Protecting God’s Children

Volunteer Information for Working with Children or Youth

Safe Environment Program

St. Matthew the Apostle 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.
2. Participate in a Protecting God’s Children (PGC) session. Registering must be done online at Virtus Online .
3. Click on the yellow link, “Registration”, 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.
4. Undergo a Civilian Criminal Background/Fingerprint check (BCI&I) or Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) check.   Ohio residents for 5 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 locations:

Education Service Center
2080 Citygate Drive, Columbus, OH   43219
(614) 445-3750(Enter the rear of the building)
Mondays and Thursdays 8:30 – 11:30 a.m; Wednesdays 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Cost: BCI – $29; FBI – $26. Debit card, VISA or Mastercard ( no cash and checks).

Gahanna License Agency
415 Agler Rd, Gahanna, OH 43230
(614) 476-0398
Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.; Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Cost: BCI – $32; FBI – $34

Items needed for a background check:

• Valid driver’s license or photo ID
• Reason for fingerprinting: ORC 2151.86

Send results to:
Catholic Diocese of Columbus
Attn: Regina E. Quinn
197 E. Gay Street
Columbus, OH 43215
614-241-2568

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

Background checks generally less than 30 days for turn around. Please follow up with the parish office within 30 days of having your background check submitted to verify receipt.

St. Matthew Volunteer Driver Form:
Please complete our Volunteer driver form if you will be transporting minors for a St. Matthew event/field trip.

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@colsdioc.org  or contact:

The Reverend Monsignor Stephen J. Moloney
614-224-2251  OR  866-448-0217