The State of California and the Diocese of Orange have mandated that any individuals who have contact with students must meet certain requirements for the safety of our children. These requirements apply to all teachers and staff, as well as to all parents, relatives or others who volunteer at the school and have contact with children (e.g., lunch supervisors, field trip chaperones and drivers, those who help in classrooms, the library or the computer lab, and those who sell Scrip or help with any other activities on the school campus).
The following are the State of California and the Diocese of Orange mandated requirements for individuals who have contact with children:
1. The State of California and the Diocese of Orange have mandated that any individuals who have contact with students must be fingerprinted and cleared using a process called Live Scan. Fingerprinting will need to be done only once during your time at Blessed Sacrament School. However, it must be done through the Diocese of Orange, even though you may have been fingerprinted elsewhere, as privacy laws prohibit the sharing of information between agencies. The Live Scan application can be started in the school office.
Once the application is filled out, it must be returned to the school office. The office will then generate a Live Scan Request Form and give it to the volunteer along with a list of Live Scan locations. The volunteer must then take the form to one of the locations, where they will receive two copies of a receipt: one which must be returned to the school office and one which may be kept for personal records.
The school office MUST receive your fingerprinting clearance from the Diocese before you can participate in any capacity that involves contact with the children.
2. The Diocese requires completion of the Safe Environment training course once every 3 years. This course can be taken online at orange.cmgconnect.org. A Certificate of Completion can be printed from the website and must be turned in or emailed to the school office. More information can be found below:
Download Form: Safe Environment Training
3. The Diocese also requires that individuals read the Diocese of Orange Sexual Misconduct Policy for Lay Employees and Volunteers, which can be found below:
Download Form: Policy Against Sexual Misconduct
The document can be saved to your computer or printed for you to read, and then a Receipt of Acknowledgement form can be printed. This form must be signed and submitted to the school office.
Parents who choose not to complete the above steps will not be able to participate in a volunteer activity on campus and will need to choose some other area of service that does not involve contact with children.
Those who wish to also drive for field trips or after-school sporting events need to additionally have a copy of their driver’s license, insurance information and a signed Transportation Rules form on file with the school office beforehand.
Blessed Sacrament School takes the safety of our students very seriously. Every volunteer and staff member is fingerprinted and does regular training for the safety of our children.
The Diocese of Orange treats any complaint of sexual misconduct seriously. It deals with such allegations in a prompt, thorough, and confidential manner with compassion and consideration for all those involved. More information about the Diocese of Orange Department of Child and Youth Protection.
Please contact our office if you have any questions on fingerprinting, Safe Environment Training, or the Diocesan Policy Against Sexual Misconduct.