*Taken from the Archdiocese of Detroit*
“The Archdiocese of Detroit is updating their Safe Environments policies!
These policies are in place to protect the most vulnerable among us, including children and vulnerable adults. Adherence to these policies is required in every parish and school. The AOD uses an online system called Virtus as the platform for all training, monitoring, and data collection.
We want to inform you of some of the upcoming changes.Individuals who completed the Protecting God’s Children training BEFORE January 1. 2020 are now required to take a recertification
course by August 31, 2023. The recertification class is free and selfpaced. You can pause, save, and resume the class as needed, based on your schedule.
The recertification training should take approximately two hours.Recertification training will then be required every three years.NEW employees and volunteers must take a “live” PGC class. There are inperson and Zoom options for the “live” class. The training for new employees/volunteers takes around three hours.
An annual background check is part of both the new training process AND the recertification process.This is completed online upon registration in the Virtus system.
What you need to know now:
From June 26th through July 7th, the Virtus system will automatically send emails to all individuals currently registered in the Virtus system.
If you are a current volunteer who previously took the PGC training, PLEASE BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR AN EMAIL FROM VIRTUS.The email will include directions on requesting your user ID or
changing your password for the Virtus system.
If you are a current volunteer who previously took the PGC trainingand you do NOT receive an email from Virtus by July 10th, please contact helpdesk@virtus.org or protectchildren@aod.org. Training registration information for new/future volunteers will beshared soon.
Not our compliance, but our calling.Often when we hear about the efforts of the Church in regard to sexual abuse, we hear about the importance of compliance with the USCCB Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. From a faith environment perspective, the importance is not in our compliance, but in our calling. As Catholics, we are called to respect the life and dignity of every human person from conception to natural death. The Charter guides us in action to our calling. Our calling furthers the Gospel message of Christ. Thank you for your cooperation in protecting all of
God’s children!”
