---
title: "Screening status: what Pending means"
description: 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
---

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July 30, 2026

# Screening status: what Pending means

## What Pending is telling you, who moves it forward, and when to check in with your church.

### **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 Overview 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 their Overview page, inside Your safeguarding checklist, marked "Your church arranges this for you." 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 Overview page

Volunteers: sign in; Safe Pathways opens Overview. Your safeguarding checklist lists each screening item and where it stands.

#### **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.

#### **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.

#### **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](https://support.safepathways.com/police-checks-how-ordering-works?hsLang=en-ca) 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](https://support.safepathways.com/references-admin-troubleshooting?hsLang=en-ca). Volunteers, for entering references, see [Adding your references](https://support.safepathways.com/how-to-add-your-references?hsLang=en-ca).

### **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 Overview 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.

- [For Volunteers](https://support.safepathways.com/for-volunteers?hsLang=en-ca#main-content)

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    - [Help and troubleshooting](https://support.safepathways.com/for-church-administrators?hsLang=en-ca#help-and-troubleshooting)
    - [Watch Party](https://support.safepathways.com/for-church-administrators?hsLang=en-ca#watch-party)
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