Children are the most precious resource of the family and the Church. The greatest care must always be taken when the safety of children is involved. The Diocese of Arlington is committed to providing a safe environment to all children entrusted to our care and assisting each child to grow in grace and wisdom.
The Office of Child Protection & Safety of the Arlington Diocese provides several programs including:
- A comprehensive training program for employees, volunteers, parents and children
- Application procedures for persons working with children, including background checks
- Monitoring of child and youth activities to ensure that all contact with young people is appropriate
- Outreach and support for victims of child abuse and their families
At Saint Patrick, in support of these programs and the policies that accompany them, we work to see that all applicable persons are fully compliant with the Child Protection Policies of the Arlington Diocese.
Who is required to be fully compliant?
All employees are required to be fully compliant, regardless of their potential contact with our youth or the number of hours they work.
All regular volunteers AND volunteers with substantial contact with our youth are required to be fully compliant. (Substantial contact is contact that is not incidental OR where their service is such that it is reasonable to think that the person may at some time have contact with our children outside the sight or hearing of other responsible adults.)
What is Full Compliancy?
- Submission of background check providing for a thorough background check of the individual. (fingerprinting is required for employees). You may request information from the Child Protection Liaison for Saint Patrick at SaintPatrickChildProtection@gmail.com or at 540-785-5299.
- Attendance at a Virtus seminar entitled: “Protecting God’s Children.” These seminars are held at parishes all over the Diocese and you may attend any location convenient to you. Please go to www.virtusonline.org, click on Registration and check for a seminar near you. They are held in the evenings and on Saturday mornings, generally lasting between three or four hours. You must sign up on line and sign in at the seminar to receive credit.
Please email SaintPatrickChildProtection@gmail.com or call the Child Protection Liaison for Saint Patrick if you would like further clarification or want to know if you are already compliant. If you are in the database at any Arlington parish, we can have your compliancy transferred to our active list.
Thank you for working to make our parish a safe place for our youth!