Safe Environment Coordinator's Toolkit
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month
Throughout the month of April we join in the nationwide effort to increase awareness about child abuse and abuse prevention. This is a great time for all of us, as individuals and families, schools and parishes, to pray for the eradication of child abuse and for the protection of all children.
Click here for the toolkit which provides a variety of resources for your parish or school: from liturgical aids to bulletin inserts, social posts to email & website web banners.
Thank you for your dedication to protecting children and providing resources to families!
Access your VIRTUS Online here
Safe Environment Program Overview
Updated 3/2024
Safe Environment Program management involves a myriad of different aspects ranging from Adult and Children's training and Outside Organizations, to Record-Keeping and Sex Offender Guidelines. This document gives a full overview of all the procedures and protocols for which local Safe Environment coordinators have responsibility.
Protecting God's Children for Adults is a program to ensure safe environments in all of our parishes, schools and Archdiocesan departments and agencies. This free training focuses on increasing awareness about the nature of child sexual abuse. The VIRTUS program is offered in two formats: in-person group sessions led by a facilitator and internet-based personal sessions viewed at home.
SEP 2023 - Training Adults Overview
SEP 2023 - Training Adults Overview - Spanish
Alternate Initial Training Options
There may be situations where an individual may have difficulty with material presented in the Protecting God’s Children for Adults initial training session. They may have a history of sexual abuse and fear that the videos will trigger memories; or perhaps they attended an initial group session and had to leave abruptly because the videos triggered them.
Alternate options for training are available but must be authorized by the Safe Environment office on a case-by-case basis. The Safe Environment office will work with the individual, the Local Coordinator and/or the parish/school Facilitator to accommodate the individual’s needs as best we can. If an alternate version of training is deemed appropriate, an Alternate PGC Class Verification Form must be completed and emailed to the Safe Environment office upon completion of the alternate version of training. This form will be provided to the individual and Facilitator/Local Coordinator if alternate training is being set up.
Please email the Safe Environment office if you need assistance with an individual who is in need of an alternate version for initial training.
Circle of Grace was developed by the Archdiocese of Omaha as a teaching safety program for children in grades K-12. The program has at its core the teachings of the Catholic Church: namely the belief and knowledge of God's Real Presence in our lives.
Materials and lesson plans are sent to school principals and parish faith formation leaders each summer so they can prepare well in advance. For more information please contact the Safe Environment office.
Virtus Users Guides
Updated 7/2023
Do you have user profiles that are awaiting approval, in PROCESS USER status? Did they register for an in-person PGC class in the past but never took it? Feel free to send these instructions guiding users how to cancel their old in-person session and re-register for the internet-based personal session Online Awareness 4.0.
SEP 2023 - Changing initial training in-person to Online Awareness
Do you have user profiles that are awaiting approval, in PROCESS USER status because they created their Virtus profile but never registered for initial training? Feel free to send these instructions guiding users how to access their existing profile and register for an in-person group session or the internet-based personal session.
SEP 2023 - Registering for Initial Training - Exisiting Virtus Profile
Background check submissions are done day in and day out as part of the Safe Environment Program. Users begin in their Virtus profile and are redirected to the Trak-1 website, our search vendor, which can be confusing for some users. People are often in a hurry or distracted; they miss steps in the process; or they leave the page thinking they will get back to the application later. Unfortunately these interruptions have a high likelihood of causing errors in the background check submission process. This instruction is very helpful for guiding users through the background check submission process. Feel free to pass it on as needed.
Other Resources
Updated 3/2024
These quarterly newsletters are chalk full of great information. Please read them to keep abreast of new information and for tips on the myriad issues that Local Coordinators face day-in-and-day-out.
Please use this SEP/Insurance decision-making matrix to evaluate how to proceed for parish & school personnel and volunteers, but also for outside entities: organizations that have their own safe environment policies/requirements, or businesses and individuals who do not have their own safe environment policies. The Compliance Form is required documentation for those organizations with their own policy. For those requesting a waiver of insurance please provide a copy of the Compliance Form to the Archdiocesan Insurance Department. Keep all forms in permanent file at the parish or school office.
All minors working in any capacity with younger children in parish or school programs must complete a Professional Code of Conduct Form and return it to the parish or school office prior to beginning work.
SEP 2023 - Code of Professional Conduct for Minors
SEP 2023 - Code of Professional Conduct for Minors - Spanish
Use this instruction only AFTER going live with ParishStaq. Local coordinators receive an email notification when a new profile has been created and if that new user is a parishioner in ParishStaq you will want to sync the Virtus profile so the SEP compliance is noted in ParishStaq. See the separate instructions for creating the Master Report in the Local Coordinator Toolkit.
Master Reports are vital in managing compliance with SEP requirements in your location. They should be created regularly, every month or two at a minimum, to ensure on-going compliance of your active Church Personnel. This version was updated on 03.01.2024.
SEP - Creating a Master Report in Virtus REVISED 03.2024
SEP - Creating a Master Report in Virtus_Spanish REVISED 03.2024
Background Check Reports are vital for catching errors in the submission process, which happen on occasion due to human error. We want to catch these errors and resolve them within days of the original submission date, so monitoring this report every 2-3 weeks is highly recommended. This version was updated on 7.7.2023.
SEP 2023 - Creating a Background Check Report in Virtus
SEP 2023 - Creating a Background Check Report in Virtus - Spanish
This guide will assist you in submitting manual background checks into Trak-1 and accessing the reports once complete.
Workflow to help Coordinators assess the Safe Environment Requirements for new employees and volunteers.
Standard volunteer application.
Feel free to use this Welcome to Virtus letter as part of a new adult employee or volunteer packet, to introduce or re-introduce them to Virtus and their Safe Environment requirements.
SEP 2024 - Welcome to Virtus Letter
SEP 2024 - Welcome to Virtus Letter - Spanish
Feel free to use this template or create your own announcement to let your staff and volunteers know about upcoming initial training sessions at your parish or school.
Request that your location receive background checks via email as opposed to fax.
Great brochure giving contact information for sexual assault resource centers around the state.
Manual Background Check Authorization Forms
Updated 7/2023
All employee background checks must be submitted through the employee's Virtus profile. Please contact the Safe Environment office if the employee is having difficulty submitting their background check.
Manual background checks should only be used in rare instances. All adult volunteers who are subject to the background check requirement must submit their background check through their Virtus profile. A manual background check may be submitted by the local Safe Environment coordinator if the adult volunteer has had difficulty submitting their background check through Virtus.
Do not submit a manual background check without completed, signed (in 2 places) and dated authorization form.
SEP 2023 - BACKGROUND CHECK REQUEST - VOLUNTEER ADULT
SEP 2023 - BACKGROUND CHECK REQUEST - VOLUNTEER ADULT - Spanish
Manual background checks should be submitted in accordance with the Safe Environment protocol for Minors Working With Younger Children. The background check must be submitted manually for all minors aged 16-17 (up to the 18th birthday) working in any capacity with children or vulnerable adults. A parent or legal guardian must authorize the parish or school to conduct a criminal background check search on their child.
Do not submit a manual background check without completed, signed (in 2 places) and dated authorization form.
Safe Environment Policies
Reviewed 7/2023
This policy applies to all Church personnel while ministering and working in parishes, schools, chancery offices and agencies of the Corporation of the Catholic Archbishop of Seattle.
SEP - Policy for the Prevention and Response to Abuse
SEP - Policy for the Prevention and Response to Abuse - Spanish
All Church personnel have a sacred responsibility to uphold Church teachings and the rules and regulations as outlined in this policy.
Brochure detailing how to report suspected abuse and who is obligated to report these cases.