Safe Environment Program

Diocesan Safe Environment Program for Adults Interacting with Minors

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. Register and take the 3 hour Protecting God's Children Class (PGC).  It is important to do this step.  Creating a profile in VIRTUS and registering for the class correctly (in VIRTUS) will prevent you from having to repeat this step.  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 open session in the Diocese. SOME of the classes offered will have a third party present that will perform the background check (for a fee) before the class.  Call the location for more information.
2. Undergo a Civilian Criminal Background/Fingerprint check (BCI) / Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) check.   

• Volunteers: If you have lived in Ohio for 5 years or longer you only need to get a BCI report done (not FBI). If you have lived in the state of Ohio for less than 5 years you will need to have both the BCI & FBI reports done.
• Employees: Before starting work at the Parish and/or school, you must have a BCI & FBI performed. In addition to sending the background check to the ODE (if applicable to you) please have the results sent to the Diocese. (see below). 

 
BCI & FBI background checks 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.
(no cash or 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.

Items needed for a background check:

• Valid driver’s license or photo ID
• Reason for fingerprinting:            Volunteers give them the code: ORC 2151.86

                                                            Licensed school employees – teachers, counselors, therapists:  ORC 3319.291
                                                            Non-teaching employees – maintenance, admin, parish, etc.:  ORC 3319.39B1
(Teachers have to have a BCI (not FBI) re run every 5 years. All other school employees have to have BCI & FBI run every 5 years.)
(Volunteers and Parish employees (don't interact with school children) only have to have the background check run once.)                                 

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

(Background checks generally take less than 30 days for turn around.) 

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

Once you have completed steps 1-3 above and your PGC class and background check have been "posted" in VIRTUS, you are Safe Environment Compliant and free to volunteer with ministries that involve minors: thank you!

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