On Jan. 1, 2002, the Catholic Diocese of Austin instated policies on Ethics and Integrity in Ministry (EIM) for all employees and those volunteers who minister to youth or vulnerable adults in the diocese. These policies were revised in August 2008. All clergy and paid staff, and all volunteers working with youth and vulnerable adults, at any parish or diocesan location, are required to complete an Application for Ministry AND are required to attend an EIM workshop every three years.
EIM PROCESS – how to become EIM compliant
There are three (3) steps required to become EIM compliant: 1) submit an EIM application (online or paper copy), which 2) generates a confidential, criminal background check, and 3) attend a 3 hour EIM Basic Workshop which teaches participants about boundaries, warning signs, appropriate interactions in our work with minors and vulnerable adults, how to respond to incidents and reviews diocesan EIM policies. The application is only submitted one time; the background check is automatically rerun every 3 years from the date of your application submission and does not require any additional action on your part. Workshop attendance is required every 3 years after the initial EIM Basic Workshop.
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Complete an Application for Ministry. The Applications for Ministry are different for Volunteers, Catholic School Educators, Other Employees and Priests/ Seminarians/Religious/Permanent Deacons, and should ideally be submitted prior to workshop attendance. Submitting an application permits the diocese to run a confidential background check on each applicant and creates a field to record your workshop attendance. The on-line application process is secure and confidential. If internet access is not available, your parish/school can provide a paper copy of the application or see below to print a paper copy) which you return to your parish/school to be confidentially entered into the database.
- Click here to begin (or continue) an Application for Ministry in eAppsDB
- Click here to print a paper copy of the Application for Ministry
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Oprima aqui para imprimir una copia de la forma de Solicitud para el Ministerio
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Workshop attendance is required within 60 days of submitting the application. To attend an EIM workshop, please register in advance by calling the phone number of the location you wish to attend so that adequate materials may be available. As childcare is not available at most workshops, parents should plan to make childcare arrangements for their children. Children should not be brought to an EIM Basic or Refresher workshop. Older teens may attend if they will be working in paid ministry or if their parent determines they should attend the adult EIM workshop program. Due to the importance of this issue, once the workshop has begun, late arrivals may be refused entrance.
If you are a victim of sexual abuse and have concerns regarding your attendance at a workshop, please contact Emily Hurlimann at (512) 949-2447 to discuss an alternative workshop arrangement.
When you have completed the entire process, notify your parish/school or other location where you wish to serve; they will be able to verify you are in compliance with diocesan policies. Thank you for your service to our diocese and for your commitment to keep all God’s children safe.
EIM REFRESHER COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENT
As of August 2008, all clergy and paid staff, and all volunteers working in service to youth and vulnerable adults at any parish or diocesan location, are required to attend an EIM workshop every three years. To fulfill this ‘refresher’ requirement you may attend either the EIM Basic Workshop or the EIM Refresher Workshop. NOTE: the Application for Ministry is submitted only one time. A background check is completed every 3 years from the date of your initial application submission; this is an automated process that does not require any additional action on your part. You may update your application as needed, but it cannot be re-submitted.