Diocese of Covington Includes Selection.com in Safe Environment Program
Cincinnati, OH (PRWEB) January 17, 2014 -- On 12/13/2013 in the diocesan publication, the Messenger, it was announced that Selection.com had been added to their “Safe Environment Program”.
Selection.com® is a national, Catholic faith-based background check company located in Cincinnati that provides a full range of pre-employment screening background check reports including criminal background checks, employment verifications, education verifications, drug screenings and professional license verifications.
According to the Messenger, since the Diocese introduced the Safe Environment program in 2004, a criminal background check has been a part of the Diocese of Covington’s “Safe Environment” certification program. To become certified, every priest, deacon, religious sister, employee or volunteer working in the parishes, schools or Catholic organizations in the Diocese of Covington must pass a background check, complete a live safe environment training session and maintain monthly bulletins through the VIRTUS program. Background checks are a first hurdle in protecting children and vulnerable adults from sexual predators who would wish to harm them. Under the direction of Bishop Roger Foys and with the unanimous approval of all five members of the Deanery Council, Margaret Schack, Diocesan Safe Environment Coordinator, has taken steps to strengthen the background check component of the volunteer certification process. Beginning January 1, 2014 background checks are now being processed through the Cincinnati-based company, Selection.com.
James Boeddeker, President of Selection.com, stated, "Selection.com is proud to be selected to provide such an important service to the Covington area parishes, schools, and ministries. As a faith-based organization, we have a vested interest in the safety of our churches and schools.”
The Messenger also reports, the most obvious advantage with the change is the number of background checks processed. With the current system, a background check is run for every new volunteer with follow-ups every five years. With Selection.com the same initial background check is run with additional checks occurring every four months. “Five years is too long to wait in-between checks,” said Ms. Schack. “The fact that someone knows that a back ground check is being run regularly is another barrier set up for people who want to sneak into the system.”
Additionally, Selection.com’s operating system, Fastrax, and the VIRTUS© online child protection program will work together, thereby streamlining the process because it will only be necessary to register once for both programs.
The Diocese of Covington was created in 1853 and serves over 500,000 people in Northern Kentucky, including more than 14,000 grade school and high school students. The Diocese spans 3,359 square miles and includes 47 parishes and 38 schools.
For further questions or to schedule an interview, contact Carl Brown at 513-522-8764.
Photo is of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, from their website, http://www.covcathedral.com.
Carl Brown, Selection.com, http://www.selection.com, 513-522-8764 Ext: 3030, [email protected]
Share this article