All employees of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Charleston and all volunteers who have regular contact with anyone under the age of 18 must complete safe environment training for adults and undergo a background check before beginning employment or volunteer service. In these and other ways, we are dedicated to preserving a safe and healthy environment for all of the children and young people entrusted to our care.

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The Diocese of Charleston provides several resources to help every parish be a safe environment for children, and at the same time, the Diocese also provides the means to report an allegation of abuse and to request assistance for a victim. These can be found by visiting the diocesan website.

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Starting July 1, 2024, Bishop Jacques Fabre-Jeune, CS, has mandated that the Diocese of Charleston will exclusively use the VIRTUS® programs, accessible at https://www.virtus.org, for its safe environment curriculum and tracking of training records. The VIRTUS® programs offer a comprehensive training system and data management tools to ensure safe environments for children and vulnerable individuals.

Attached are the instructions for registering with VIRTUS Online, completing the required background screening, Protecting God's Children online training, Child Protection Policy, Code of Conduct, and Social Media Policy to be eligible to work on the St. Joseph campus. This needs to be completed before you start volunteering with our CCD program.

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If you do not have access to a computer or need help with the online training, please let me know, and I can arrange for you to complete the training at the office.

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If you are interested in volunteering at St. Joseph's, please click on the PDF below:

Questions? Please contact:
Jamie Vickrey

St. Joseph's Safe Environment Coordinator

jamie@stjosephcolumbia.org

803.254.7646 ext. 421