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The Diocese of Covington utilizes the VIRTUS® programs to assist the Church in being a safe haven for children and a messenger for preventing child sexual abuse within the Church and society in general. We seek to achieve this lofty goal through our child sexual abuse prevention program: Protecting God’s Children™. The Diocese regulations that govern all volunteers who work with children and vulnerable adults on Diocesan property or who volunteer in the name of the Diocese fulfill specific requirements.
All volunteers are required to become VIRTUS® certified and it is their responsibility to remain compliant in order to participate directly with any child in any classroom setting or on the school/parish grounds.
Protecting God’s Children Program
The Protecting God's Children program educates and trains adults (clergy, religious, teachers, staff, volunteers, and parents) about the dangers of abuse, the warning signs of abuse, the ways to prevent abuse, the methods of properly reporting suspicions of abuse, and responding to allegations of abuse. All VIRTUS® training programs, are multi-dimensional and comprehensive -- incorporating proven best practice standards for the prevention of child sexual abuse by clergy, staff, volunteers, and others who interact with children within the church environment. Our training programs incorporate instructor-led training, train-the-facilitator education, awareness videos, and ongoing web-based training through online training bulletins and training modules via our VIRTUS® Online system.
VIRTUS® Certification Process
In order to become VIRTUS® certified, the following steps must be completed prior to volunteering:
- Contact Kristina
Goodridge, our VIRTUS® Coordinator
by calling the school office, 859-342-2551. Review and download the Policies
and Procedures for Addressing Sexual Misconduct manual by clicking here. For the Spanish manual, click here.
- Once you have reviewed
the manual, please stop by the school or parish office to pick up the forms
that need to be completed: (1) the Volunteer Application form used for
reference and background check verification and (2) the 2014 Policies and
Procedures for Addressing Sexual Misconduct Acceptance form. Kristina can be
reached at 859-342-2551 or via email, kgoodridge@sthenryel.com
if you have questions.
- Once the forms are
completed, they need to be returned to Kristina Goodridge in person so that she
can make sure all the information has been completed correctly. Kristina is in
the school office daily from 7 am-3 pm. After 3 pm, the forms may be dropped off at the parish office before
4:30 pm.
- You will then register
online by opening a VIRTUS® account online by going to the following
link and selecting Covington, KY from the drop-down box: LINK
-
Follow the steps to create your user ID and password. Please keep a note of your user name and
password — you will need it every time you log in. Continue filling out your information. When you get to the page about attending
a session, selecting no will give you the opportunity to register for a
session.
-
After you complete your registration, go back into your account
and into the Toolbox tab and in the green column, choose Selection.com,
which will take you to the website to fill in all our information so that
a background check can be processed. The cost for a background check is $25 and will cover you as long
as you remain active in VIRTUS®. Once you have submitted all the data required,
it will take you back to your VIRTUS® account.
-
Your account will not be readily seen until all of your paperwork
has been processed. Please do not register a second time. You should receive a notification from
VIRTUS® that you have registered. It will come from system@virtus.org.
For in-depth
information regarding the Diocese of Covington’s Safe Environment program,
please visit their website here.
In order to
volunteer in any capacity within our school or parish, you must complete all of
the above steps. There are no exceptions
to this policy. If you have questions, please contact our coordinator Kristina
Goodridge, 859-342-2551, or the Marylu Steffen at the Diocese of Covington, 859-392-1565.
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