Safe Environment

- Ministries/Organizations

Maternity B.V.M. is Committed to Providing a Safe Environment for the Children and Youth od our Parish and Programs.

Therefore, we follow the necessary steps, in accordance with the Archdiocesan policies and procedures of the Safe Environment Program, when accepting a volunteer to work with our children. The Safe Environment Program is a comprehensive child safety and child sexual abuse prevention program, which creates a network of prevention and protection for the children entrusted into the Archdiocese’s care. The following guidelines are reflective of the 2015 changes to the Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law and Archdiocesan Policy for the Protection of Children and Young People, effective July 1, 2015.

Archdiocesan policy requires all Church personnel including any priest, religious, deacon, pastoral minister, employee, school employee, parish employee, or contract employee, as well as volunteers who may have any possible contact with children or responsibility for children in the course of their work, must obtain clearances , as required by Pennsylvania law. This includes any individual 14 years of age or older applying for or in a paid position as an employee responsible for the welfare of a child or having direct contact with children. The steps of the Safe Environment Program are as follows:

Step One
The first step is to complete a PA State Police Criminal Record Check and a PA Department of Human Services Child Abuse History Clearance on each volunteer.

To obtain a PA State Police Criminal Record Check, please visit: https://epatch.state.pa.us/Home.jsp. Results should be available within a few minutes.

To obtain a PA Department of Human Services Child Abuse History Clearance, please visit:
https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home

If you have lived out of PA in the past 10 years, you are required to obtain a Federal Bureau of Investigations Fingerprint Clearance. To so do, visit: https://uenroll.identogo.com.

If you have lived in PA continuously for 10 or more years, you are required to sign a Disclosure Statement Application for Volunteers, which can be received in the Rectory Office.

*After you have made copies of your checks and clearances for your own personal record keeping, please hand all paperwork directly to the Rectory Office*

**All required clearances, including the FBI, must be renewed every 5 years**

Effective July 25, 2015, the PA State Police Criminal Record Check and PA Department of Human Services Child Abuse History Clearance will be free of charge for Parish Volunteers.

Once you have submitted all the necessary information, please return the completed checks and clearances to the Rectory to be kept on file. Both the PA State Police Criminal Record Check and the Child Abuse History Clearance must be renewed every five (5) years in order to remain in compliance.

Volunteers who have been a resident of Pennsylvania for less than 10 years must renew their FBI Fingerprint clearance until they reach 10 years of residency in Pennsylvania. Once the volunteer meets the 10 year residency requirement, they must complete a Disclosure Statement Application for Volunteers which must be submitted every five (5) years.

Step Two
The second step is to complete the Safe Environment Training. Each volunteer must attend "Safe Environment, Part I: Protecting God's Children", a 3-hour training session that provides basic facts about child sexual abuse and adults’ roles in prevention. A volunteer needs to attend this session only once. Many training sessions are offered throughout the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

To find a list of sessions and to register for a class:
1. Go to www.childyouthprotection.org
2. Click on Staff and Volunteers found on the menu at the top of the page
3. Click on Required Training in the drop down menu
4. To see the list of upcoming training sessions and register, select click here under the Safe Environment Training Classroom Component heading

Step Three
“Safe Environment, Part II: Mandated Reporting of Suspected Child Abuse” is an online component that provides an overview of Archdiocesan reporting procedures for suspected child abuse and Pennsylvania Child Welfare Laws. This training is mandatory for all volunteers who began service after December, 2011, or did not complete that the training in person.

To complete this portion of the Safe Environment Training:
1. Go to www.childyouthprotection.org
2. Click on Training Institute found on the menu at the top of the page
3. Select Register Now and proceed accordingly

For more information, please visit: www.childyouthprotection.org or call Colleen DuBeck in the Rectory @ 215-673-8127.
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Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Catholic Church

9220 Old Bustleton Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19115

Safe Environment

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