Personnel

Child Protection Policy

St. Stephen recognizes the importance of insuring a safe and protected environment in which to nurture a child’s relationship with God. It is our responsibility, and in keeping faith with the word of God, to practice every reasonable effort to provide and maintain such an environment. It is with this understanding that we are acting under the direction of God’s will that we shall strictly adhere to the policies and procedures set forth in the Child Protection Policy which can be downloaded here.

In order to work with children at St. Stephen, a person must become an Authorizes Adult as explained in the the above referenced policy. The person must obtain the required clearances and must attend training. Both of those are describe below.

Obtaining clearances

The following clearances are required:

  • Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance
  • Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check
  • FBI Criminal History Background Check (Required if you have not lived in PA for 10 continuous years. St. Stephen will reimburse you for the cost upon presentation of a receipt for payment.)

Please go to http://www.keepkidssafe.pa.gov/resources/clearances/index.htm to get information on obtaining the clearances you may require. After you have acquired the clearances that you need, please email copies to personnel@StStephenLC.org.

Notes about above referenced website, especially for first time users:
Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance - Use Online Submission and select Child Welfare Information Solution (CWIS) self-service portal. The first time you will need to select "Create Individual Account." Use "Individual Login" if you have an account. Follow instructions provided. When you get to the page for entering your information. It will ask for a "Keystone ID." This is a user name which you make up. If it already exists, it will tell you so after you click on "Finished" and you will have an opportunity to try something else. After you have created an ID, login and select "Access My Clearances" (Also, at this point, you could select "Access my References" which is where you can report child abuse online versus the phone.) The next page has all of the disclosures and select Continue. Next select "Create Clearance Application". Next it will explain information you need to know to complete the application. You are completing the application as "Volunteer Having Contact with Children." The category is "Other" and the agency name is "St. Stephen Lutheran Church." Select Next and continue completing your personal information as best that you can. If you do not remember something exactly, just do the best that you can. After you complete the submission, it may take a while before you are notified of the results. Please email copies to personnel@StStephenLC.org.
Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check - Use Online Submission and select “Pennsylvania Access To Criminal History,” (PATCH). Select "New Record Check (Volunteers only)." On the next page, review and except the acknowledgements. On the next page fill in the fields that have a "*" and all of the information is your information except for naming "St. Stephen Lutheran Church" as the volunteer organization. On the next page review and click Proceed. On the next page enter your personal information and select "Enter This Request." This will present a new blank form. Now select "Finished." This will present a list of what you entered. Now select "Submit." After a wait with Pending shown you should get Status of "No Record." You could get something else if it could not immediately determine your status. Make sure you copy down the control number or print this page. If there was No Record, click on the control number. On the next page, select "Certification Form" and print it or save it to a PDF file (if possible). With the control number, the submittal date, and your personal information, you can go back online and retrieve the certificate in the future. Please email copies to personnel@StStephenLC.org.

Obtaining Training

The training is provided in two parts. One is provided through our insurance company (general child protection training) and the other is provided by the Education Ministries Committee (more specific information on St. Stephen policies). Each training consists of watching a video and taking a test. 

Insurance company training

Go to SafeChurch.com. Create an account in the upper left corner, then “click here to join.” The private St. Stephen Access Key will have been provided in an email (request it from personnel@StStephenLC.org if you did not get one). Click "Training and Tests" at the top middle of the page. Select "ACT to Keep Children's Ministry Safe” video. NOTE: The video uses FlashPlayer (Chrome does not support this). After viewing the video, click “Take Test icon.” (click here for a document showing a sample login page.) After completing the test, you will see an option to print a certificate. You may do so for your records, but you do not need to send it to Personnel who will be automatically notified of your completion.

Education Ministry training

Click below to view the Educational Ministry created training video. (If you see a download prompt, just ignore it and click on the Play arrow.)

Click here to complete a review (using SurveyMonkey.com) on the above video. You will need to fill in your name and email address as requested in order to receive credit.

Remember to put the ChildLine phone number, 1-800-932-0313, in your phone.

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