The Diocese of Davenport is committed to the protection of children in the Church.

In 2003, we implemented the Safe Environment Program which includes Protecting God's Children, VIRTUS, Background Checks and the Life Long Faith Formation Curriculum for schools and religious education. We require all our employees, coaches, seminarians, priests and volunteers to have all these areas completed before they can be employed or volunteer with our children or vulnerable adults. We are very passionate about this program and feel it is very important. 

The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People was established by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in June of 2002, as part of an effort to address issues surrounding allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic Clergy. Visit www.usccb.org for more information concerning the U.S. Conference and the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

In 2001, the Diocese implemented an updated policy regarding the sexual abuse of a minor by a Catholic clergy member. Under that policy, it was decided that civil authorities will be notified of any allegations of the sexual abuse of a minor. Pending an investigation, any cleric guilty of such an act will be permanently removed from ministry.

Click here to learn more about the Diocesan policy on the Policies Relating to Sexuality and Personal Behavior.

The Bishop has appointed Alicia Owens as the Victim Assistance Advocate. She assists victims through the complaint process, and in seeking support and counseling services. Interested parties can call 563-349-5002 or email her at vacdav@attglobal.net to make a complaint or seek support or counseling.

In 2003, the Safe Environment Program was developed and in compasses several areas:

• Life Long Faith Formation Curriculum for schools and religious education

• Protecting God's Children Training (Live and online)

• VIRTUS monthly bulletins and online training

• Background Checks

• Victim Assistance

VIRTUS: Protecting God's Children

VIRTUS is the brand name that identifies best practices programs designed to help prevent wrongdoing and promote "rightdoing" within religious organizations. The VIRTUS programs empower organizations and people to better control risk and improve the lives of all those who interact with the Church.

The Protecting God's Children program is the VIRTUS program for protecting children from child sexual abuse. The program consists of many components. The 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 that 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. Content taken from VIRTUS website - - please visit www.virtus.org for more information.

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Training Requirements:

Who is required to attend a live or online version of "Protecting God's Children" training session?

• All employees/volunteers working with children more than 4 times a year

• Scout leaders that are chartered by the parish or school

• Minors are not required to do the VIRTUS training, however, they are encouraged to do so.

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Register Online for New People:

• Employees and volunteers can go to www.virtus.org to register for a VIRTUS training session. Live training sessions are held throughout the Diocese and are scheduled as needed.

• The online training session can be taken at the person's convenience but it is required before they are employed or volunteer in the school or parish.

• For more detailed instructions on how to register for a VIRTUS training session, please click here.

• For more detailed instructions on how to allow pop-ups, please click here.

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5 Year Renewal:

• All employees and volunteers that took their initial Protecting God's Training training between 2003-2008 are required to complete the online assigned 5 year renewal.

• You do not register with a new account, you will use your previous (original) account in VIRTUS to complete this training.

• It is a video that comes in a pop-up screen and lasts about 1-1/2 hrs depending on your internet connection. You will have 10 questions at the end of the session and then be able to print a certificate for your school or parish.

• For more detailed instructions on how to complete this training, please click here.

• For more detailed instructions on how to allow pop-ups, please click here.

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Training Schedule:

• Click here for a current list of upcoming "live" training sessions.

• Please register for upcoming sessions at www.virtus.org. See above for information on registering for online sessions (new people only).

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Request Certificate:

• To request a copy of your VIRTUS training certificate, please contact your Safe Environment Local Administrator at your school or parish.

• If you don't know who that is, you can contact our office at 563-888-4230.

Forms:

Please click here to be directed to the library for Safe Environment where you will find all the required forms and documents you need.

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