KENTUCKY
Cincinnati Enquirer
By William Croyle
Enquirer staff writer
Public and private schools in Kentucky and Ohio need and want parents to volunteer in classrooms, as coaches and as chaperones.
But for a parent to just show up at school one day and expect to help immediately oftentimes isn't going to happen.
"Every district has its own policies on what has to be done before you can volunteer," said Shirley Henderson, past president of Kentucky Coalition of School Volunteer Organizations. "You're better off to get on a school's volunteer approved list as soon as possible." ...
The Diocese of Covington requires every volunteer to go through a three- to four-hour class, known as Virtus (a Latin word meaning "moral strength"), on how to prevent child sexual abuse. Those classes are generally offered a couple times a month.
This has been a requirement since 2002, after the priest sex abuse scandal was addressed at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Volunteers must also read monthly electronic newsletters on preventing child sex abuse and undergo a background check like the public school volunteers in Kentucky.
Posted by kshaw at August 8, 2005 06:57 AM