To foster a safe environment for children and vulnerable adults, the Diocese of Joliet requires that church personnel (clergy, seminarians, diaconal candidates, religious, employees, and volunteers who work with minors and/or vulnerable adults) comply with the safe environment compliance requirements of the diocese.
These requirements include educational programs identified by the diocese which contain information about sexual abuse, its identifying signs, controlling access to children and vulnerable adults, appropriate boundaries in relationships, reporting incidents of abuse and the effects of abuse on victims/survivors.
Prior to beginning service, all church personnel are required to complete the safe environment training program identified by the diocese, currently the VIRTUS Protecting God’s Children for Adults program (or PGC). In addition to clergy, seminarians, diaconal candidates, religious, and employees, this requirement applies to all volunteers who minister with minors and/or vulnerable adults on a regular, recurring basis and those who may have an opportunity to be alone with children and/or vulnerable adults during parish, school or religious education sponsored events. The program is also available to parents and guardians.
PGC is currently offered as an online training, which is accessed through a user’s VIRTUS account.
All church and school volunteers are required to have a VIRTUS account, which assists a user with completing and keeping up to date with safe environment compliance requirements. Please follow the steps below to comply with these diocesan requirements. Many of the forms are in PDF format and require Adobe Acrobat software to view; you can install the free software here.
Please visit VIRTUS’s Helpdesk Support / FAQs to assist with VIRTUS account related information, which includes the following:
- User Names & Passwords / Trouble with entering existing accounts
- Inactive / Suspended accounts
- Registration / Preparing to attend
- I moved / Need to transfer my account
- Updating my existing account
1. CREATE YOUR VIRTUS ACCOUNT
If you have previously registered with VIRTUS online – even if a different diocese – do not register for a new account. Please contact Debbie Morales (debbie@stisidoreparish.org) or the Office of Child and Youth Protection at SafeEnvironment@dioceseofjoliet.org.
You can create your own VIRTUS account by clicking the link below and clicking on “First Time Registrant.” Follow the prompts to create your account from there.
Please designate your primary location as St. Isidore and verify you have the proper roles listed. (e.g. if you are volunteering in the parish school, Volunteer:Parochial School should be listed. If you are a catechist when you create or update your VIRTUS account, make sure you designate Volunteer: Religious Education or Youth Ministry for your primary role, etc.) The dashboard/homepage of your VIRTUS account will highlight any areas you need to complete; you can complete nearly all of the required items though your VIRTUS account. Upon your next login you will be asked to complete those items before doing anything else in your account.
It is important that you complete the assigned training within 30 days of initiating your account or the account will be deleted by the diocese.
Click the button entitled “Instructions to Create Your VIRTUS Account” (linked at the bottom of the webpage) for a step by step guide on creating your VIRTUS account and completing the process.
2. COMPLETE THE PROMPTED DOCUMENTS
After you create your account you should immediately be prompted and taken through that process to submit your acknowledgement form for reading two documents.
Policy Regarding Sexual Abuse of Minors (revised 2023)
Standards of Behavior for Those Working with Minors (revised 2023)
Next you will be prompted to complete or upload your PGC Workshop certificate. See next step for more information.
3. COMPLETE THE PROTECTING GOD’S CHILDREN ONLINE TRAINING
Every potential volunteer and all members of staff across the diocese are required to participate in a Protecting God’s Children Workshop, currently being offered online. Information is provided when you log into your account.
You must complete the online Protecting God’s Children workshop within 30 days of establishing your VIRTUS account or your account will automatically become inactivated.
4. COMPLETE YOUR BACKGROUND CHECK
Finally you should be prompted to submit your background check through Fastrax.
Virtus should automatically take you to the secure Fastrax site where you can follow the given prompts in order to complete this task. (Please note that your social security number is NOT needed for the background check. This field will be pre-filled with 999-99-9999 and should be left as-is.) Once submitted, background checks need to be pushed through by the local administrator. Contact Debbie Morales (debbie@stisidoreparish.org) to complete your background check.
5. COMPLETE THE STATE OF ILLINOIS MANDATED REPORTER TRAINING
In January 2020, Illinois began requiring all volunteer teachers to take online Mandated Reporter Training to learn to look for signs of child abuse and to report them. This training is automatically prompted through the VIRTUS website for new catechists as they sign on and complete their PGC training. Employees and any ongoing catechists, youth helpers and classroom aides, or volunteers with youth whether serving in-person or virtually, will need to complete this training from DCFS. Again, this is a State of Illinois requirement. You can learn more about the new law here.
DCFS Mandated Reporter Training Includes:
- A pre-training assessment (13 multiple-choice questions)
- 60–90 minutes of self-paced interactive training
- A post-training assessment (13 multiple-choice questions)
- A Certificate of Completion
DCFS Mandated Reporter Training webpage
IMPORTANT! After Completing Your Training: The DCFS Mandated Reporter Acknowledgement Form must be submitted to the PGC Administrator to complete this portion of your PGC requirements as it must be entered manually into your account to show completion. Forms can be submitted to the parish office or sent to debbie@stisidoreparish.org.
6. COMPLETE A VOLUNTEER APPLICATION
All adults in a recurring volunteer role with children must complete an APPLICATION. Submit the application to the person in charge of the activity for which you are volunteering so that the references can be checked. The application will then go the the Adminsitrator to be logged into your acount.