Western Washington County
Western Allegheny County
St. AlphonsusMcDonald
St. AnnBulger
St. ColumbkilleImperial
St. MichaelAvella
Our Lady of LourdesBurgettstown
St. PatrickOakdale
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safe environment coordinator
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Ms. Donna Waxterdwaxterstisidorethefarmer.orgSafe Environment Coordinator
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The Diocesan Safe Environment Policy was created to take reasonable measures to assure that all clergy, staff, and volunteers over 18 are committed to providing a safe environment for children and youth, are capable of identifying and preventing abuse of children, and have no personal history of behavior that would be a threat to children. Some of the vetting requirements are unique to the Church, while others are required by State and Federal law. Although these are a lot of requirements, history shows that no effort can be spared in protecting the most vulnerable among us.
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To obtain clearances, please click here to go to the Diocese of Pittsburgh's Safe Environment page and complete the necessary steps. If you get stuck, the tips listed below can help you. Anyone who is not "tech savvy," or who finds these steps too complicated, is more than welcome to work through Donna Waxter, our safe environment coordinator. She assists volunteers all the time, and would be more than happy to help you. You can find her contact information in the left hand column.
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Tips for obtaining clearances
1. The first thing you'll be asked for when you get to the Virtus website is a passcode. The passcode is protect. You'll then be asked to create a usernmane and password. Once you do that, log in to complete the remaining steps.
2. If you do the "online application" for the Child Abuse History Clearance, you'll be taken to the "Child Welfare Portal" page. When you get there, do the following:- Click on CREATE INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT
- Click NEXT
- Enter a Keystone ID – this is your user name
- After typing in the rest of the information, you will receive an email with a temporary password. Follow the instructions to continue completing the application.
Helpful Tip: You will be asked to list the permanent places you have lived and people whom you have lived with since 1975. You do not need to include college addresses or roommates. If a person you have lived with is now deceased, leave the age blank. This clearance will need to be renewed every 5 years. You can print the registration at the end to keep for your records.
3. For the FBI finterprint step, you do not need to get fingerprinted if you have lived in Pennsylvania for more than 10 consecutive years. You'll just need to print and sign the waiver form, and turn that into Donna Waxter at the parish office. If you haven't lived in PA for more than 10 consecutive years, you will need to be fingerprinted. Follow the steps on the Diocesan Safe Environment page to schedule it. The parish will reimburse you for the $23 fee. Just send in the receipt to the parish office. Once you have received your results/letter, please send a copy to Donna Waxter.
4. If you select the online training for the "Protecting God's Children Workship," do the following:- Log into Virtus using the password you created at the beginning of the process.
- When asked which organization you belong to, select Pittsburgh, PA (Diocese)
- When asked your primary location, select whichever parish you are registered at.
- When asked which training you wish to attend, scroll to the bottom to click Protecting God’s Children for Adults (Online Training).
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Report AbuseThe Reporting Process
- Everyone is a permissive reporter and is encouraged to make a report of suspected child abuse. Reporters of suspected child abuse fall into two categories.
- Mandated reporters are those adults who come into direct contact with children in the course of their employment or volunteer of a regularly scheduled program or activity, who accepts responsibility for a child.
- The trigger to report is a reasonable suspicion that a child is being abused. Permissive reporters may report anonymously; mandated reporters may not.
Making a Report of Child Abuse- Reports of suspected child abuse are to be made immediately.
- If the child is in imminent danger, call 911
- Reports may be made orally by phone or electronically
- Oral reports are made to ChildLine at 1-800-932-0313 which is available 24/7
- Electronic reports are made via CWIS Self-Service portal at www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis
- Inform the supervisor or person in charge of your program that a report was made
To report church-related abuse to the Diocese of Pittsburgh call:
1-888-808-1235
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Clergy Abuse Hotline: 1-888-538-8541
Diocesan Victim Assistance Coordinator:
412-456-3093
Call 911 immediately if a child is in immediate danger.
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