Volunteer Compliance Requirements and Guidelines

All Volunteers

The Archdiocese of Chicago policy requires that all adults working with children (or vulnerable adults) in a school, athletic or parish program complete several important processes. The ultimate goal of these processes is to help insure that all of the children enrolled in these programs remain safe. To be in compliance with the Archdiocese you MUST COMPLETE, if you are a:

Parish Employee: VIRTUS, CBC, CANTS, ACC

Parish Volunteer: VIRTUS, CBC, CANTS, ACC

Parish Catechist, Youth Minister or Coach: VIRTUS, CBC, CANTS, ACC, MRT

It is the policy of the Archdiocese that no person may be allowed to participate in coaching, teaching or supervising children in any capacity until/unless they have completed these steps. Questions? Contact Michelle at [email protected]

General Information for Ministry, Committee & Event Leaders

Meeting Space

You are welcome to use our meeting spaces for your ministry, please contact the parish office for availability. We do not have a daily cleaning service, so we expect you to leave the space tidy for the next group.

Before/After Hours Access

For security and liability compliance, all gatherings or activities on church grounds beyond regular office hours, without staff present, must be approved by our priest. One trusted individual should be designated to coordinate access with parish office staff. It is very important that the building is secure (doors locked, lights off, gates closed) before you leave.

Communications

Your group is responsible for generating your own communications. If you plan to communicate to the parish or public, please

Consult with our Parish Communications Director for logos and style guides to keep our branding consistent.
Enter all communications (including results, thank yous, etc.) into our Communications Form by the indicated deadlines, or else your message will not be distributed in all your desired media outlets.

Volunteers

Please provide the parish office with a list of all members/volunteers of your committee, ministry or event for our records. This helps us to have a better understanding of our parishioner involvement and to acknowledge service contributions.

If your event includes children present, it is mandatory that volunteers are Virtus trained and compliant.

Supplies and Purchasing

Please make every effort to use our tax exemption certificate for all purchases (available upon request at the parish office). We have tax exempt accounts with many suppliers and can help you order your items.

Buildings, Facilities and Grounds Volunteers

Due to insurance liability and risk management, we are asking all volunteers who work on St. Josaphat Buildings, Grounds and Facilities to adhere to the above compliance requirements plus these additional safety guidelines:

Any volunteer activity on the St. Josaphat Parish property (buildings, park, parking lot, grounds), including cleaning, planting, building, repairing, watering, beautifying, landscaping, event set-up and tear-down, etc. must be approved by the Parish Facilities Manager before any work begins.
Requests to perform any maintenance should be emailed to the Parish Facilities Manager, Tina Smat [email protected]
Once work is approved, the Parish Facilities Manager and volunteers will schedule a mutually agreeable date and time when volunteers can be onsite to perform the work. This is to ensure that the appropriate safety precautions are implemented to protect the parish’s and school’s staff, students and visitors.
If the scope of the approved work changes while performing the activity, the Parish Facilities Manager should be notified before work continues.
Volunteers cannot work alone and will be under the supervision of a St. Josaphat staff member at all times while work is performed.
Volunteers may not use a ladder or enter any precarious/restricted areas inside any parish building, even when accompanied by staff.
No tools, materials, equipment, etc. may be removed from St. Josaphat property without explicit approval from the Parish Facilities Manager.
Any signs posted on the property should be approved by the Parish Facilities Manager. This includes the content as well as the size, location and hanging method.
Volunteers are called upon to respect decisions made by the Pastor, Administrator, Principal and Parish Facilities Manager as there are often multiple and varied impacts unknown to the volunteer that must be managed.
In accordance with Archdiocese of Chicago policy, any volunteers who do not adhere to these guidelines may be asked to step aside. And, as always, proposals with detailed estimates must be presented and approved before paid work commences.

Archdiocese of Chicago Policies and Procedures Information
Book Five - The Temporal Goods of the Church

705 Use of Volunteers

705.1 Policy No parish shall use volunteers to perform hazardous activities, including but not limited to, the climbing of ladders and scaffolds, performing trade work (e.g. electrical, structural renovations, roofing work, etc.) or any other service that may place the volunteer, parishioners, or the physical property of the Archdiocese of Chicago in harm’s way.

Procedure Parishes shall use qualified, approved contractors for hazardous activities, utilizing the established Contract for Construction Services available from the Department of Facilities and Construction.