Step-by-Step Child Protection Checklist

To be Safe Environment and Child Protection Certified, you must have:

1. A Background Check 
2. A Safe and Sacred Training Certification
3. A Signed Code of Ethics

*Adult refers to any participant who is 18 years or older and who is not a high school student.*

Please note: Child Protection Certifications become out-of-date once the program or curriculum has been updated and/or revised. You must renew your certification when the materials/courses are updated to volunteer within a parish. If you are unsure if your certification is still valid, please contact your parish youth minister or Child Protection Site Coordinator. The most recent update to the Safe and Sacred Training was in March 2020.

Step 1: 
You have to go through a background check with the Diocese. That means turning in to your parish an "application form" to be a volunteer within the Diocese. You can turn in a hard copy, or scan the document to your parish's youth minister OR Child Protection Site Coordinator (if you don't know who this is, just submit it to your youth minister). Be sure to fill in all of the blanks applicable your circumstance. 

Click to download the Diocesan Volunteer Application Form.

Step 2: 
You have to take a Diocesan class on child protection entitled "Safe and Sacred". You will need to create a log in and follow the instructions (make a note of your login information). In the Diocese of Baton Rouge, you have to participate a guided virtual course (Serving Vulnerable Populations) on child protection followed by a ten-question quiz. This quiz may be taken multiple times until you pass. After the quiz, print the certificate you receive, print a copy for yourself and submit it to your parish (the same person you submitted the Volunteer Application to). 

Click here to go to the Safe and Sacred Training page.

Step 3: 
You have to read through and sign the signature pages at the back of the Diocesan Code of Ethics. Sign it and submit it to your parish (same process applies as stated before). 

Click here to download the Diocesan Code of Ethics (English), Diocesan Code of Ethics (Tiếng Việt), Diocesan Code of Ethics (Español) - coming soon.
 

To ensure that everything has been approved, please make sure to follow up with your parish. Also, if you have forgotten to make your own copies, ask the person you submitted your documents to for some. They would be more than happy to assist you. 

Do I really have to be certified?

The Diocese of Baton Rouge is dedicated to ensuring the safety of the young and vulnerable. This means that no matter if you are a new youth minister, parent chaperoning a youth group event or new volunteer, you need to be certified. 

What if I've already been certified in a different Diocese? Isn't being fingerprinted the same thing?

It is important to know that just because you are Child Protection Certified in another Diocese or state does NOT mean that you are Child Protection Certified in the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Each Diocese goes about Child Protection differently, so you must go through the Diocese of Baton Rouge's certification process. In addition, if you’ve been background checked or been fingerprinted before within the city or state, that does NOT mean you don’t have to go through this specific certification process. The two certifications do NOT cross over.