Ethics In Ministry

On Jan. 1, 2002, the Catholic Diocese of Austin instated policies on Ethics & Integrity in Ministry (EIM).  EIM compliance is required of all clergy, religious, seminarians, diocesan employees, parish and Catholic school employees, and adult lay persons who volunteer in ministry with minors or vulnerable adults, or in any ministry, program or organization that serves youth or vulnerable adults in any manner, or functions at a time and place where they are typically present.

To be compliant, one submits an EIM Application for Ministry (one time only) and attends an EIM Workshop every three years.

Anyone, volunteers, paid staff, religious or clergy, involved in a ministry with minors (those under the age of 18) or vulnerable adults (those who are uniquely vulnerable to abuse because of physical or mental disabilities) is required to:

• Submit a EIM Application to the Diocese of Austin. (Submitting the EIM application permits the Diocese of Austin to run a background check and creates an account where your workshop history is stored. This is only needed one time.)
• Attend a Ethics in Ministry Workshop, a seminar on child sexual abuse. Attendance to a workshop will need to be completed every 3 years.

Effective January 1, 2019, all EIM Workshop attendees MUST PRE-REGISTER or SIGN UP AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE to attend a workshop. The workshop Roster will close 24 hours before the workshop start time.

Walk-in attendees will no longer be admitted to workshops. This will ensure that all persons required to be EIM compliant have submitted the application, had a background check and that workshop attendance is credited promptly to their EIM account. Contact the EIM Office at 512-949-2447 with questions.

To find the Schedule of EIM Workshops and/or sign up (pre-register) for a workshop:

1. Login to your existing EIM account (use ALTERNATE LOGIN if you do not recall your ID/password)
2. Click on the Sign Up for a Workshop link (bottom right-hand side of your account page)
3. Click the Sign Up button (far right column) for the workshop you wish to attend 

If you have never submitted an EIM Application, click here to register/create a new account. However, if you believe you have submitted an application in the past but can’t login, please contact our parish EIM site administrator, Esther Quintanilla, at (512) 892-2420 or esther.quintanilla@stcatherine-austin.org or the EIM Office for assistance. Do not create a duplicate account

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EIM WORKSHOP NOTES AND INFORMATION:

• As of January 1, 2019, advance pre-registration/sign-up is required at least 24 hours before the start time to attend an EIM Workshop
• The EIM Workshop is 2 hours in length
• Plan to arrive promptly as late arrivals will not be admitted
• Children should not be brought to EIM workshops; nursing mothers are welcomed but may want to sit at back of room in order to step out with baby if needed
• EIM Workshop attendance is required within 60 days of submitting the EIM Application and at least once every three years throughout service in ministry
• Training completed in other dioceses and organizations does not transfer to the Diocese of Austin and does not fulfill EIM compliance requirements

Click here to learn more about the EIM Workshop Fulfilling our Commitment to Heal and Protect.
 
If you have experienced sexual abuse and have concerns regarding attending the EIM Workshop,please contact Emily Hurlimann at (512) 949-2447 to discuss an alternative workshop arrangement.

Report an incident of concern: 

The Diocese of Austin, the Catholic Church of Central Texas, is committed to preventing harm from happening to any of our children or vulnerable adults. If you are aware of sexual abuse and/or neglect of a child or vulnerable adult by a volunteer, employee or clergy member, our Ethics and Integrity in Ministry policies require that you report that information and to do so, click here.