Florida Catholic | Summer Safe Environment training offered

Summer Safe Environment training offered

Published: 07.04.08

Diocesan Safe Environment Office announces summer schedule of training programs.

ST. PETERSBURG | Those thinking about volunteering for certain ministries in the fall might want to get their Safe Environment training and clearances this summer.

In an effort to create an environment where children and vulnerable adults are safe from sexual predators, the church and the diocese require background checks and Safe Environment training for all people who have access to children or vulnerable adults. Those needing the screening and training include parents who volunteer at their child’s school and those who deliver the Eucharist to the homebound, or those in nursing homes and hospitals.

Diocesan Safe Environment Program manager André Glaudé said the Safe Environment practices are important because they help the church screen out sexual predators and those with criminal records. They also help create an environment where adults can better protect children from predators who do not have a criminal record.

“The diocese puts two rings of protection around these children and vulnerable adults,” he said. “One is background screening; the other is Safe Environment training. … We train people to watch for signs of abuse in an adult (and) signs of abuse in a child and to report it to the police and the Department of Children and Families.”

Safe Environment training is free. Different workshops are designed for those who minister to adults and those who work with children. Background screenings require a $50 fee and an application to be filled out by the individual requesting the screening, which is available online at www.diocese.sofn.net.

These safe environment workshops are scheduled and available for those working or volunteering with children:

• Monday, July 14, or Aug. 11, 6-9 p.m., Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Dunedin. Contact Americo, 727-733-0872.

• Wednesday, July 16, or Aug. 13, 6-9 p.m., St. James the Apostle Parish, Port Richey. Contact Marion, 727-869-3130.

• Saturday, Aug. 2, 9 a.m.-noon, Our Lady of Grace Parish, Beverly Hills. Contact LeAnne, 352-746-2144.

• Saturday, Aug. 9, 9 a.m.-noon, Resurrection Parish, Riverview. Contact Tina, 813-677-2175.

• Saturday, Aug. 16, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., St. Joan of Arc Parish, Spring Hill. Contact Donna, 352-686-7864.

• Wednesday, Aug. 20, 6:30-9:30 p.m., Pope John Paul II Catholic School, Lecanto. Contact the school secretary, 352-746-2020.

• Thursday, Aug. 28, 6:30-9:30 p.m., Espiritu Santo Parish, Safety Harbor. Contact the parish office, 727-726-8477.

The following Safe Environment workshops will take place in September. To participate, contact Kathy Proefke or Doug Reatini in the diocesan Office of Worship: 727-341-6828, DJR@dosp.org, or KCP@dosp.org.

• Saturday, Sept. 13, 8:30-11:30 a.m., St. Mary Parish, Tampa.

• Saturday, Sept. 20, 8:30-11:30 a.m., Light of Christ Parish, Tampa.

For more information on the diocesan Safe Environment Program, call 344-1611, ext. 377; e-mail to ag@dosp.org; or visit the program’s Pastoral Center Web site, http://home.catholicweb.com/dosp_se/

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Summer Safe Environment training offered

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