August 11, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This week we have Stonebridge coming to the Archdiocese of Detroit for our in-person audit. Stonebridge is reviewing all elements of this office during the years 2023-2026. They will visit three parishes and schools, interview 24 people whose offices have association with The Office of Safe Environments, and most importantly, they will conclude their visit with the Archbishop and let him know their findings about our office and how the Archdiocese of Detroit is doing. Please pray for us as we welcome these individuals into our diocese!
NEW: Background Check Policy
The Office of Safe Environments has released the new Background Check Policy, which can be read HERE – along with a list of FAQ’s This policy is effective August 1, 2026. The most important thing I can say to you is this: Please do not panic; your volunteers do not need to be fingerprinted overnight. This policy is meant to be strategic and thoughtful, bearing the needs and capabilities of parishes and schools.
We will host a webinar on Friday, August 14th from 10am to 12pm. The first half of this webinar will outline the policy and the timeline for which certain categories of individuals will be fingerprinted. The second half of the webinar will be for questions. You may sign up for this webinar HERE. If you cannot attend this webinar, the recording will be posted on our TEAMS Channel, and a link will be provided in future newsletters. This webinar is intended for Local Administrators, Principals, Business Managers, DRE’s, Youth Ministers, and Priests. This webinar is not open to the public.
Please note: If you would like to have us come out and fingerprint, we can only fingerprint 50-100 people in an 8-hour day. At this time, we can fingerprint parish and school employees, priests, and coaches. The archdiocese will determine, at its discretion, which of your volunteers are subject to fingerprinting as we have limited funds and want to ensure that the process is equitable. Please email me at pierson.maegan@aod.org for further information.
NEW: How to Register for an ICHAT Account
If you are a new ICHAT admin at your office and you do not have the prior person's account information to make yourself the new admin OR your entity does not have an ICHAT agency account. Please do the following:
Please note: You will need a letter or documentation for the FEIN of your entity to submit to the MSP.
- If your parish and school is an agency in the ICHAT system. Please email: msp-crd-ichathelp@michigan.gov to let them know the entity you are associated with and whether they may add you to that agency and remove any users that are currently assigned to the agency.
- In 2-3 business days you should be up and running.
HERE is a reference on how to read ICHATS as well 😊
NEW: Empowering God’s Children Webpage Is Live
The Empowering God's Children webpage is LIVE. This webpage is designed to have all resources located in one area and to give you the ability to share this with your parents. The Spanish version of this website will be available in the upcoming week.
Please note:
- Your parish and/or school may only teach lessons 1&2 or 3&4.
- All Submissions for Empowering God’s Children need to be recorded in VIRTUS by March 31, 2027.
- New videos for Empowering God’s Children will be available August 15, 2026.
Local Administrator Training
As part of our mission to provide better services in the Office of Safe Environments, we will be providing a Back-to-School VIRTUS 101 Local Administrator Training via ZOOM. This is a great opportunity for any Local Admin who is new to your organization to learn the basic functions of VIRTUS along with Local Admin who may have not had any formal training. The training will take place on Tuesday, September 8th from 10am-12pm. Please register HERE – If you cannot make it to this training, please know it will be recorded and posted on our TEAMS channel and provided in a future newsletter.
Managing Past-Due Modules in VIRTUS
This new feature in VIRTUS allows you to see who has an outstanding training. It also provides you with the ability to send an email reminder directly from VIRTUS, alerting users that their training has yet to be completed. A tutorial is available HERE. You may stop the video at 3:06 as the other information in the video does not pertain to Local Administrators.
Requesting Transfers in VIRTUS
VIRTUS now has a link: VIRTUS® Online that gives you the ability to request a transfer from another diocese to the Archdiocese of Detroit. Local Administrators may complete the request or pass it along to the user.
Please note: In the "additional notes" section, if you could provide the role and the location of the parish, it will assist VIRTUS in identifying which parish the user is associated with.
Mandated Reporter Training Now Available in VIRTUS
Attached is a memo about the Mandated Reporter Training that has been assigned to all of those with an "Educator" and "Priest" role in VIRTUS.
If your school uses another form of training, and you would like to opt-out of the training, please email me at pierson.maegan@aod.org.
The training will be assigned in VIRTUS on an annual basis and will include updates as needed. Local Administrators will also be able to assign the training to others by going to the Training tab of the user in VIRTUS, and clicking on, "Assign new Online Training to User" from there you will find the training under "Mandated Reporter Training - Archdiocese of Detroit"
Finally, if you need to run a report to see who has completed the training, you may do so by going to "Master Reports" >>Select your Location >> Roles = Educators >> All Profiles >> All Training Statuses >>User Field = First Name / Last Name / Database ID >> Training = Mandated Reporter Training - Archdiocese of Detroit and then you can run the report to see who has completed it.
Reporting Abuse in Parish Bulletins and School Boards
As part of our safeguarding of children and vulnerable populations, we kindly require all parishes and schools to regularly publish in their bulletin and school board materials either the report abuse insert OR longer form abuse reporting guide (see below)
Upcoming PGC Dates
- August 13 | St. Clare of Montefalco, Grosse Pointe Park
- August 13 | Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills
- August 15 | St. André Bessette, Ecorse
- August 17 | St. Joan of Arc, St. Clair Shores
- August 19 | Online
- August 20 | St. Patrick, White Lake
- August 24 | Online
- August 26 | St. Thomas the Apostle, Garden City
- August 29 | St. Pius X School, Southgate
- September 3 | St. Isaac Jogues, St. Clair Shores
- September 3 | Online
- September 9 | Online
- September 12 | Christ the King, Detroit
- September 14 | Online
- September 22 | St. Rene Goupil, Sterling Heights
- September 23 | St. Fabian, Farmington Hills
- September 24 | Online
- September 30 | Online
