As volunteers in the Diocese of Charlotte, we all have a role in protecting children, young people and vulnerable adults. The diocese has adopted policies and procedures to safeguard those whose care has been entrusted to us. The Protecting God's Children program helps adults learn to recognize the warning signs of abuse and teaches the appropriate ways to respond to suspicious behavior. The program also helps raise awareness of child sexual abuse by helping adults become aware of its consequences. This includes the many ways that sexual abuse harms victims, their families, parishes, and communities. The Protecting God’s Children workshop is offered throughout the diocese all year long. It is mandatory for all employees and for all volunteers who have regular contact with children to attend a workshop before they can begin working with children.
You can view information and workshop dates and locations at the Diocese of Charlotte website or on the Virtus website.
Diocese of Charlotte website: https://charlottediocese.org/human-resources/safe-environment/ Click "Protecting God's Children Training Schedule" in the Training section.
Virtus: www.virtus.org
Click the "First Time Registrant" tab and then "View a list of sessions." Select "Charlotte, NC (Diocese)" from the drop down box to see all the upcoming scheduled workshops.
Registration is required and may also be done online at www.virtus.org. Click the "First Time Registrant" tab on the left and then "Begin the registration process." Select "Charlotte, NC (Diocese)" from the drop down box. You will be asked to create a user id and password that you will use to access your account. If you have gone to Virtus to view upcoming workshops, you can also click "Start Registration" at the top of the list of workshops.
After completion of the Protecting God’s Children workshop, it is very important to keep your PGC training updated to remain an active volunteer. This is done by reading the monthly bulletins and completing the related question. You should be receiving monthly email reminders from Virtus. If you are not, please confirm that your Virtus account is set to your current email address and check your spam or junk mail.
If you have not been completing the bulletins and questions regularly, your certification may have been suspended by the Diocese. This means that you cannot be an active volunteer.
Please log into your www.virtusonline.org account, if you do not see the training tab at the top, your account has been suspended. Please contact the Diocese at safeenvironment@charlottediocese.org and ask them to release your suspension.
If you have any questions regarding Safe Environment requirements, please contact Mollie Anderson at manderson@sainttherese.net or 704-664-3992, ext. 2117.