St. Ignatius of Antioch

Safe Environment

Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers for all you do each and every day to support the St. Ignatius community and programs. The following information provides the Safe Environment guidelines which reflect the changes to the Pennsylvania Child Protective Services laws which came into effect in 2015.

Required Clearances

Archdiocesan policy requires that volunteers who may have any possible contact with children complete the following background checks and clearances:

Clearances for Volunteers Living in PA for Less than 10 years:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation Fingerprint Clearance  and use the following codes:  

  	ALL Volunteers:	1KG6ZJ  (The Cost is $24.20)
  	School Employees:	1KG6TR  (The Cost is $26.20)

  St. Ignatius will reimburse you for the fingerprint charge after you remit the results
  to the Parish Business Office.
  
• Pennsylvania State Police Clearance (There is no charge for this clearance for volunteers.)
• Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance (There is no charge for this clearance for volunteers.)
• Read the Mandated Reporter Brochure (PDF: 448KB), sign and return the Mandated Reporter Acknowledgement Form (PDF: 68KB)

Please FORWARD THE CLEARANCE CERTIFICATES to the parish business office upon completion. Email to hr@stignatius.church or mail to St. Ignatius Church, 999 Reading Avenue, Yardley, PA 19067 Attn: Human Resources.

Clearances for Volunteers Living in PA Continuously for 10 years or more:

• Pennsylvania State Police Clearance (There is no charge for this clearance for volunteers.)
• Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance (There is no charge for this clearance for volunteers.)
• Disclosure Statement application for Volunteers (PDF)
• Read the Mandated Reporter Brochure (PDF: 448KB), sign and return the Mandated Reporter Acknowledgement Form (PDF: 68KB)

Please FORWARD THE CLEARANCE CERTIFICATES to the parish business office upon completion. Email to hr@stignatius.church or mail to St. Ignatius Church, 999 Reading Avenue, Yardley, PA 19067 Attn: Human Resources.

Volunteers who reside in Pennsylvania DO NOT have a provisional period and MUST OBTAIN clearances prior to beginning service.

Volunteers who reside in another state or country may serve for no more than 30 days as long as they provide clearances from their state or country of residence.

Clearance Renewal Requirements

Volunteers who have been a resident of Pennsylvania for less than 10 years must renew their FBI Fingerprint clearance every five (5) years 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 years.

All other required clearances must be renewed every five years.

Training Requirements

Volunteers who have regular contact with children (at least one time per week) are required to complete parts one and two of the Safe Environment training within 90 days of beginning their volunteer work.

• Protecting Gods Children (instructor-led), is offered regularly at sites throughout the Archdiocese. The training provides basic facts about child sexual abuse and adults’ roles in prevention. Register here
• The Mandated Reporting of Suspected Child Abuse(online), is available online at our Training Institute in English and Spanish. This training provides an overview of Archdiocesan reporting procedures for suspected child abuse and Pennsylvania Child Welfare Laws. The training should take you approximately one hour to complete. You may complete this training at any time. You do not need to wait until after you complete the Protecting God’s Children class. Register here
  
  Please forward your training certificates to hr@stignatius.church upon completion of each of the trainings.
  
  **For CYO coaches and assistant coaches, the Safe Environment trainings must be completed before their season begins.

For additional information, please visit the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Office of Child and Youth Protection website at www.childyouthprotection.org or call the St. Ignatius Safe Environment Coordinator at 215-493-3377 ext. 212 or email at hr@stignatius.church with any questions.