Recertification is required for all existing volunteers and employees who completed Protecting God's Children (PGC) before January 1, 2020.
The Archdiocese of Detroit has updated its Safe Environment policies.
This program is to assist parents and children - and those who work with children - in preventing harm to young people. All new adult volunteers, occasional volunteers, and recertification volunteers are to take the 2-hour-long training either live in-person or via Zoom sessions. Please click here for more detailed information.
The recertification needs to be completed by November 1, 2023. The AoD uses Virtus, an online platform for all training, monitoring, and data collection. This training is very important and required for all volunteers at our parish.
If you have TAKEN Protecting God's Children before January 1, 2020.
Log into your existing Virtus account. You should not create a new account if you have taken PGC in the past. If you do not remember your username or password, Virtus offers a username and password recovery option. Once you have logged into your Virtus account you should see the assigned training under the Home tab/Current Training.
The self-paced modules (Protecting God's Children and Vulnerable Adults) are entirely online and take approximately 2.5 hours to complete. You can stop and start as you need to complete training at your convenience.
Everyone who has completed a PGC session (even as far back as 2002) has an individual account in the Virtus platform. Please do not re-create an account. Instead, proceed with the username / password recovery option by clicking HERE
Existing Volunteers who have NEVER taken a PGC session before:
The self-paced modules (Protecting God's Children and Vulnerable Adults) are entirely online and take approximately 2.5 hours to complete. Register online at bit.ly/Virtus_Registration. You can stop and start as you need to complete training at your convenience.
New Recurrent Volunteers
All new recurrent adult volunteers must register on the Virtus platform. (bit.ly/Virtus_Registration)
New occasional adult volunteers (1-3 times per year volunteer), even those who do not serve in a direct role working with youth, must be trained
You must register on the Virtus platform and complete training before volunteering (bit.ly/Virtus_Registration). You may complete your certification either entirely online at your convenience with the self-paced training modules for Protecting God's Children and Vulnerable Adults, or by attending an in-person or live Zoom session for Protecting God's Children and completing the self-paced Vulnerable Adults module online.
Teen Volunteers
High School students who wish to volunteer at any AOD parish must complete Virtus'online workshops: Healthy Relationships for Teens 2.0 Online Module Expansion with SafeEnvironment Components. This module is accessible online through Virtus and is intended to help youth identify the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships. The module equips teens to follow a plan to do the right thing for themselves and others upon recognizing an unhealthy situation. This module takes approximately 35 minutes to complete. To access the module, teen volunteers need to register on the Virtus site (bit.ly/Virtus_Registration). After inputting their date of birth, the system will know they are minors and will assign them the Healthy Relationships for Teen 2.0 module. Certificates of completion of the module will be available at the parish office.
Ongoing Triennial Recertification
All individuals will be required to complete the Protecting God's Children online recertification module within three months of the third anniversary of their previous Protecting God's Children certification. The Virtus system will automatically send to a participant's email on file a notification to prompt them to complete recertification.
Background Checks
An annual background check is now required for all recurrent adult volunteers.
A biennial background check is required for occasional volunteers and those contracted by parishes and schools.
Questions? Send an email to protectchildren@aod.org or 888-847-8870/helpdesk@virtue.org
If you need further help, or are confused, please contact the parish office!
Learn More Here:
 |
 |