Child Safety and Youth Protection

Agnioz recognizes that many Catholic parish ministries involve minors, including altar servers, youth ministry, catechism classes, scouting groups, and formation programs. The safety and protection of children and young people is a fundamental priority.

Agnioz is a platform tool — it is not a substitute for your parish's safeguarding policies, diocesan child protection programs, or applicable civil law. All adults using Agnioz in a ministry context involving minors must comply with all relevant parish, diocesan, civil, and child protection requirements.

Agnioz may be used to coordinate ministries that involve minors. The following requirements apply:

• Parish authorization required: Ministries involving minors must have explicit authorization from the parish administrator or designated safeguarding officer.
• Parent or guardian consent: Minors participating in a ministry managed via Agnioz require parental or guardian consent, as required by the parish and applicable law.
• Adult leader responsibility: Adults managing or coordinating youth ministries on Agnioz are responsible for ensuring all activities comply with parish safeguarding policies, diocesan child protection guidelines, and applicable civil law.
• No unsupervised minor accounts: Minors do not create independent accounts. Any minor-facing features must be mediated through a responsible adult (parent, guardian, or parish-authorized leader).

The following behaviors are strictly prohibited on Agnioz and will result in immediate account suspension and reporting to relevant authorities:

• Grooming or exploitation: Any conduct intended to build inappropriate trust with a minor for exploitative purposes.
• Harassment or abuse: Any form of verbal, emotional, sexual, or physical abuse directed at a minor.
• Inappropriate private communication: Unsupervised private messaging between adults and minors on the platform outside of ministry coordination contexts.
• Sharing minor personal data without authorization: Distributing personal information about minors (name, photo, location, schedule) without explicit parental and parish authorization.
• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM): Any content that sexually exploits or depicts minors is illegal and will be reported to law enforcement immediately.

To report a child safety concern on Agnioz:

1. Email us immediately at agnioz@agnioz.com with the subject line “Child Safety Concern”. Include as much detail as possible about the nature of the concern, who is involved, and any evidence you have.
2. Report to your parish safeguarding officer or parish administrator directly.
3. If there is an immediate risk to a child, contact local law enforcement or child protective services.

We take all child safety reports seriously and will respond promptly. Reports that indicate illegal activity will be escalated to the appropriate authorities.

[Parish/Diocese Safeguarding Officer Contact — Replace with the applicable safeguarding officer or program contact for your parish or diocese before submission.]

Your parish or diocese may have a designated safeguarding officer, child protection program, or abuse hotline. Please ensure your parish has this information prominently available to ministry leaders using Agnioz.

• We will promptly investigate all child safety reports.
• We will suspend or terminate accounts where child safety violations are confirmed.
• We will cooperate fully with law enforcement investigations involving minors.
• We will report confirmed cases of CSAM to the appropriate law enforcement agencies and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) where applicable.