On the 20th of February, Bishop Brennan announced he is expanding the requirement of fingerprinting as part of the Diocese’s background check process, and has engaged Corporate Security and Investigations (CSI) of Pennsylvania as the third-party service provider that will conduct Safe Environment spot checks, site assessments, and training.
Fingerprinting is now required of all priests and deacons, all seminarians, all Catholic school principals, teachers, staff and certain volunteers, as well as chancery staff. Fingerprints will be submitted to, and housed within the FBI, as part of the background check process.
Bishop Brennan further explained that CSI is an organization comprised of experienced professionals from law-enforcement, public safety, academia, and the private sector, who specialize in various services focused upon safety. Beginning this year, CSI representatives will be visiting parishes and schools to perform more frequent and regular spot checks to ensure compliance, accuracy, and consistency at the local level.
CSI experts will also assess and evaluate site security and offer recommendations to enhance the physical safety of people, buildings, and properties. The preliminary plan is to conduct site assessments by regions coupling them with fingerprinting and safe environment spot checks. CSI representatives will also review and offer suggestions for site security plans that parishes or schools already have in place.
The diocese, through CSI experts, and Diocesan counsel, will also offer training on safety, de-escalation, and harassment of professional staff.