Safe Environment

Worthy Brothers,
In order to ensure the well-being and protection of the youth of our community, we as members of the Msgr. Paul Degnan Council #2603 of the Knights of Columbus are required to comply with the guidelines set forth by two separate but related organizations; the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council, and the Diocese of Sacramento. They are as follows:

1. Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council.

• Grand Knights, Program Directors, Community Directors, and Family Directors are required to take the Safe Environment Program (SEP) within 30 days of taking their office or will be removed therefrom.
• In addition, the Family Director and Community Director are required to give consent to the K of C to submit to background checks.
• Members in the above roles are required to renew their compliance with these requirements every three (3) years.
• For further information on Knights of Columbus policies and training opportunities, please visit https://www.kofc.org/en/safe-environment-program/index.html

2. Diocese of Sacramento

• Per Diocesan policy, all Knights volunteering in Knight events (dinners, breakfasts, etc.) on parish grounds are required to undergo live scan fingerprinting and background checks, as well as taking safe environment video training.
  1) The finger printing and background check is a one-time only requirement.
  2) The safe environment video training is to be renewed every three (3) years.
• This policy does not pertain to those Knights who are only attending Council businessmeetings in parish facilities.
• For further information on Diocesan Safe Environment policies and trainingopportunities, please visit https://www.scd.org/safe-environment/safe-environment- information-adult-volunteers.

Please note:

Due to the privacy concerns for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that was passed by Congress in 1996, fulfilling the requirements of one of the organizations does not fulfill the requirements of the other. One must comply with both.

Also, those brothers preferring not to participate in the above directives does NOT affect their standing in the Knights of Columbus or of their council.