Policies and Guidelines

High School Students Turning 18yrs Old

Any high school student that turns 18 years old and wishes to participate in an overnight retreat, mission, or similar event (at the parish or elsewhere) with younger high school students does not require Safe Environment training or separate sleeping arrangements so long as they are participants and not volunteers or supervisors. All the usual regulations for high school students are to be followed. Visit our Policies page for more information.

However, once a high school student turns 18 years old and wishes to or is volunteering as an aide for parish religious education, helping provide childcare during Mass, etc. they must complete Safe Environment requirements because they are volunteering in the capacity of supervisors of minors. All younger teenagers volunteering in any parish ministry are to be registered and listed in the Safe Environment database as “under 18.” The database will flag them when they turn 18yrs. old and prompt the Safe Environment Coordinator to reach out and have them complete the requirements.

Driving a Parish Vehicle or a Private Vehicle

Best Practice is always for an individual to follow and complete the approval process to drive a parish-owned or parish-rented vehicle as mandated by the Diocese of Manchester.

In exceptional cases only, if a parish is sponsoring or organizing transportation of passengers in driver-owned or driver-rented vehicles (for a retreat or conference, for example), all drivers must also follow and complete the approval process for motor vehicle use in this situation. This approval process is accessed through the Diocesan risk management portal (Quadra) available to pastors and/or his designee. Please contact your pastor for more information.