Issue #2
February 27, 2019
Keep Our Children SAFE!
Archbishop Schnurr Pledges to Protect Abuse Victims

Many are aware that in February there was a meeting of the world bishops in Rome to discuss sex abuse in the Catholic church. As a follow up to that meeting, Archbishop Schnurr published an open letter pledging to take decisive action in cases of abuse by clergy, lay employees, and volunteers in the diocese. Please read his letter by following the link below and please pray for victims of abuse throughout the world.


The Virtus ® bulletin for March 2019 will be published on March 3, 2019. Look for an email announcement from Virtus next week. Note that some volunteers have reported that they are not getting bulletin reminders. Please check your SPAM folders as some email filtering software has inappropriately identified Virtus ® emails as junk.
Approved Volunteers

When organizing an official St. Charles activity involving children, please check the list below to make sure that your adult volunteers are approved to serve with children. For legal reasons, St. Charles Parish cannot publish a list of people who are prohibited from volunteering around children due to abuse. If an adult volunteer is not on the approved volunteer list, it could be for a variety of reasons. Most of the time it means that the person got behind on their bulletins and became inactive. Please have your volunteer contact Steve Morris and he can help resolve the issue. If your volunteer has not attended a Virtus ® class, please have them visit Virtus Online to create a Virtus ® account and sign up for a Child Protection training class. Training times and locations can be found under the training tab by clicking on the Live Training link.


Violations Of Child Protection Policies Can Affect Us All
Policy: Do not circumvent building safety and security systems

Do NOT prop exterior building doors open or use a hex wrench to mechanically unlock our doors. If the door is propped open or mechanically unlocked, anyone who is intent on doing harm could walk in. Furthermore, we are not able to do an emergency lock-down of the property if the doors are mechanically unlocked. If you need to have a door unlocked, please contact the parish business office to schedule an electronic unlock. You may be asked if a responsible adult will be monitoring the doors. If an intruder enters the building through an unlocked door it is too late to do anything about it.
YOU ARE DEPUTIZED!
Virtus ® is just one part of our strategy to protect our children. Virtus ® is an educational program designed to inform the public on abuse topics of all kinds. Virtus ® also provides parish administration with the tools that we need to identify, track, and report on those who meet our volunteer criteria. All volunteers are required to attend a Virtus ® training class and read a monthly educational bulletin to volunteer around children.

Selection.com ® is the second component to our child protection program. Through Selection.com ® we are able to monitor police and court activities for our employees and volunteers that may present a threat to our children. All employees and all volunteers are required to complete an online background check. Clergy and employees must also complete an OHIO BCI and an FBI fingerprint-based background check and an additional background check done by the Archdiocese.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati publishes a Decree On Child Protection that outlines the criteria and the expectations for employees and volunteers to proactively combat abuse in all forms, and it provides instructions on how to respond to cases of abuse should they arise. A summary of this substantial work can be found by following the following link: Child Protection Decree Summary Brochure

The fourth component of our child protection program are our diocesan locations. Diocesan churches, schools, and agencies are responsible for their security infrastructure, education, and for administering the decree at the local level.

Lastly, but most importantly, our Child Protection program relies on YOU to be the eyes, ears, hands, and feet of Jesus in helping protect the children in our families, schools, churches, and neighborhoods. You have been called to action and deputized into service.

If you witness or even suspect child abuse in any form, call 911 immediately!

If the abuse took place on parish property, please contact Steve Morris at (937) 401-0521. Every report will be investigated by the Police, Child Protective Services, and/or St. Charles Parish and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati! You are a key member of our Child Protection team!
Stay Up-to-Date on VIRTUS ® Training
The VIRTUS ® program is designed to educate our volunteers and parishioners on important child safety concerns. Knowledge is power but only when you put it to good use.
I f something doesn't seem right—let us know!
Thank you for your efforts toward protecting our children.

Stephen B. Morris
Business Manager
937-401-0521 (direct)
St. Charles Borromeo Parish | www.stcharles-kettering.org