Diocese Offers ‘protecting God’s Children for Parents’

By Mary Skemp
Catholic Herald
February 9, 2017

http://www.madisoncatholicherald.org/news/around-diocese/6837-virtus-training-parents.html

MADISON -- The Diocese of Madison's Office of Safe Environment is offering a special session of "Protecting God's Children for Parents." This session will be held Tuesday, March 21, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Bishop O'Connor Center Auditorium Conference Room.

While this session is geared toward parents/guardians, it also satisfies the compliance requirement for employees and volunteers.

The Diocese of Madison requires that all volunteers who work with children and vulnerable adults and all employees attend a "Protecting God's Children for Adults" session.

"Protecting God's Children" includes an education component which helps prevent child sexual abuse by first making every adult employee and volunteer aware of the issues surrounding child sexual abuse. This includes awareness of the many ways that sexual abuse harms its victims, their families, the parish, and the community.

The awareness session also helps adults learn to recognize the warning signs of abuse and shows them the appropriate way to respond to suspicious behavior. The awareness session also empowers each person with five steps to help prevent child sexual abuse. A trained facilitator leads these awareness sessions.

To register for the March 21 session, go to www.virtus.org