Volunteer & Virtus Training

All parents, grandparents, friends, businesses, and alumni who wish to volunteer at Gehlen Catholic School (both in and out of the classroom) are required to participate in the Virtus Program, as mandated by the Diocese of Sioux City.(www.virtusonline.org)

In response to the Charter for the Protection of Children as adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Dallas in June of 2002, the Diocese of Sioux City has created a safe environment program that includes:

• The Charter for the Protection of Children & Young People:A Policy of the Diocese of Sioux City.  Click to review The Charter for the Protection of Children & Young People

• Safe Environment Code of Conduct- Comprehensive background checks on:

• All existing & new employees of the Diocese & entities associated with the Diocese

• All existing & new volunteers who have regular contact with children

• “Protecting God’s Children,” an educational awareness program designed to:

• Increase awareness of child sexual abuse

• Understand a 5-step process to prevent child sex abuse from occurring in our schools and parishes

• Allows you to commit to being a part of a community that will protect all of God’s children

All employees of the Diocese, parishes, or schools, as well as volunteers who have regular contact with children, are required to participate in and comply with all aspects of the Safe Environment Program.

Volunteers who have regular contact with children include:

• Individuals who have contact with children one or more times a month

• Individuals who are alone with groups of children

• Individuals who are involved in any activities that include overnight supervision of children or young people.

Instructions to register online for “Protecting God’s Children”:

1. Go to www.virtusonline.org

2. Click on the yellow link on the left-hand side labeled “Registration”.

3. You will see a drop-down menu for you to select the name of your diocese.

4. Once you have selected our diocese (Sioux City), click on the word “select”.

5. The next screen will offer you the option to “Begin Registration.”

6. You will then fill out the form on the next pages, following the prompts. You will choose your own User ID and password – pick something you will remember! You cannot have the same word for both your user ID and password.

7. There are a number of drop-down screens wherein you will indicate your work location (Gehlen Catholic), job title, types of work you will be doing, etc. There are a number of required fields (marked with a*); your e-mail address is a required field.

8. One screen will allow you to choose the class you will attend. Click on the one which works best for you. Even if there is not a class that you can attend while you are here at Gehlen. It will not let you go on unless you have chosen a class.

9. When you have completed all screens, click on the “submit registration” button. 

10. Now Complete the ESR Background Check.

You will receive an e-mail confirming your registration, so you will know if everything has been received. Please print out this e-mail as confirmation of your User ID and password – the Diocese of Sioux City will not have this information on file, so you must maintain your own record of your password.