Child sexual abuse is a worldwide public health issue. Child abuse, particularly child sexual abuse, is reprehensible—especially when the wrongdoer is affiliated with the Church. The VIRTUS® programs assist the Church in being a safe haven for children and a messenger for preventing child sexual abuse within the Church and society in general. We seek to achieve this lofty goal through our child sexual abuse prevention program: Protecting God's Children®.

Most organizations that work with children have some sort of child safety program. Through the Protecting God’s Children program, we maximize those efforts by helping churches and religious organizations refine their roles as child-safe environments and empowering caring adults to protect children.

Child abusers seek to operate and abuse their power within nurturing, child-friendly environments where it is assumed that nobody would want to harm a child. Religious organizations of all faiths are an easy target. The Protecting God's Children program implements safety mechanisms that send a message to all abusers and potential abusers:

• Child abuse is not tolerated,

• Children are vigilantly protected,

• Victims are listened to, heard, and shielded from further abuse, and

• Offenders are identified and punished. 

By utilizing best practices for training and loss prevention, the Protecting God's Children program helps make churches safe for all people—especially children.

Maximizing a church's role as a child-safe environment begins with making adults more aware of the ways children and adults interact with each other. The Protecting God's Children program educates and trains adults (clergy, religious, teachers, staff, volunteers, and parents) about the dangers of abuse, the warning signs of abuse, the ways to prevent abuse, the methods of properly reporting suspicions of abuse, and responding to allegations of abuse.

All VIRTUS training programs, including the PROTECTING GOD'S CHILDREN programs, are comprehensive and multi-dimensional—incorporating proven best practice standards for the prevention of child sexual abuse by clergy, staff, volunteers, and others who interact with children within the church environment. Our training programs incorporate instructor-led training, train-the-facilitator education, awareness videos, and ongoing web-based training through online training bulletins and training modules via our VIRTUS Online system.

For any organization, the best practice to prevent wrongdoing, including child sexual abuse, is to have an organization use its own people to facilitate awareness of the issue. The Protecting God’s Children program begins with the training of internal facilitators—individuals selected by the archdiocese, diocese, or religious organization to train other adults and parents on how to best protect children. We use facilitator-led awareness sessions and continuous online training so that participants learn the best methods for delivering their message, including the training for the Protecting God’s Children program.

We begin by making adults of the Church that interact with children aware of how to protect children. Our Protecting God’s Children program for adults is a three-hour live awareness session instructing adults of the Church that to protect children you must have continuous awareness and vigilance. This awareness session makes trainees understand the signs of child sexual abuse, the methods and means by which offenders commit abuse, and five empowerment steps one can use to prevent child sexual abuse. Continuing online training is a valuable component of the Protecting God’s Children program for the continued awareness of child abuse.

Please use the following link to access the Official Charter document from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

CLICK HERE »

The Office of Safeguard the Children of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles annually publishes the
Working Together to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse Brochure, which provides an up-to-date listing
of safe environment policies, programs, resources, contact numbers and other important
information about how the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is working to prevent child sexual abuse.
Copies of the brochures are available in the school office.

“A Prayer for Healing Victims of Abuse” 
Holy Spirit, comforter of hearts, heal your people’s wounds and transform brokenness into wholeness. Grant us the courage and wisdom, humility and grace, to act with justice. Breathe wisdom into our prayers and labors. Grant that all harmed by abuse may find peace and justice. 

We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

Copyright© 2014 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, All Rights Reserved 

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Este año marca el 21 aniversario de la Carta de la USCCB para la Protección de Niños y Jóvenes. Nosotros, como Pueblo de Dios, continuamos con nuestro compromiso de Prometer Proteger y Compromiso de Sanar, les pedimos que se unan en una oración especial por las víctimas de abuso sexual infantil. 

“Oración por la sanación de las víctimas de abuso” 
Espíritu Santo, consolador de corazones, sana las heridas de tu pueblo y transforma su fragilidad en integridad. 

Concédenos el valor y la sabiduría, la humildad y la gracia para actuar con justicia. Infunde sabiduría en nuestras oraciones y acciones. Permite que todos los que han sido lastimados por el abuso encuentren la paz en la justicia. 

Te lo pedimos por Cristo, nuestro Señor. Amén. 

Copyright© 2014 Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos. Todos los derechos reservados. 

The Office of Safeguard the Children of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles annually publishes the
Working Together to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse brochure, which provides an up-to-date
listing of safe environment policies, programs, resources, contact numbers and other important
information about how the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is working to prevent child sexual abuse.

• 2025 WORKING TOGETHER_ENGLISH-VI

• 2025 TRABAJANDO O JUNTOS-ESPANOL-VI

As children get older, they need to understand not just the rules of social interaction but why people act (or don’t act) these ways. Children need to know how to set their own boundaries. The approaching holidays are a great time to discuss these boundaries and how to express them politely. Talk to your children about whether they would like to give hugs to family members, whether they want to give or receive any other forms of affection. For more information, read the article “Teaching Kids about Boundaries” at https://childmind.org/article/teaching-kids-boundaries-empathy/.