Safe Environment Faith Formation and Youth Ministry Toolkit

All parishes in the Archdiocese of Seattle are required to offer Circle of Grace children's teaching safety program annually as part of the Faith Formation curriculum. Faith Formation leaders will be reminded of the requirements for the upcoming school year in early June. Circle of Grace resources and curriculum are available in both English and Spanish on the COG Partners Website which has a restricted login. Access to the website is intended for those staff preparing and conducting the lessons; please do not provide access to parents.

Catechist Confirmation Forms are required for each location and must indicate the teaching staff for each grade level and confirmation of their training. A compliled Recording Form for all grade levels per location is required and must include the number of children enrolled in each grade level, the number of children trained, the number of children absent, and the number of children opted out. Deadline for the 2023-24 school year is March 31, 2024 and all Catecist Confirmation Forms and Recording Forms must be emailed to the Safe Environment Program office by April 15, 2024.

Please note that Circle of Grace teaching safety program replaces our previous children's safety program from Virtus. Please use the forms available below to replace any old forms you may have at your location.

Faith Formation and Youth Ministry Resources

Updated 7/2023

Circle of Grace Implementation Information

At-a-Glance Circle of Grace Partners Website Navigation

Circle of Grace Partners website is restricted and copyrighted. Access is intended only for Faith Formation leaders and local Safe Environment coordinators. Login information may be obtained from the Safe Environment Program office or your local SE coordinator. It is a shared login for the entire Archdiocese; please do not attempt to change the login username or password.

SEP 2023 - At-a-Glance Circle of Grace Partners Website Navigation

Circle of Grace Brochures

Catechist Confirmation Form

Recording Form

Minors Working with Younger Children in Faith Formation Programs

Do you have minors (youth under the age of 18) who want to work or volunteer in Faith Formation? Please see the protocol below and discuss with your local Safe Environment coordinator who will provide you with the forms. Manual background checks must be submitted by the local SE coordinator. All forms and reports must be filed in permanent record in the parish office.

Minors Working with Younger Children

For our purposes, ‘minor’ is defined as any child under the age of 18. If they have reached their 18th birthday they are considered adults. Minors do NOT create Virtus profiles. (The system will not even allow them to do so.)

All minors must sign a Code of Professional Conduct Form. Both the parent/guardian and the minor must sign/date the form verifying understanding our Archdiocesan Safe Environment policy in regards to minors who work with younger children.
Minors age 16 – 18 (prior to 18th b-day) must apply for a background check. Their parent/guardian must sign the Background Check Authorization Form giving approval for the search. Background checks for minors may not be submitted without the signature/date of parent/guardian on the form (in two places).
Both of these forms (Code of Conduct and BGC Authorization) must be returned to the parish or school SEP coordinator for processing. The minor may not begin work until all completed forms have been received and background check resulted (if they are of age for BGC). All documentation is retained in paper form permanently.
Minors may not work in a capacity in which they supervise children, unless they themselves are supervised by someone age 21 or older. It is the responsibility of the parish or school to ensure that adequate adult supervision is provided for the duration of the minor's work.
When the minor reaches 18 years old they should be instructed to create their Virtus profile. The manual background check result can then be entered manually into the BGC tab in Virtus. The system will not allow them to submit another BGC if it is within the 3 years.