VIRTUS Program: Protecting God's Children for Adults
All volunteers age 16 or older who participate in environments and activities that may include supervision of or work alongside youth under the age of 18 will be required to attend a Virtus® awareness session, complete a background check, and review and sign three documents. Children under the age of 16 should never attend the Awareness sessions (nor should they be considered as adults or placed in unsupervised environments requiring supervision of minors). For those volunteers under the age of 18, a Parental Permission Form is required for admittance and we encourage that a Parent/Guardian attend the same Virtus Awareness session with their child. Every adult connected with a parish, school or agency in the Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has an opportunity to attend these sessions designed to prevent and bring awareness to the abuse of children and is encouraged to do so.
The word “virtus” derives from Latin, and means valor, moral strength, excellence, and worth. In ancient times, virtus denoted a way of life and manner of behavior that always aspired to the highest, most positive attributes of people and aspects of human interaction. The VIRTUS program identifies the warning signs of abuse and teaches strategies for maintaining safe environments for children.
When adults who interact with children increase their awareness of child sexual abuse, they form a shield that protects children. That shield is a network of adults alert to potentially abusive situations and children with the confidence to speak up. Participants will learn how to discuss different aspects of abuse, including sexual abuse, with children and how to teach them to protect themselves.
Corpus Christi periodically hosts Protecting God's Children for Adults/VIRTUS sessions, as do the majority of other parishes, schools, and religious agencies throughout the Archdiocese. These sessions are led by a trained facilitator and are scheduled to be three hours in length. You can attend any of these, at any parish in our Archdiocese to meet the requirement. Choose a session that is most convenient for you.
When you are ready to register, click here. Please note, when you register, you have not completed the full process until you have created an account, registered for the session of your choice, self-initiated your Background Check, and reviewed and signed the three required documents online. To view a list of all upcoming sessions n the Archdiocese visit the VIRTUS website. If you have already participated in a Protecting God's Children awareness session and need to have your account transferred from another diocese or parish, please submit a form online so we may begin the process of transferring your account.
