The Archdiocese of Cincinnati will require all new volunteers who work with children to undergo a criminal background check, a new policy that could affect thousands of the half-million Catholics in Southwest Ohio.

        The policy, approved Tuesday by Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk, affects volunteers who sign up to coach sports teams, teach the catechism, work with parish youth groups or have regular interaction with children.

        It will not apply to the thousands of volunteers already working in the nation's ninth-largest Roman Catholic school system or in parishes across the 19-county archdiocese.

        “We are not doing this with some starry-eyed notion that it's a silver bullet that will keep everything evil from happening to children,” said Dan Andriacco, spokesman for the archdiocese and one of five members of a task force that recommended the policy. “It's not foolproof, but it's one more level of protection.”

        Although dioceses across the country have re-examined their policies in the wake of sexual molestation charges against priests in Boston, Los Angeles and other communities, the Cincinnati task force had started work last fall on revisions to its child protection policy.

        The change was prompted in part by two incidents in 2001 of sexual misconduct by local volunteers.

        Former girls basketball coach Tom Rohrkasse of Villa Hills pleaded guilty in August to a charge of sex abuse after a party he held for team players from St. Antoninus school in Green Township. Another coach at the school, Lisa C. Dunaway, was convicted of stalking a 15-year-old soccer player.

        The Decree on Child Protection, first adopted in 1993, already required criminal background checks on clergy and employees who have contact with children. It also dictates two adults be in a room with children at all times and mandates employees and volunteers attend a child-protection training session.

        More than 10,000 people have taken the training since 1993.

        “It's not that there's been a great problem with volunteers,” Mr. Andriacco said. “We don't want to make it hard for people to work with kids, but we need to take every precaution possible to protect the children under our care.”

        Details about how the new policy, which takes effect March 31, 2003, will be implemented and who will pay for it have yet to be determined.

        The paperwork involved “won't be fun,” acknowledged Pat Kreke, athletic director for Middletown's Bishop Fenwick High School.

        Nevertheless, he welcomes such a precaution.

        “Our business is kids. If we can protect one child from everything bad that can happen to them, then it will all be worth it,” Mr. Kreke said.

        Ten to 12 volunteers help every day at St. Susanna school in Mason, said principal Ken Beiser.

        “Doing a background check on all of the volunteers may be difficult,” said Mr. Beiser. “It might impact on how many people help out. ... But maybe that's good and bad. If there's someone who doesn't want to get a background check to volunteer, maybe there's a reason.”

        Volunteers Chris Deters and Elaine Shreve, both of Mason, support the change.

        “I would feel safer, like my kids are being more protected,” said Mrs. Deters, a mother of three.

        New national and state laws have made it easier for groups to check the criminal backgrounds of employees and volunteers.

        The Kentucky General Assembly passed a law in 2000 requiring criminal checks of all public school volunteers who have regular contact with children, while a measure in Ohio adopted last year makes it easier for organizations to screen volunteers for criminal records.

        Some groups — such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Cincinnati — have been running background checks on volunteers for years. Others, including the Hamilton County Park District and the Diocese of Covington, don't require background checks but have other child protection policies.

        The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops doesn't track how many of its 194 dioceses require such checks for volunteers, said spokeswoman Sister Mary Ann Walsh. But the number is increasing, she said.

        The Diocese of Orlando, with about 380,000 members, was one of the first to adopt such a policy. Since the program started in 1996, more than 30,000 employees and volunteers have undergone criminal background checks — at a cost of $15 per person, paid by the individual parishes.

        The checks uncovered a handful of people with sex crime convictions and others with drug or drunken driving arrests.

        It's a time-consuming process with no guarantees, said Chancellor Sister Lucy Vazquez, who oversees the program. Still, she said, “It's the best way to protect our children.”

        Michael D. Clark contributed.

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