Church of the Apostles is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment in which young people can learn about and experience God’s love. In order to promote this, we have established the following guidelines for volunteers who wish to work with youth:

• In order to participate in COA’s Children and Youth Ministry, all adult volunteers must be registered with the church office, in compliance with Pennsylvania laws and our church’s policies.
• Before being considered for an adult volunteer position at COA and beginning the registration process, we expect that those who volunteer to work with minors will have been members in good standing of Church of the Apostles for at least six months.
• Once registered with the church office, all adult volunteers who work with children and youth will be required to maintain current registration paperwork and clearances as required by state laws and church policies, for as long as they continue to volunteer with children and youth.
• It is the policy of this church to provide adequate supervision and safeguards for youth activities. As such, there will be no fewer than two unrelated registered adult volunteers present in any activity involving minors.

According to Pennsylvania state laws and COA policy, all volunteers who work with children or youth are required to complete the following background checks and forms prior to beginning their volunteer service, and COA is required to keep current copies on file in the church office:

• Church of the Apostles Legal Disqualifiers and Education Affirmation – as per our insurance company, volunteers must complete every three years; click here to access an online copy of the Education Information on PA’s child abuse laws that you’ll need to read before signing this form
• Church of the Apostles Residence Affirmation – as per our insurance company, volunteers must complete every three years
• Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance (Form CY-113) – as per our insurance company, volunteers must complete every three years
• Pennsylvania State Police Criminal History Check (Form SP4-164) – as per our insurance company, volunteers must complete every three years
• FBI fingerprinting conducted by IdentoGO (under the “Services” heading, click on the “Fingerprint Card” link) – required of all volunteers who have not been legal residents of Pennsylvania for at least ten years prior to the start of their volunteer service; COA will cover the cost. For more information about scheduling an appointment for your digital fingerprinting in PA, including locations and available hours, click this link.
• Code of Conduct for Those Working with Children & Youth – as per our insurance company, volunteers must complete every three years
• Acknowledgement of Safe Church Policy and Procedures – Finally, prior to beginning their volunteer service, all volunteers with youth must read Safe Church Policy 605, attend one of our required Risk Management Courses, and submit this form to the church office, affirming that they have read/agree to comply with Safe Church Policy 605 AND stating the title of which Risk Management Course they have completed. This acknowledgement form must be updated every calendar year, and volunteers must complete additional training every calendar year.

Here are links to approved Risk Management Courses. You may choose which one to complete, but every volunteer must complete one training course EVERY CALENDAR YEAR:

• Praesidium Academy training – requires a login invitation from a church training administrator
• PA Department of Human Services training
• PA Family Support Alliance training

Copies of the documents you’ll need to sign and submit in hardcopy are available in the church office, as well as through the links above. Hardcopies of the Education Information and the Safe Church Policy are also available in the church office.

• Keep Kids Safe PA is where you’ll always find the most up-to-date information on current Pennsylvania state laws regarding child abuse, from definitions of terms like “child abuse” and “mandated reporter,” to links to the text of relevant statutes and answers to frequently asked questions.
•  Click here to access Education Information on PA’s child abuse laws, prepared by the UCC Office of Legal Counsel. (COA requires that all volunteers read this information before working with youth, and review it every three years.)
• Want to know more about filing a report? This document explains how to do so, in accordance with state laws and COA policy.
• You can file a report of suspected child abuse to ChildLine online at www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis, or by phoning ChildLine at 1-800-932-0313 and then completing and submitting Form CY-47 to the county Child and Youth Services office.
• After you’ve filed a report with ChildLine, COA policy and PA state law require that you report the suspected abuse to a member of the COA Pastoral Staff or to the COA Coordinator for Volunteer Services immediately (as soon as possible, but no more than 72 hours after filing a report with ChildLine).