1)     Who is required to have background checks?

2)     What paperwork is required to perform a background check?

3)     Is there a fee to attend a VIRTUS Training Workshop or do we pay a fee for background checks?

4)     How long is the “Protecting God’s Children” training workshop?

5)     Will I receive credit for attending a “Protecting God’s Children” training workshop if I leave early? I arrived after the first video started and the coordinator told me I will not receive credit! Is this true?

6)     What if I attended a “Protecting God’s Children” workshop from another Archdiocese/Diocese? Do I have to take the workshop again?

7)     Who is required to do the VIRTUS Online continued training?

8)     How do I register if I don’t have internet access?

9)     Can I view upcoming Protecting God’s Children Training Sessions?

10)   How do I get a copy of my Protecting God’s Children program training verification?

11)   How do I read and complete my continued training bulletins?

12)   How do I change my user id?

13)   My status has changed. I no longer have contact with minors or I now have contact with minors. How do I update my VIRTUS account to reflect this change?

14)   How do I edit my other information (password, email, address, phone number, location, etc.)?

15)   How do I do my Re-Certification/On-Line Training? (For those who are assigned)

16)   Why don’t I have a “My Training Tab”?

17)   Why can’t I log in into my account?

18)   Is there registration, training bulletins and re-certification provided in Spanish?

19)   Why do I not receive an email notice from VIRTUS that there is a new bulletin to read?

20)   Why do my employees or volunteers not show up on the training bulletin report?

21)   Why do my employees or volunteers have “No Modules Assigned” on the Re-Certification report?

22)   Why do my employees or volunteers have “Incomplete” on the Re-Certification report?

23)   Do you have a question or comment?

1)     Who is required to have background checks?

• All employees and clergy (whether they work with minors or not).
• All adult (ages 18 years and older) volunteers who have contact with minors.
• All volunteers who will be attending an overnight function with minors.
• All Scout Leaders chartered by parish or parish school.
• BACKGROUND CHECKS CANNOT BE CONDUCTED ON MINORS UNDER THE AGE OF 18.

2)     What paperwork is required to perform a background check?

• Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Criminal Background Check Authorization Form (Filled out in its entirety including social security number and date of birth).

• Volunteer Code of Conduct. (Signed and dated)

3)     Is there a fee to attend a VIRTUS Training Workshop or do we pay a fee for background checks?

• No, there is no fee for attending a VIRTUS workshop. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston covers all costs for background checks on our Employees and Volunteers.

4)     How long is the “Protecting God’s Children” training workshop?

• The workshop is 3 hours long.

5)     Will I receive credit for attending a “Protecting God’s Children” training workshop if I leave early? I arrived after the first video started and the coordinator told me I will not receive credit! Is this true?

If you choose to leave early during the session you will not receive credit and must attend another session in its entirety. No Exceptions! Anyone who arrives late after the 1st video has started will not receive credit and will have to attend another session. No Exceptions!

6)     What if I attended a “Protecting God’s Children” workshop from another Archdiocese/Diocese? Do I have to take the workshop again?

We will accept only VIRTUS® training from another Archdiocese/Diocese if the      person has attended within the last 12 months of when they start with the     Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. If the attendance has been over 12 months     then they must attend again in this Archdiocese.

7)     Who is required to do the VIRTUS Online continued training?

• All active priests and permanent deacons

• Principals

• Parish employees in leadership positions for ministries to children and youth,

• Directors/coordinators of youth ministry

• Directors/coordinators of religious education

• Directors of early childhood centers

• Coordinators of parish nurseries

• Family life ministers

• Directors/coordinators of sacramental preparation

 8)      How do I register if I don’t have internet access?

• If you are an employee or volunteer at a parish/school, you may contact local    Parish Safe Environment Coordinator or School for assistance.

• Many public libraries provide computer access to individuals who obtain a library   card.

• If you do not have an email address, consider obtaining a free email account at   www.mail.yahoo.com or any other free service or consider sharing an email   account with someone else.

9)      Can I view upcoming Protecting God’s Children Training Sessions?

• Yes, go to www.virtus.org ,
• Click on the yellow link Registration.
• Click on View a list of sessions.
• Select your organization by clicking on the down arrow, click on Galveston-Houston, and then click on Select. The next page is a list of current sessions scheduled throughout the Galveston-Houston Area.
• From this point, you are also able to begin the registration process. Click on the box marked Start Registration.

10)   How do I get a copy of my Protecting God’s Children program training verification?

Volunteers who are not required to do online training

• Login with your user ID and password, you created when pre-registering for VIRTUS.
• Select My Toolbox page.e.
• You will have your name in the top right hand corner and your training location, date, and ATTENDANCE CONFIRMED in the middle. You may print this page and hand it to your Parish Safe Environment Coordinator or School Principal. (You may want to change the paper orientation to landscape, prior to printing, in order to have all the information on the printed copy).

Employees and/or Volunteers who are required to do online training

• Log into your account select My Training page.
• Click on the yellow Proof of Attendance link. You may print out this page containing your training location and date. (You may want to change the paper orientation to landscape, prior to printing, in order to have all the information on the printed copy).

11)   How do I read and complete my continued training bulletins?

• Log onto www.virtus.org
• Enter your User ID and Password and click Login.
• Select My Training tab.
• On the My Training Screen, look for the Training Bulletin Report box, which is located on the right hand side of the page. The Training Bulletin Report Box will tell you if you have any bulletins that need to be read. If you need to read bulletins click the link at the bottom of the box that reads Click here to see your complete report.
• You will next see a screen that will give you a summary of your online training. On the Protecting God’s Children for Adults line you will see a link which says Click for details. Click that link now to go to your full report.
• The Training Bulletin Report Screen will show all the bulletins available, including the date that they were issued and the date that you read them. If you have unread bulletins they will show Not Read in red letters in the “Read” column. Click on the Title of the Bulletin to open that bulletin.
• Read the Bulletin.
• At the bottom of the page is a question relating to the Bulletin that you just read. Answer the question by clicking in the circle next to the correct answer and then click on the button that reads Submit your answer.
• If you answer the question incorrectly you will get a pop-up window. Just click OK and try again.
• Once you answer correctly, you will see “CONGRATULATIONS! You answered the question correctly.” Click OK and you will get credit for reading this Bulletin.
• You will then be taken back to the My Training tab where you repeat the above process for all unread Bulletins. Once all Bulletins are marked with the date (that you read the bulletin) in the “Read” column, you are up to date on your assigned reading.

12)   How do I change my user id?

Contact your local Parish or School Safe Environment Coordinator or Isabel Guerra at 713-652-4443 or via email at safe@archgh.org

13)   My status has changed. I no longer have contact with minors or I now have contact with minors. How do I update my VIRTUS account to reflect this change?

Contact your local Parish or School Safe Environment Coordinator or Isabel Guerra at 713-652-4443 or via email at safe@archgh.org

14)   How do I edit my other information (password, email, address, phone number, location, etc.)?

• Log onto www.virtus.org
• Enter your User ID and Password in the upper left-hand corner.
• After entering your id and password, your account should open automatically to the My Toolbox page.
• On the left side of the My Toolbox page, look for and click on Update My Account make changes and click SAVE.

15)   How do I do my Re-Certification/On-Line Training? (For those who are assigned)

• Go to www.virtus.org and log on.
• Click on the My Training tab at the top of the page.
• On the left side of the My Training screen click the Online Training Modules link.
• Click on the Click Here to Start link to begin your re-certification training.
• Follow the prompts to answer the questions.
• Please allow 30-45 minutes to complete the training.

16)   Why don’t I have a “My Training Tab”?

You are not in a leadership position which requires you to continue online training.

17)   Why can’t I log in into my account?

• You have not registered online
• Your account is inactive
• Your account is inactive
• You are using an incorrect User ID and/or Password. Contact your Parish or School Safe Environment Coordinator.

18)   Is there registration, training bulletins and re-certification provided in Spanish?

• Registration is provided in Spanish, go to www.virtus.org
• On the left side of the screen, click on Español, instructions will then appear in Spanish.
• Required training bulletins are provided in Spanish, but not always current with the English training bulletins.
• There is not Spanish re-certification online at this time.

19)   Why do I not receive an email notice from VIRTUS that there is a new bulletin to read?

A note regarding emails (from VIRTUS): The rise in SPAM emails has created an equal rise in the aggressiveness of the measures to combat it. Consequently, many of our emails are blocked by SPAM filters. If you are using any software or tools within your email program to filter SPAM, please make sure that you allow messages from system@virtus.org . You may also want to contact your network administrator to make sure that your network allows messages from system@virtus.org . SPAM filtering is the number one reason for our emails not to be received.

20)   Why do my employees or volunteers not show up on the training bulletin report?

• There could be a numbers of reasons.
• Individual did not log onto VIRTUS.
• Individual did not sign in at the training site.
• Individual left early and did not complete the training.
• Handwriting was not legible.
• Individual put in an incorrect training date so we are unable to confirm attendance and activate account.
• Individual signed in at the Protecting God’s Children training with one name and logged onto VIRTUS with another name.
• Individual is not active.
• Individual selected the wrong location of where they work or volunteer when they registered online.

21)   Why do my employees or volunteers have “No Modules Assigned” on the Re-Certification report?

Individuals who are required to continue online training are not assigned Re-Certification until one year after their VIRTUS account is activated.

22)   Why do my employees or volunteers have “Incomplete” on the Re-Certification report?

• Individual started the re-certification training but did not complete the process.
• Individual did not start the re-certification training.

23)   Do you have a question or comment?

Please contact us at safe@archgh.org .