POLICIES
All Catholic schools and parish religious education programs in the Diocese of Joliet must offer instruction for children, grades K-12, and their parents to prevent child sexual abuse. Instruction provided by local public schools may fulfill this requirement for Religious Education programs, but parish leaders must report statistics on enrollment to the diocese for purposes of the annual audit.
Parents may elect to "opt-out" of parish or school instruction but must be provided with materials to undertake such instruction at home.
Here are some quick-links to resources and materials for this instruction:
Curriculum Options for Parish Faith Formation or Catholic School Instruction of Children and Youth - UPDATED March 6, 2008 (click here)
Safe Environment Curriculum Policy (word) (pdf)
Lesson Plans for Safe Environment Instruction (click here)
Parent Letters (click here) Helps for working with parents (click here)
Internet Safety Option for Grades 5-12 (click here)
Diocese of Joliet Personnel Forms and Policies for Safe Environment (click here)
Summary of Policies from the USCCB (word) (pdf)
Scope and Sequence (pdf)
PARISH RECORD-KEEPING
Please keep (together in one file) all parent opt-out/permission forms for each year. Do continue to try to get a signed form from all families who do not participate in training. If, after diligent effort, a family still does not return a form, a record of that is required by the auditors. Please generate a list of all children/youth who did not participate in training and whose parents did not return a form, note that they did not respond, and sign that list. Retain this list with any signed opt-out forms for at least 2 years in the designated Safe Environment compliance file where all records are kept. The parish may be asked to produce this list when audited. |
