FOR ALL VOLUNTEERS & STAFF WORKING IN ANY CAPACITY FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME WITH CHILDREN, YOUTH, OR VULNERABLE ADULTS:
Rio Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church requires (every 2 years) a background check, application and approval process, and safety training through Safe Gatherings and Trusted con Confianza to ensure abuse prevention for those we serve and best practices for volunteers and staff in ministry.
STEP 1
Go to www.safegatherings.com. Click on the red “Get Started” button to register and create an account using your e-mail address that you may access at any time or location.
STEP 2
Fill out the online background check application. When prompted to type in organization name, begin with ‘Uvalde’ not ‘First United…’ Be sure to have 1 non-current clergy (a former or retired pastor) and 1 professional reference on hand. You will need a phone number and e-mail address for each. NOTE: please notify your references that e-mails will be sent to them so that they check their junk or spam folders.
STEP 3
Access and complete the Safe Gatherings online abuse prevention and boundary awareness training. It’s about one and one-half hours in length and covers best practices, how to recognize signs of abuse, and how to handle reporting. You may log in and out as needed if you do not have time to complete the course in one sitting. A short test is given at the end. This is all completed on your Safe Gatherings website account. If you do not pass, you will have opportunity to review the information and then re-take the test.
STEP 4
Register for and participate in a Trusted con Confianza safety training webinar held by Rio Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. This webinar may be taken online or in person. Go to the Rio Texas Conference site to find a date for an online webinar that is suitable to you. Simply go to this address: www.riotexas.org/safetrainings/ and click on a date/location to register. You will be responsible for logging in at the time of the webinar and participating via a smart phone, tablet, or computer -or- for driving to an in-person training and signing in. The webinar lasts for 2 hours. You may also call the church to find out if there are any upcoming staff-facilitated webinars on the church calendar.
Please note that all four steps must be completed in order to work with children, youth, or vulnerable adults (per conference and church policy). Thank you for partnering with us to share the light of Christ. Your gifts, talents, prayers, resources, service, and love are needed and appreciated! ~FUMC Uvalde