URGENT NOTICES, UPDATES, MANUAL CHANGES, AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION
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Archived News

CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS 2011

 Greetings to all those involved in the Diocese’s Safe Environment programs for children and youth.  The past year has brought a number of changes, from new forms and a new training format to an updated Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.  Change is rarely easy, but when it is combined with the many pressures of daily responsibilities, it can be even more of a challenge.

It is with this awareness that I write to express my sincere gratitude for your patience, dedication and persistence this year.  It is because of the work put forth by each of you that the children of our Diocese are safely navigating another year of childhood or adolescence.  Teachers faithfully prepare lessons; principals and DREs support and guide the teachers and pastors tend to the needs of their parish community, all in the interest of keeping children and families safe and healthy. 

We, as a church, are called to be the face of Jesus in the world.  One of the best ways we can do that is to engage in activities that prevent childhood or family trauma, and promoting safe environments is a key component of such preventative activity.  I hope that as some of you may experience frustration with the mechanics of doing this work, you never lose sight of the reason for what we do—the value of each life you impact. 

At this holy season, when we celebrate the birth of the most important child ever to grace the earth, let us take time to reflect on all that we have accomplished this year.  Children have been given vital information about Jesus and the gospel as well as personal safety.  Families have been supported and strengthened while others have faced pain and sorrow, but together, as family in Christ, we have grown.  Our journey of faith is a work in progress every day of our lives, but as long as we keep moving forward, doing our best and learning in the process, we are drawing closer to the Kingdom of Heaven.  I believe that makes our Heavenly Father’s heart leap with joy.

I hope that each of you will have some moments to spend alone with the Christ child, to reflect, worship and renew your spirit for the coming year.  I give thanks for the opportunity to work with such a wonderful group of people and wish you a blessed Advent, a joyous Christmas and the happiest New Year ever!

In God’s love,

Debra Jones

NEWS FOR 1 DECEMBER 2011

Change of Contact Information – Please remember to contact the OCP (508) 674-4681 or djones@cssdioc.org if there are changes in email addresses or other contact information.  Notices are sent to DREs via email and if we do not have your current information, you could miss out on important news. 

CORI Issues – There are still a number of issues with the CORI forms coming from both parishes and schools, so please take the time to review the example on the website.  It is important that we have all of the ID info, such as driver’s license and state of issue, completed by the applicant.  To save paper, we do NOT need a copy of the back of a driver’s license or other ID.  Also, forms must be verified properly by the trainer on the correct line of the CORI form.  There is a list of requirements for CORI/Training Packet submissions that explains in detail what is needed for all forms to be accepted on the first submission.  It is on our website at here.  Please contact the OCP if you have any questions. 

CORI SUBMISSION REMINDER!  Please remember that until January 1, 2012, the color for volunteer forms is still lavender.  Please also remember that any trainings or CORI forms done between December 16 and December 31 must be submitted to the OCP by January 7, 2012 to be accepted on the lavender paper.  After that, the forms will be returned to you and will need to be submitted on next year’s color. 

2012 – Please check back later in the month for the color of next year’s volunteer CORI. 

Wishing you and your family a blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with joy!

MAY 24, 2011

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR ALL DIOCESAN EMPLOYEES WHO WORK WITH CHILDREN!

All those who work with children as a Diocesan employee or volunteer should be aware of the need to promptly report threats of suicide or statements made by children indicating a desire to die, “not be here anymore,” or any number of other similar comments.  Your reporting agent should be notified immediately, who must then ensure that CSS is made aware of the situation immediately. 

Reporting agents should also clearly understand that it is the reporting agent’s responsibility to ensure that the information has been received by the appropriate party, such as CSS, police, etc.  If the appropriate contact person is unavailable when the first call is made and does not return a message in a timely manner, the reporter must either keep calling or ask to move up the chain of command to ensure that the report does not get stalled.  Under no circumstances should a reporter assume that a voicemail or any type of message outside of personal contact (phone or in person) is sufficient.

Individuals working with children should understand that failure to take appropriate, timely action, has the potential for negative consequences on many levels.  First and foremost, the minor may be serious and act on the threat of suicide.  Whether or not the attempt is successful, the incident may have far-reaching impacts on the minor, the family, friends, and the larger community.  Additionally, there is the potential for liability on the part of all those who knew and failed to act. 

We do know that youths in particular will say things in jest, and if it is clearly a case of kids joking, obviously a report does not need to be made.  If there is any doubt, it should be reported to ensure the safety of the child.  It is always better to be safe than sorry.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact Debora Jones at (508) 674-4681 or djones@cssdioc.org.  Thank you!

OCP AUTHORIZED TRAINER NEWS - FEBRUARY 2011

Welcome to the newly re-designed OCP website. I hope this version will allow you to access information more quickly. As you will see, much of the previous information has been streamlined, now that the training manuals have been distributed and most authorized trainers have attended trainings. If you have not attended a training yet, please contact Deborah Jones as soon as possible to schedule a training date. And as always, if you have suggestions for changes or improvements, please contact me with those as well. This portion of the site is for you!

VOLUNTEER CORI FORMS
For those who have not heard, the color for the volunteer forms from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011 is lavender or lilac. There have been inquiries as tto the specific shade, and it is really what you can find. And shade of light purple will do.

CORI CLARIFICATIONS
The more urgent information missing from your Child Protection Manuals is as follows:

• Only minors age 17 and over need to be CORId and trained.
• Acceptable photo IDs for students who do not have driver's licenses can be school issues student ID.

CORI SUBMISSION PROBLEMS
As most of you know by now, I am reviewing virtually every CORI form that is submitted to CSS and while I greatly appreciate the efforts to maintain compliance with the Charter, a significant number of packets have been returned for various reasons. PLEASE review the checklist in your manuals (Sec. 5, pg 9) before submitting packets to us. The following are the most frequent errors:

• Volunteer forms are still being submitted on blue paper. It was a small window that allowed this into 2011, with no exceptions permissible. Please see you manual, Sec 6, pp. 1 - 2 for details.
• Training materials from as early as last September (2010) are being submitted. Once again, the CORI forms and training materials are required to be submitted monthly, and past the first week of January 2011, we do not accept Volunteer CORI forms on last year's color. Please see the last bullet for the reference in the manual.
• CORI forms are being submitted without photo ID's (they must be stapled to the CORI).
• Old, outdated CORI forms, volunteer questionnaire forms, and training sign in sheets are being submitted.
• Trainers are not reviewing the forms for completion. Many have the driver's licences number but not the state of issue; many have verification written in as a driver's license but no initials to confirm verification, etc. Please see the samples on the website and makse sure that all you volunteers/employees are completing the forms properly.
• CORI forms are missing signatures and dates. We cannot process them without these items.
• White out is being used on CORI forms. That is not permissible under MA law. If something needs to be corrected, have the individual draw a simple line through the mistake and initial it, the write the correct information next to the mistake.

Please remember that if you have questions, we only a phone call or email away. It is much better to help make nessecary corrections before you send us forms. We will save time and postage for all!