SAFE ENVIRONMENTS  Fourth in a series of articles

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Last week we considered Awareness Training as the first of three components in creating a Safe Environment in our Catholic schools and parishes. This week, we discuss. ..

Background Checks

What a terrible thing to ask of CHURCH volunteers!!

Admittedly, this is the aspect of the Safe Environment effort that is most likely to cause discomfort and resistance, make people feel offended or cause them to raise objections.

Why does every volunteer and employee and every vendor/contract employee who does regular business on church property have to undergo a criminal background check? As noted last week, if any group is known to be exempt from scrutiny, that will be the group that a predator will target as hislher vulnerable entry point for access to children and potential victims.

Background checks, however, have become commonplace in other organizations and venues: Boy/Girl Scouts, Athletic Programs and School Volunteers, just to name a few.

Let's get down to the real nitty-gritty of the process. Each current employee, volunteer and contracted employee (if not already asked by the vendor who supplies their services), 18 years of age or older, will be asked to sign a consent form allowing Saint Luke Parish to conduct a criminal background check. (For future employees, the successful completion of the background check will be a prerequisite for hiring.) We cannot initiate a search for background information unless the person gives specific permission. And so, in signing that form, the person is informed of, and makes a specific written choice for, what information will be researched.

What the background check does NOT ask: * Medical Records or History

* Arrest records

* Financial Information

Exception: A Credit Check is required for those who are in positions of :fmancial responsibility in the . parish (pastor, bookkeeper_, anyone who handles the c?unting and deposit of offertory collections).

What the background check does seek to establish:

* Are you who you say you are? (Does your name correspond to your SSN?)

Have you ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving the sexual abuse of children?

The Diocese of Bridgeport has contracted with two firms MYB ("Mind Your Business" - for employee checks) and ChoicePoint (for checks on volunteers). Each parish (and school and institution) in the Diocese must set up an account with these firms. The cost of these inquiries is the responsibility of the parish - currently $4 per volunteer, $15 per employee.

*Per Diocesan Insurance requirements, the individual site accounts have all been set up in such a way that the results are sent only to the Safe Environments Office of the Diocese, and to one person only: Louise Stewart-Spagnuolo, the Director of Human Resources. If the search produces a negative result, the person receives a written notice of adverse finding and the parish is instructed not to hire that person (in the case of an employee) or not to allow the person to work as a volunteer.

Next week: Sign-off on Diocesan Policy and Other Practical Concerns