Western Washington County
Western Allegheny County
St. AlphonsusMcDonald
St. AnnBulger
St. ColumbkilleImperial
St. MichaelAvella
Our Lady of LourdesBurgettstown
St. PatrickOakdale
Attention all current volunteers and staff members: In order to ensure that the safe environment training you received remains fresh in your mind, the Diocese is asking everyone to get recertified every few years. If you haven't already done so, please watch the video, "Protecting God's Children Maltreatment 3.2 & Vulnerable Adults Combined." You should be able to find it by clicking here, and logging into your Virtus Account. Only by watching this video will your clearances remain up to date!
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.
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 the parish.
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:
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 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 the parish office.
4. If you select the online training for the "Protecting God's Children Workship," do the following:
Clergy Abuse Hotline: 1-888-538-8541
Diocesan Victim Assistance Coordinator:
412-456-3093
Call 911 immediately if a child is in immediate danger.