Safe Environment

For Children K-8 Grades.  As caring adults, we have the great responsibility of ensuring the safety of children and youth.  The prevention of child sexual abuse requires more than adult awareness, education, and training about the nature and scope of the problem.  We must also give children and youth the tools they need to help us keep them safe by educating them regarding boundaries, safe and unsafe behaviors and healthy relationships.  Research shows that child abuse prevention is most effective when there is a partnership between parents and Lesson Leaders, when material is reiterated in a school setting, and when the training is interactive and activity-based.  Research based and evidence informed, the "Empowering God's Children" is an age-appropriate comprehensive program through which Lesson Leaders (teachers, catechists, youth ministers, etc.) and parents partner to give children and youth the tools they need to protect themselves and know what to do if someone tries to violate their boundaries.  Each year the program provides a theme that introduces and builds on the basic concepts of the "Teaching Boundaries and Safety Guide."  The material is developmentally appropriate for each age group and includes content and activities that reinforce the message.  Within each lesson plan is the ability to tailor the activities and messaging to meet the diverse needs of the children and youth at all levels.

For 9th-12th Grades.  High school students who wish to volunteer at any Archdiocesan parish or school must complete Virtus' Healthy Relationships for Teens 2.0 Online Module Expansion with Safe Environment Component.  This will replace Called to Serve and Praesidium's Called to Protect.  This module is entirely online and must be completed individually; there will be no in-person workshops.  Certificates and/or notification of completion of the module will be available to local Virtus parish/school administrators.  

For those adults 18 and older.  All new paid employees, stipend individuals, coaches, catechists, shared-time teachers, tutors, and contractors will have two options to complete the PGC training: live in-person or live via Zoom.

Volunteers (and strictly volunteers who are not coaches, tutors, or catechists) will be able to complete PGC certification either by way of a live session (either by Zoom or in-person) or by completing the Protecing God's Children Online Awareness Session 4.0 (self-paced online training module).  During the registration process on Virtus, a registrant's answers to a series of questions about their role or ministry will automatically determine the options available to them.  If the online training module is an option for that registrant, that training module will be immediately assigned, and they can complete it when convenient.  Most of our school parent volunteers will be able to complete the online module.  The time commitment is still the same as a live session, but it can be completed at any time.

Recertification for Current Adult Employees and Volunteers:
All employees and volunteers who completed PGC before 2020 will be required to update their certification with the online Protecting God's Children Online Awareness Session 4.0 training module. 

Directions for registering:
Go to "virtus.org"
Enter your ID and password, click on the green box "First Time Registrant"
Choose either "Begin the registration process" or "View a list of sessions"
If you already have an ID go to "View a list of sessions", if not, choose "Begin the registration process" and follow the directions
"Select your organization" will come up - click the drop-down menu and click "Detroit, MI"
A list of workshops will be displayed and you can choose the workshop that is convenient for you.  Some are "in-person" and some are "Zoom" workshops.
They are always adding new workshops so check periodically.