St. Catherine of Siena is committed to your child’s safety and well-being. We hear of incidents of child abuse, both sexual and other forms, occurring almost daily in our society. Having the knowledge and understanding to protect and keep ourselves safe is important for children and adults. The creators of the VIRTUS® Protecting God’s Children program have developed the Teaching Touching Safety Program to share with children God’s love for them and their uniqueness and to assure children that God desires their happiness, health, and safety.
Twice a year through our Children’s Faith Formation Program, we offer the Teaching Touching Safety program as an ongoing effort to help create and maintain a safe environment for children to be protected from all forms of abuse. The focus of the program is to empower children with knowledge and understanding to keep themselves safe.
This year will be a little different because of COVID. We are unable to offer Teaching Touching Safety in person as we have in the past. Karen Galloway, our Children's Faith Formation Director, has created two videos teaching the class instead - one for Grades K through 2, and one for Grades 3 through 5. We are required by the Diocese of Kalamazoo to offer this training to your child(ren) and to verify that all children enrolled in our Children's Faith Formation program have completed the mandatory training each year. Please use the links below to open the appropriate video for your child(ren)'s grade level. Once you have watched the video with your child, please complete the form below and click "Submit" to send the form to Karen Galloway and Deb Dozeman, our VIRTUS Coordinator. You will also receive an email copy of the form submission. If you decide you do not want your child(ren) to watch the video, we still need you to fill out the form below “opting out” of the training. When we report to the Diocese that the training is complete, we must have the approval forms and the opt-out forms all completed.
For more information on the VIRTUS® Teaching Touching Safety program, you may visit the VIRTUS Online™ website at https://www.virtus.org or see the additional information section below the form.