Volunteer

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.” – Oscar Wilde

Requirements for Employees and Volunteers

If you plan to be a Parish or School employee or volunteer who has contact with or access to children, you are required to complete the 5 Step VIRTUS: Protecting God’s Children Program PRIOR to beginning employment or volunteering. 

The Diocese of Cleveland’s December 2016 Policy for the Safety of Children in Matters Regarding Sexual Abuse requires that every Parish (Church or School) employee and every Parish volunteer 18 and older who has contact with or access to children is required to do the following:

1. Complete a volunteer application with 3 personal references with addresses. This application can be found here.
2. Attendance at a 3-hour “Protecting God’s Children” Training Workshop. Must be registered at www.virtusonline.org
3. Read and sign the acknowledgement form for the Diocese of Cleveland’s Policy for the Safety of Children in Matters of Sexual Abuse, Revised 2016.
4. Go to:  http://www.clevelandchildprotection.org
5. Choose “Documents and Policies” in the left banner
6. Choose the link “Click to download the Policy for the Safety of Children in Matters of Sexual Abuse: Rev. 20016”
7. Read the Policy for the Safety of Children in Matters of Sexual Abuse: Rev. 20016
8. Print page 57 of the policy, complete and sign
9. Read and sign the acknowledgement form that you have read the Standards of Conduct for Ministry
10. Go to:  http://www.clevelandchildprotection.org
11. Choose “Documents and Policies” in the left banner
12. Choose the link “Click to download the Standards of Conduct for Ministry.”
13. Read the Standards of Conduct for Ministry.
14. Print page 16 of the policy, complete and sign
15. A current successful background check through Selection.com – This program covers the requirement of having background checks repeated every five years, since Selection.com runs quarterly checks on all persons active in the data base.  You will remain active in the data base if you are a priest, deacon, lay ecclesial minister, are currently employed or are volunteering with children.   

Post VIRTUS Workshop Online Training

Within two weeks of attending the workshop, you will be sent a confirmation email. Follow the instructions in the email notification you will receive (click on the MY TRAINING tab after you log in to the www.virtusonline.org website successfully. Read the training bulletin carefully and answer the question at the end of the training bulletin. A correct answer registers that you have read the bulletin. You will be required to read 24 bulletins within two years. After that, training bulletins are not required but STRONGLY encouraged on a continuing education basis.

If you have any questions about this, please refer them to Annette Bernard at (330) 336-3049 or annette@shofjesus.com.