Summary
The Assign Pathways feature lets you connect each volunteer to the training pathway that matches their ministry role. Once assigned, Safe Pathways automatically notifies volunteers, tracks their progress, and keeps your compliance records up to date — no manual follow-up needed.
What are pathways?
Pathways are role-specific training programs built into Safe Pathways. Each pathway contains the modules a volunteer needs to complete based on who they serve. There are six pathways available:
ℹ️ Intro pathway is automatic
You do not need to manually assign the Intro pathway. Whenever you assign any other pathway to a volunteer, the Intro pathway is added to their profile automatically.
Steps to Assign a Pathway
1. Open the Assign Training screen
- Log in to Safe Pathways and go to your Admin Dashboard.
2. Select your volunteers
The volunteer list shows everyone in your church along with their email address and any pathways they are currently assigned to.
- Use the Search field to find a specific volunteer by name.
- Toggle Hide active on to filter the list down to volunteers who do not yet have an active pathway assigned — useful when onboarding a new group.
- Click a volunteer's row to select them. You can select multiple volunteers at once — the Selected counter in the top right will update as you go.
- To select everyone in the list at once, click Select All. To start over, click Clear.
- If the person you need is not yet in the system, click Add Person Manually to add them before assigning.
💡 Tip
The Current Pathways column shows which pathways each volunteer already has. Use this to avoid duplicating an assignment that is already in place.
3. Select a pathway
- At the top of the screen, click the pathway tile that matches the volunteers' ministry role — Babies & Toddlers, Children, Youth, Vulnerable Adults, or Comprehensive. The selected tile will highlight.
- If you'd like to apply any tags to this assignment for your own tracking, type them into the Tags to apply field at the bottom of the screen.
4. Click Save & Assign
- Review the Selected count at the bottom left to confirm the right number of volunteers are selected.
- Click Save & Assign. Safe Pathways takes it from here.
What happens next
After you click Save & Assign, everything is automated:
Frequently asked questions
Can I assign more than one pathway to a volunteer?
Yes. If a volunteer serves across multiple ministry areas — for example, both Children and Youth — repeat the assign process and select the additional pathway. Each pathway is tracked separately in their profile. The Intro pathway will only be added once regardless of how many pathways are assigned.
Do I need to assign the Intro pathway separately?
No. The Intro pathway is assigned automatically whenever you assign any other pathway. You never need to select it manually.
Can I assign pathways to multiple volunteers at the same time?
Yes. Select as many volunteers as you need from the list before choosing a pathway — the Selected counter at the top right tracks how many you have chosen. This is particularly useful when onboarding an entire ministry team at once.
What if the volunteer I need is not in the list?
Click Add Person Manually on the Assign Training screen to add them to the system. Once added, they will appear in the list and you can proceed with assigning their pathway.
Do I need to send reminder emails manually?
No. All follow-up communication — including training reminders and expiry notifications — is handled automatically by Safe Pathways after the initial assignment. You do not need to send or schedule any emails yourself.
Last reviewed
March 30, 2026