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Screening status: what Pending means

Summary

When something on your screening checklist says Pending, it is waiting on a specific person to finish a specific step. This article explains each screening status in Safe Pathways, what a Pending item is waiting on, and how to move it forward.

Who this is for

  • Volunteers who want to know what is left before they are cleared to serve
  • Church Administrators helping volunteers across the finish line

What you’ll need

Make sure you have:

  • A Safe Pathways account (Volunteer or Church Administrator)
  • For volunteers: access to your Home page
  • For admins: access to your volunteer list and the Police Check page

Before you start

Screening in Safe Pathways is a mix of tasks you complete yourself (training, policy sign-off, naming your references) and tasks your church staff complete for you (approving references, confirming participation, processing the Police Check). Pending is shorthand for “someone still has a step to finish.” The trick is knowing who.

Volunteers see the staff-managed items on the Home page under Your church staff tasks, a section that is collapsed by default. Admins see the same items on each volunteer’s profile, plus a Police Check page that groups every order by stage.

Statuses keep themselves current. Safe Pathways re-checks every volunteer overnight and pulls Police Check updates from Canpro SOS a few times a day, so most changes appear without anyone clicking anything.

Steps to check a screening status

1. Open your Home page

Volunteers: sign in and select Home from the left-side menu. Scroll down past your pathways and references.

2. Expand Your church staff tasks

The section is collapsed by default. Open it to see Church Participation, Police Check, References, and any Additional Requirements your church or province has added.

[Screenshot: Volunteer Home page with the Your church staff tasks section expanded, showing Church Participation, Police Check, and References items]

3. Read each status

  • Church Participation shows “6-month participation”. Until your church confirms you have been participating regularly, the date field reads In Progress. Once confirmed, it shows the date approved.
  • Police Check shows one of: Approved, Ordered and pending, Not yet ordered, Expired, Rejected, or Not Required.
  • References shows a status for each of your two references: “Approved on [date]” once cleared, or “Not yet cleared” while review is underway.
  • Additional Requirements (if your church uses them) show Approved with a date, or “Pending admin review” while an admin still needs to confirm them.

4. Admins: open the volunteer’s profile

From your volunteer list, open the volunteer’s profile and find the Authorized Adult section. The same items appear as summary lines, for example “Church Participation: Approved”, “References: All Cleared”, or “Pending” where a step remains.

[Screenshot: Admin volunteer profile, Authorized Adult section, showing the Church Participation, Police Check, and References summary lines]

5. Admins: check the Police Check page for order details

For anything Police Check related, the Police Check page shows each order’s stage, including the “ORDERED AND PENDING” section for checks that are underway. See Police Checks: how ordering works for the full ordering flow.

What happens next

Here is what each Pending status is waiting on, and how to move it forward:

  • Police Check, “Ordered and pending”: the order is with Canpro SOS. It is usually waiting on the volunteer to finish the consent and identity steps in the email Canpro SOS sent them. Volunteers: search your inbox and spam for an email from Canpro SOS. Admins: select View Order on the Police Check page to pull the latest status.
  • Police Check, “Not yet ordered”: waiting on the church to place the order. Volunteers: there is nothing for you to do, though a friendly nudge to your administrator never hurts.
  • Police Check, “Expired”: the check has passed its renewal date. The church orders a renewal the same way as the first check.
  • References, “Not yet cleared”: waiting on one of three things: you entering both references, the reference replying (email requests go out automatically; phone numbers mean staff follow up by phone), or an admin reviewing and approving the submission.
  • Church Participation, “In Progress” or “Pending”: waiting on the church to confirm you have been participating for at least six months. An admin approves this on your profile.
  • “Pending admin review” on an Additional Requirement: waiting on an admin to confirm the custom requirement is complete.

Admins, for the reference side of this, see References: admin troubleshooting. Volunteers, for entering references, see How to: Add your references.

Troubleshooting

I’ve finished my training and signed the policy, but I’m still not cleared

  • Expand Your church staff tasks. The remaining item is usually a reference review, the six-month participation confirmation, or the Police Check.
  • Ask your church administrator which item is still open. They can see exactly what remains on your profile.

My Police Check has said “Ordered and pending” for a while

  • Check your inbox and spam folder for an email from Canpro SOS, and finish the steps inside it.
  • Admins: select View Order on the Police Check page to refresh the status right away.

My references replied, but the section still says “Not yet cleared”

  • A church admin still needs to review and approve each submission. The reply arriving is not the final step.
  • Admins: open the volunteer’s profile to review and approve the reference.

The Police Check item says “Not Required”

  • Your church decides who needs a Police Check based on the role you serve in.
  • If you believe this is wrong for your role, check with your church administrator.

Admins: a step I approved is not showing as cleared yet

  • Refresh the page, or close and reopen the volunteer profile.
  • Some flags recalculate overnight. If it still looks wrong the next day, contact Safe Pathways support.

Notes

  • Pending always means a specific person still has a step: you, your church, the reference, or Canpro SOS.
  • The volunteer’s Home page and the admin’s profile view show the same screening items.
  • Police Check statuses come from Canpro SOS. References, participation, and additional requirements are approved by your church.
  • Statuses refresh automatically: a nightly recalculation, plus Police Check updates from Canpro SOS a few times a day.
  • A Police Check needs renewing on a schedule. Once its renewal date passes, the status becomes Expired and a new check is ordered.

Last reviewed

June 11, 2026