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Safe Environments

Safe environment programs are in place to assist parents and children and all those within our Church community to prevent harm to young people. The Archdiocese of Detroit is committed to training its staff and volunteers make environments safe for young people. Please be attentive to the requirements to be certified if you plan to volunteer in our schools.

Learn more about our Archdiocese certification policies. Just click here

Annually, students in Young 5's-8th grade are also taught the AOD mandated Empowering God's Children, which are the age-appropriate version of Protecting God's Children lessons that teach safety and boundaries. These lessons are done once per year in partnership with the school counselor and their classroom teacher. Learn more about the amazing program here.


New policy: FINGERPRINTING & BACKGROUND CHECKS, updated 8/1/26

Fingerprinting is required for clergy (priests and deacons); archdiocesan, parish, and school employees; and any volunteers who work directly with children and/or vulnerable adults. Volunteers who do not work directly with children and/or vulnerable adults are required to undergo an iChat (Michigan State Police) background check every 2 years.

Please read our background check and criminal convictions policy HERE.

MORE INFORMATION TO FOLLOW AS TO WHEN FINGERPRINTING WILL BE AVAILABLE.

Who Needs to Be Certified

  • Anyone who works in a parish/school: priests, administrators, teachers, coaches, catechists, lunchroom/recess monitors, assistants, after-school club moderators, etc
  • Anyone who volunteers in a parish/school: room parents, chaperones for field trips, volunteers in the classroom or attends classroom events

Steps to Certification

ADULT VOLUNTEERS:

STEP ONE: REGISTER FOR AN ACCOUNT AT VIRTUS.ORG/Background Check Form

  • If you have not previously completed Protecting God's Children training, create an account at Virtus.org.
  • Click “First-Time Registrant" and then "Begin the registration process".
  • As you complete your profile, you will be prompted to sign an electronic background check authorization form and a code of conduct.

STEP TWO: SIGN UP TO TAKE PROTECTING GOD'S CHILDREN TRAINING

  • Once you have created an account at Virtus.org, you can sign up for an coming training.
  • Choose Detroit Archdiocese from the organization list.
  • Both in-person and online (Zoom) sessions are available.

STEP THREE: SUBMIT A COPY OF YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE

  • Please submit a copy of your driver’s license to: OLGC Parish Office, Attn: Laura Hickey, 1062 Church St, Plymouth, MI 48170.
  • Alternatively, email a copy to [email protected].

RECERTIFICATION

  • If you have previously completed Protecting God's Children training, completion of an online recertification module must be done every three years.
  • The parish will email you before your certification expires so you can login to virtus.org and complete the assigned module.

TEEN VOLUNTEERS:

  • High school students who wish to volunteer at any AOD parish or school must complete the Virtus Online workshop: Healthy Relationship for Teens 2.0 Online Module Expansion with SafeEnvironment Components.
  • This module is accessible online through Virtus (virtusonline.org)
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