Safeguarding God's Children
To all who wish to volunteer at Schhol,
Since 2003, the U.S. Conferece of Catholic Bishops implemented a Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee responded to this charter and outlined how it would implement and enforce the charter with the Promise to Protect, Pledge to Heal. Over the years this document has been revised with policies, procedures and protocols for preventing sexual abuse and responses to allegations made. Below are three requirements the Archdiocese of Milwaukee have put in place for all those who work with children and young people.
Promise to Protect, Pledge to Heal
The archdiocese of Milwaukee is committed to maintaining safe environments for children to learn, pray, and grow. Our Safe environment Office supports our parishes and schools and maitains the compliance of our archdiocese in our Promise to Protect, Pledge to Heal.
Every priest, deacon, parish or school staff member, teacher and lay minister that is employed by a parish or school and any volunteer working with minors in our archdiocese is required to meet three requirements:
1- Attend a Safe Environment Education Session. This is a child abuse and maltreatment prevention program that must be attneded in person. The current curriculum taught in this session is Circle of Care by the Archdiocese of Omaha.
2- Pass a Criminal Background Check. This check is done at the start of employment or beginning volunteering with minors and must be done every five (5) years subsequently. The criminal background check is conducted through the CMG Connect portal. The criminal background check reports are reviewed and certified through the collaboration of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Safe Environments Office and parish/school Safe Environment coordinators.
3- Sign the Code of Ethical Standards for Church Leaders Link to Code of Ethical Standards. This code of conduct provides volunteers and employees with expectations and guidelines for how they interact with and conduct themselves in ministry. This code must be signed prior to beginning volunteering or working in a parish or school and is reviewed every five (5) years subsequently.
As Catholics, we are all tasked with participating in ensuring that every child is able to feel safe in our parishes and schools. In addition to our safe environment requirements for adults, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee requires all parish religious education programs and Catholic schools to provide instruction on personal safety and abuse prevention in age-appropriate lessons for all children in grades kindergarten through twelfth grade enrolled in their programs. Parishes and schools are required to annually report their compliance with this requirement.
If you are interested in volunteering for the first time at St. greg's, you must take an initial training course, background check, and sign the code of ethical standards. You can do this by creating an account on the CMG Connect website.
For volunteers that have had the training, the information must be updated every 5 years. The process takes at minimum 90 minutes to complete.
Mandatory Reporting Responsibilities
Instructions for Completing Renewal Safe Environment Certification