Safe Environment
Creating a Safe Place for God’s Children
Protecting God’s Children (PGC)
The Archdiocese of Detroit’s Protecting God’s Children program helps ensure our parish remains a safe, welcoming, and respectful environment for all. Required training and background checks equip employees and volunteers to recognize, prevent, and appropriately respond to concerns.
Together, these efforts foster a culture of awareness, accountability, and care.
Strengthening Our Commitment to Safe and Sacred Spaces
Archdiocese of Detroit Updated Safe Environment Policies
The Archdiocese of Detroit is committed to providing a safe and respectful environment for all children, youth, and vulnerable adults. To support this commitment, all employees and volunteers must complete Safe Environment training and a required criminal background check.
Together, these measures help foster a culture of awareness, accountability, and care throughout our parish and school communities.
The Archdiocese of Detroit uses VIRTUS, an online platform for training, compliance monitoring, and record management related to safe environment requirements. Please use the link below to log into your existing VIRTUS account or to create a new account.
If you have previously completed the Protecting God’s Children training, please do not create a new account. If you do not remember your username or password, VIRTUS provides account recovery options to help you regain access.
If you work or volunteer at another AOD location and have an existing Virtus account, please log into your account, click on the “My Info” box, scroll down to “+Add Role and Location”, select your role at St. Regis and add St. Regis Parish as a location.
Learn moreThe Criminal Background Check Disclosure and Authorization Form must be completed and signed in ink. Please submit the original copy of the completed form to your supervisor or the parish office.
Learn moreOur children are among the greatest gifts God has entrusted to our care. To help ensure a safe, respectful, and faith centered environment for all young people, all staff and volunteers are required to log into their VIRTUS account and electronically acknowledge the Archdiocese of Detroit Code of Conduct.
The Code of Pastoral Conduct outlines the expectations and responsibilities for priests, deacons, pastoral ministers, administrators, staff members, and volunteers serving within the Archdiocese. As a condition of service, all staff and volunteers are expected to carefully review and faithfully follow the policies and guidelines established to protect the children and youth entrusted to our care.
A Volunteer Must . . .
- Treat everyone with respect, loyalty, patience, integrity, courtesy, dignity and consideration.
- Avoid situations where he or she is alone with children and/or youth at Church activities.
- Use positive reinforcement rather than criticism, competition or comparison when working with children and/or youth.
- Refuse to accept expensive gifts from children, youth or their parents without prior written approval from the pastor or administration.
- Refrain from giving expensive gifts to children and/or youth without prior written approval from the parents or guardian and the pastor or administrator.
- Report suspected abuse to the pastor, administrator or appropriate supervisor and the local Child Protective Services agency. Failure to report suspected abuse to civil authorities (by required reporters) is, according to the law a misdemeanor.
- Cooperate fully in any investigation of abuse of children and/or youth.
A Volunteer Must Not . . .
- Smoke or use tobacco products on St. Regis property.
- Smoke, use or ingest marijuana on St. Regis property.
- Use, possess or be under the influence of alcohol or marijuana at any time while volunteering.
- Use, possess or be under the influence of illegal drugs at any time.
- Pose any health risk to children and/or youth through fevers or other contagious situations.
- Strike, spank, shake or slap children and/or youth
- Humiliate, ridicule threaten or degrade children and/or youth.
- Touch a child and/or youth in a sexual or other inappropriate manner.
- Use any discipline that frightens or humiliates children and/or youth.
- Use profanity in the presence of children and/or youth.
A volunteer working with children and/or youth is subject to a thorough background check, including criminal history. Any action inconsistent with this Code of Pastoral Conduct or failure to take action mandated by this Code of Pastoral Conduct may result in removal as a volunteer with children and/or youth.
Our goal is to empower children, youth and adults to avoid and report unsafe or harmful situations.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.