The Archdiocese of Miami utilizes Virtus programs as the educational component of the Safe Environment Policy: Creating and Maintaining a Safe Environment for Children and Vulnerable Adults. The initial Virtus program, Protecting God's Children® for Adults is an online training course addressing awareness, prevention, and response to child sexual abuse and abuse of the vulnerable.

The training is an overview of the nature of child sexual abuse and the nature of predators, including the methods and means by which offenders commit abuse. These same methods apply to all types of abuse including of the elderly and the vulnerable. Participants are instructed in five easy tangible steps they can apply to prevent abuse.

The training also incorporates policies and procedures in place addressing abuse, the screening and selection of employees and volunteers, and victim advocacy. The initial training takes approximately 90 minutes to complete.

Then training continues for some depending on their role, in the form of monthly bulletins. The bulletins take about 3 to 5 minutes to read and are a great way to provide information that is timely and topical, which can be essential especially when talking about internet and social media safety, which changes so frequently.

Employees, clergy and vendors are required to complete the initial training and read the monthly bulletins within the month the bulletin is delivered. Volunteers are required to participate in VIRTUS training and bulletins depending on their role as outlined in the ADOM Policy.

The bulletins also keep the reader at the forefront of best practices, tools, techniques and tips for maintaining safe environments for children and vulnerable adults. For an informative look at the benefit of reading the monthly bulletins, please see the website at www.miamiarch.org under Protecting God’s Children and Virtus Training. Look to the picture of the lighthouse and click, “Watch the Video.”

The ADOM also utilizes Virtus programs for children in grades K-12 called Teaching Boundary Safety. It is a safety program that defines, informs, and empowers children to keep them safe from abuse. Much like fire safety and pedestrian/traffic safety these lessons are another type of safety program. Lesson plans are age appropriate and created by leaders in the fields of child abuse, protection, and education. For more information speak to your school’s principal and ask for the Teaching Boundary Safety Guidebook.

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• Fingerprinting And Background Screening
• Virtus Training And Monthly Bulletins
• Pledge

Please refer to the Archdiocese of Miami's Creating and Maintaining a Safe Environment Policy for additional information. The definitions included on this webpage are limited to this policy only and do not confer employment status or otherwise have legal significance outside of this policy

Any concerns of abuse or neglect reported to ADOM personnel by a victim or on behalf of a victim should be immediately reported to DCF, if applicable and, in all cases, to the ADOM Safe Environment Director.