Protecting God's Children
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Archdiocese of Chicago
Office for the Protection of Children and Youth
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The Archdiocese of
Chicago Safe Environment Office requires that all clergy, employees,
and volunteers who work with children must complete the following:
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Attend VIRTUS / Protecting
God's Children Training for Adults
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Criminal Background Check
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Read the Code of Conduct and
sign the Personnel Acknowledgement Form
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Complete the Child Abuse
Neglect Tracking System for (CANTS) and submit it to the
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
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VIRTUS
Protecting God’s Children Training for Adults
VIRTUS (Latin for virtue) is a mandated program (three to four hours
of instruction) regarding child sexual abuse that, per Diocesan
policy, all parish, school and diocesan personnel and volunteers,
who have regular contact with minors, are to attend. The
Archdiocese mandates that all volunteers, chaperones, coaches,
scout leaders, and anyone else who works with children must attend a
VIRTUS training session. In fact, any parent (including one who
may never volunteer at school or school-related functions) can
benefit from the program and should, therefore, attend.
The
program is an introduction to child sexual abuse and child sexual
abusers. It provides some statistics on child abusers, including
how child abusers meet and interact with potential victims. It
provides safety suggestions, warning signs and procedures to follow
when questionable practices are noticed. It provides information
that may help you protect your child and will help you to be a
better volunteer and work with other children in a safe, positive
atmosphere.
In order to attend a session, you must register by visiting the
VIRTUS website at
www.virtus.org.
Click here for
registration instructions.
Background Check
To apply for a background check, you will need to logon to the
Archdiocese website at
www.archchicago.org.
This is a two step process. You will need to first register, and
then continue with the application.
Click here for detailed
instructions.
Code of Conduct and CANTs Forms
Click here for copies of the
Code of Conduct and
CANTs
forms which can also be found on the Archdiocese
website. Completed forms can be dropped off
at the rectory.
Additional information can be found under the Protecting God's
Children Section of the Archdiocese website.
http://archchicago.org/departments/safe_environment/compliance.shtm
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