​Safeguard the Children & VIRTUS Training

The school and the parish religious education programs have established ongoing safe environment training programs for students, children, and youth. All parents are provided home-based materials to help them understand and support their student's education regarding child sexual abuse. The approved programs include Good-Touch/Bad-Touch® and VIRTUS® Teaching Touching Safety (Mandated September 1, 2006). Good-Touch/Bad-Touch® is being implemented in Grades K-8 in Catholic elementary schools throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The program is designed to be age-appropriate, to support students in understanding occasions of abuse, and to give them confidence in reporting and asserting themselves in situations where they feel unsafe.​

VIRTUS Teaching Touching Safety is a K-12 program being implemented in religious education programs and Catholic schools. This program is a vehicle through which parents, teachers, catechists​​ and youth ministers give students the tools they need to protect themselves from those who might harm them. The Archdiocesan Office of Safeguard the Children works with the schools and Directors of Religious Education in the parishes to establish these programs.

Questions concerning Safe Environment Training can be forwarded to the principal.

Please be advised that any and all parents who wish to volunteer for school or parish-related events (including the Parish Fiesta) must be VIRTUS Trained and provide proof of certification to the teacher or school official requesting a copy of it. This includes volunteering in the classroom and chaperoning field trips. Parents cannot just show up at their child's field trip, even if it is a public location.