The Safe Environment Program (SEP) is mandated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Diocese of St. Petersburg.  Florida statues and the Province of Florida also require that vulnerable adults be protected. Our SEP programs are meant to enable children and adults to feel secure and protected in their surroundings so children and youth can more freely receive a Catholic education and experience healthy relationships.  For our vulnerable adults who may be sick, shut-in, or elderly and suffering from the infirmities of aging we want to foster a safe environment for them and provide a healthy and loving relationship in the image of God. All employees are required to comply with fingerprint policy for background screening and attend safe environment training program as a condition of employment – no exceptions.  All volunteers, contractors, vendors, consultants, Memo of Understanding (MOU) personnel, and persons who are entrusted with the care, responsibility, or supervision of children, youth, and, or vulnerable adults are required to comply with fingerprint policy for background screening and attend the appropriate safe environment training program. The SEP consists of two major components:

1. Background screening:  Anyone who wishes unsupervised access to children, youth, or vulnerable adults must have their backgrounds screened for criminal history.  Currently, the diocese uses the FBI/FDLE Volunteer Employee Criminal History System (AFRNP) Level 2 background screening program.
2. SEP Training:  There are two types of Safe Environment Program training workshops.
   1.  Adults who wish to have unsupervised access to children are taught to recognize signs of predatory behavior in an adult, to recognize signs of abuse in a child, and to report actual or suspected child abuse to the police or to the Florida Abuse Hotline.
   2. The second type of training teaches adults who wish to have unsupervised access to vulnerable adults  to recognize signs of predatory behavior in a vulnerable adult, to recognize signs of abuse in a vulnerable adult, and to report actual orsuspected vulnerable adult abuse to the police or to the Florida Abuse Hotline.