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PROTECTING GOD'S

CHILDREN

Volunteer Information for Working with Children or Youth

Safe Environment Program

 

St. John Paul II Scioto Catholic Parish believes that our children are the most important gifts God has entrusted to us, and we are committed to the protection and safety of all children. In compliance with the Safe Environment Program of the Diocese of Columbus, all volunteers, 18 years of age and older, who have “care, custody or control,” or regular supervised or unsupervised access to children must complete the following procedures prior to volunteering:

 

1.  Complete a Volunteer Application which includes the Code of Conduct.

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2.  Participate in a Protecting God’s Children (PGC) session. Registering must be done online at Virtus Online.

Click on the green first-time registrant button, on the left side of the page to either view a list of upcoming sessions  or begin the registration process.  When asked to select your organization, scroll to “Columbus OH” and then   click “Select”.  You can register for any session in the diocese. 

 

 3. Undergo a Civilian Criminal Background/Fingerprint check (BCI&I) or Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) check.  Ohio residents for five years or longer are to obtain a BCI&I Report; those who have been Ohio residents for less than 5 years are to obtain an FBI Report. Both can be obtained at the following location:

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Scioto County Sheriff's Office

1025 Sixteenth Street

Portsmouth, Ohio 45662

 

Items needed for a background check:

  1. Valid driver’s license or photo ID

  2. Reason for fingerprinting: ORC 2151.86  

  3. Send results directly to: 

Catholic Diocese of Columbus

Attn: Regina E. Quinn

197 E. Gay Street

Columbus, OH 43215

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4. Volunteers are only required to have one – either the FBI or BCI check, based on Ohio residency (see above).  Volunteers do NOT need both.                   

 

Need to report a case of child abuse?
To report child abuse in the parish or school, contact both the county child protective agency and the diocese.  A confidential email can be sent to the diocese at helpisavailable@columbuscatholic.org  or contact:

 

Diocesan Victim Assistance Coordinator

Laura J. Lewis, M.A., L.P.C.C.-S
866-448-0217
llewis@columbuscatholic.org
helpisavailable@columbuscatholic.org

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OTHER LINKS

 

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