Obtaining Background Checks and Child Safety Training

All volunteers and employees whose ministry places them in contact with children must have a background check before beginning their work and must pass a child safety course annually. The Diocese of Cascadia has arranged through its Promoting Anglican Fellowship in Cascadia (PAF-C) board to make child safety background checks and on-line child safety training available through Protect My Ministry (PMM).

These services are provided in the expectation that all congregations will use them to ensure child safety, and in so doing will establish a consistent, practical approach to this important responsibility throughout the Diocese.

Ann Ehrlich has been appointed as the administrator of this program for the Diocese. She can be reached at annehrlich11@gmail.com  or by phone at 503-281-4357.

Procedure:

Instruct the potential employee/volunteer to apply for a background check as follows:
Go online to the Diocese of Cascadia website, cascadiadiocese.org

Click on RESOURCES

Click on CHILD SAFETY

Click on INITIATE BACKGROUND CHECK

This will take the applicant to a special website set up by PMM for the Diocese of Cascadia. There he or she will find an application form to fill out and submit electronically. This process also includes an authorization/disclaimer for the background check, verified by an electronic signature.

Send an email to the Diocesan PMM administrator (Ann Ehrlich, annehrlich11@gmail.com) stating the name of your congregation and the name(s) of the applicant(s). Indicate whether you wish to proceed with safety training for each individual at this time or not.

PMM will then contact the administrator to authorize the background check. Until you have notified the administrator, the background check cannot proceed

Within approximately 48 hours after authorization, the administrator will receive the report and will forward it to you, together with a copy of the completed application. You are encouraged to keep these documents in electronic format in secure files. There should be no need to print them. If they are printed, they must be kept in a locked file and shredded when discarded.

PMM will send an email invitation to the applicant to sign up for the on-line child safety course (unless you have indicated that this process should be delayed). The applicant can take the course at his/her convenience, using the link sent by PMM with the invitation. The course takes about 90 minutes to complete and includes an examination.

PMM will notify the administrator when the applicant successfully completes the course and the administrator will notify you by email of the applicant’s successful course completion.

The administrator will notify the Diocesan Treasurer of PMM activities chargeable to your church at the rate of $6.00 per person, which includes both the background check and the child safety course. The annual subscription for this service and the initial setup costs for the program have been paid by the Diocese of Cascadia through PAF-C.

The treasurer will bill your church quarterly for the background checks charged to your account.