In maintaining a safe environment for our students Santa Clara Elementary School abides by the policies of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Any Parent, legal guardian or Volunteer who works or engages with our students throughout the school year in any capacity is required to complete the VIRTUS program. The completion of the VIRTUS program is a school requirement and an Archdiocese of Los Angeles requirement. Please read the following information and click on the links below to begin the process.
VIRTUS® Protecting God's Children Adult Awareness Session is a three-hour training that helps clergy, staff, volunteers and parents to understand the facts and myths about child sexual abuse; how perpetrators operate; and how caring adults can take five important steps to keep children safe. The parent session also stresses monitoring of computers, cell phones and other technology that perpetrators use to gain access to children and young people. View 11 minute program introduction.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles mandates all staff, whether paid or volunteer, and all volunteers who work in any capacity with or around children, the elderly, or people with special needs are required to complete the initial three-hour VIRTUS® Protecting God's Children for Adults program. This education component 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 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. Finally, the awareness session empowers each person with five steps to help prevent child sexual abuse.
More than 150,000 priests, deacons, parish and school staff members and volunteers have already participated in these sessions throughout the five Pastoral Regions of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Our goal is to provide this training to all adults who work with children so we can work together as a more effective community to prevent child sexual abuse.
NOTE: When registering for the VIRTUS program, Santa Clara Elementary School corresponds to the Los Angeles - Santa Barbara Region (Archdiocese)
Please contact the School Office if you have additional questions at 805 - 483 - 6935