing the abuse of children and youth, and have no personal history of behavior that would be a threat to children.
The Safe Environment Policy applies to all those 18 years of age and older, whether clergy, members of consecrated life, or laity, who, as employees or volunteers, act in the name of the Church under the auspices of the Diocese of Pittsburgh or one of its parishes.
To begin the process of obtaining your clearances, please select the following link: diopitt.org -Click on Child Protection at the top of the Home Page, -Scroll down to Compliance -Choose the ministry – School Volunteer, School Employee, Parish Volunteer, Parish Employee. (You are an employee only if you receive a paycheck from the Diocese of Pittsburgh.) IF YOU ARE RENEWING CLEARANCES DO THE NUMBERS NEEDED TO REVEW #2, #3(EMPLOYEES ONLY), OR #5. FIRST TIME USERS #1 - DIOCESAN DATABASE - please complete this clearance first
After you create your username and password, you will need to log back in and complete the sections listed on the right-hand side – as each section is finished, the red x will be changed to a green checkmark. All sections must be green.
Once completed, click on “submit this application.” It will ask you to confirm that you want to submit – select YES (NOTE: once submitted, an error page will sometimes pop up not allowing you to go further. This is normal – you can see your application has been successfully submitted by logging back in).
As part of the application process, you will review the Diocesan Code of Pastoral Conduct and the Reporting of Child Abuse and the Child Protective Services Law of Pennsylvania brochures.
This application will automatically generate a Criminal Record Check with the State of Pennsylvania on your behalf; results will be sent automatically to the Safe Environment Coordinator.
The Diocesan database registers you in the Diocese – you will not receive “application” results unless there is a problem. In that case you will be contacted directly.
#2 - PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES REPORT (CHILD ABUSE CLEARANCE) Must be renewed every 5 years.
Complete the Pennsylvania Child Abuse Clearance form online at PA Child Abuse clearance or the paper form.
Click on “Create Individual Account.” The first question asks you for your “Keystone Id” – this is your username, please select one between 6-10 characters. Once you complete that brief page, you will see the message that your new Keystone ID and your temporary password have been emailed to you. You will use that information to fill out the actual Child Abuse application by logging in again at PA Child Abuse clearance but this time you will click on “Individual Account” and then click on “Access My Clearances”
If you are a volunteer, please select “Volunteer having contact with children” as the reason for your application. If you are an employee, please select “Employee NOT governed by public school code.”
Volunteers do not pay for this clearance, Employees do pay for it.
Results will be sent directly to you; please email, mail or bring a copy for your file, ATTN: Sister Cynthia Wessel
*
NOTE: Please save a copy of your username/password and the data you enter on this form for your records. This has to be renewed in 5 years; it is very helpful to have your previous application information to copy from if needed.
#3 - FBI CLEARANCE (FINGERPRINTS TAKEN) or WAIVER (SIGN A WAIVER INSTEAD OF GETTING FINGERPRINTS) Volunteers may be excused from the FBI Criminal History Report requirement (getting fingerprints taken) if they have been a Pennsylvania resident continuously for the previous 10 years
and have none of the felonies listed on the waiver.
CHOOSE ONE: Have you lived in PA for 10+ years (with none of the felonies listed on the waiver)? Click here
FBI Fingerprints WAIVER – Please print this form and sign it, verified by a witness (any adult 18+ can be your witness).
Please email, mail or bring a copy for your files, ATTN: Sister Cynthia Wessel. For those without internet access, paper copies are available in the Safe Coordinators Office at St. Therese. If you do not qualify for a waiver, please complete the instructions below.
OR Have you lived in PA for less than 10 years OR have at least one of the felonies listed on the FBI Fingerprints WAIVER? --you will need to submit fingerprint results. The parish covers the fee for fingerprinting.
PRE-REGISTRATION is required before getting fingerprinted.
Go to https://uenroll.identogo.com/ -- to start your registration you will see: “Enter Your Service Code To Get Started.” The code is different depending on whether you are a school volunteer, parish volunteer, school employee or parish employee. Please email Sister Cynthia Wessel if you do not know your correct application code.
On the next page select “Schedule or Manage Appointment”
You will be asked if you have been given an authorization code for payment (this is different from the code in step 1) -- select “NO”
You will be asked to select a form of ID – the name on your ID must match EXACTLY what you enter on this form. You must have this ID with you in order to check in or you will not be fingerprinted.
Once you are finished with the steps, you will be directed to select a location (you must select a location – you will then be given the option to select appointment time & date OR to select “walk-in”) *please note, at least one location reportedly refused a walk-in from our parish. Please call to confirm availability before driving to the fingerprinting center of your choice.
The final page should have the message “You have successfully pre-enrolled.” Please print for your records using the print icon in the upper right corner of this page.
You will need a credit card or money order for payment at the location site (no cash). Once completed, please submit your payment receipt and a copy of your fingerprint report results to the parish. Please email, mail or bring a copy to the office, ATTN: Sister Cynthia Wessel.
#4 -PROTECTING GOD’S CHILDREN (VIRTUS)
All volunteers and employees are to complete the Virtus training program “Protecting God's Children” at either a Diocesan sponsored class (AT A LOCAL PARISH) or through the Virtus training course (ONLINE).
Both types require that you register online. Begin hereVIRTUS (Protecting God's Children) REGISTRATION-- select “First Time Registrant” if you do not already have an account (right below the user login is “First Time Registrant”). Click on “begin the registration process” and then for the Archdiocese/diocese please select PITTSBURGH, PA
Choose your session. The online session option is towards the end of the list.
You will need audio for this course. Total time of completion is 60-75 minutes.
At the completion of the course, please PRINT the certificate of completion and email, mail or bring a copy for your file, ATTN: Sister Cynthia Wessel.
#5 - COMPLETE THE “MANDATED REPORTER TRAINING" (Online Class) (Parish Volunteers Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, Finance Council, Pastoral Council, Choir do not need this)
All employees and volunteers who have regular contact with children are designated under Pennsylvania law as mandated reporters and must complete the online “Mandated and Permissive Reporter Training Course” offered by the University of Pittsburgh here: Mandated Reporter Training. At the upper section of the page will be two links: “Welcome” or “Registration.” If this is the first time you have accessed this site, please begin under “registration” to enter your personal information and create a user id/password.
This training takes approximately 3 ½ hours but can be stopped after each section (save it before exiting) and returned to at a later time. You will be asked if you are a Mandated Reporter (3 hour credit class) o
OR Permissive Reporter (2 hour credit class) -- click the option for MANDATED. Upon completion of that training you will be issued a certificate. Please email, mail or bring a copy of that certificate to the parish, ATTN: Sister Cynthia WesselNOTE: This class is similar to the “Protecting God’s Children” course above but is a separate requirement mandated by the state of PA. Completion of both is required for your clearances.
CONCLUSION If you have any questions, please contact Sister Cynthia, Safe Environment Coordinator, at 412-461-8163 ex. 315 or by email at [email protected]. We are so grateful to the many adults who complete clearances each year, thank you! *Note: only the Child Abuse, the Fingerprinting and MRT clearances expire and need to be renewed every 5 years. All others are a one-time requirement. THANK YOU for taking the time to help us protect the children and youth of our parish.