VIRTUS Requirements for Volunteers

St. Raymond School provides a safe environment for all children. All faculty and staff as well as volunteers are carefully screened using the guidelines set forth by the Archdiocese of Chicago and through the Office of Protecting God’s Children and Youth. All Catholic schools are mandated by the Archdiocese to comply with these procedures. Volunteering can take on different forms-classroom parties, assistance at sporting events, assistance at fundraisers, and many more opportunities.

Please review the following requirements to assure your compliance in each of these areas. **All requirements must be completed by October 15th or before a person can volunteer at St. Raymond School, whichever comes first.**
 

STEP 1: VIRTUS TRAINING www.virtusonline.org

Virtus is a specialized training program for alerting adults to the dangers and red flags of child sexual abuse. Every volunteer is required to complete the online training session. To complete this requirement, access the link and create a Virtus account by scrolling to First Time Registrant. Choose Chicago, IL (Archdiocese) for the organization and your primary location as St. Raymond School (Mt. Prospect, IL). After your account has been created, click on the link to Register and complete the online Virtus training.
 

STEP 2: CANTS 689- Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (Child Abuse and Neglect Tracking System)

This form must be completed annually and returned, signed, to the school front office in order to stay compliant within the guidelines of the Archdiocese of Chicago. The school will send the form to DCFS/Springfield for the background check. This form is found within the Virtus training.
 

STEP 3: MRT- Mandated Reporter Training https://mr.dcfstraining.org

Required by Illinois State Law Effective April 1, 2021 for all volunteers. This training provides adults with the knowledge of how to recognize and report child abuse and neglect. After completing the online training, you must email/print the certificate and send it to the school front office ([email protected]) While not part of Virtus training, your MRT certificate will be posted in your Virtus account as part of your compliance requirements. The MRT must be renewed every three years.
 

STEP 4: CANTS 22- Acknowledgement of Mandated Reporter Status

Within the MRT online training is a CANTS 22 ( Acknowledgement of Mandated Reporter Status form). This form must be signed and accompany the MRT certificate and returned to the school front office so that it may be recorded in your Virtus account also.
 

STEP 5:  KPA- Keeping the Promise Alive Continuing Training

This training will be prompted through your Virtus account for those volunteers who have taken Virtus training in previous years. This is a requirement for compliance.  

Both the CANTS 689 and CANTS 22 forms can be obtained from the school front office if you cannot print them through the online training.  

IF YOU HAVE TAKEN VIRTUS TRAINING IN THE PAST THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE CURRENTLY COMPLIANT.  PLEASE REACH OUT TO MS. MCKENNA BEFORE VOLUNTEERING FOR ANY SCHOOL RELATED ACTIVITY.  

Thank you so much for volunteering at St. Raymond School.  We appreciate all our volunteers. If you have any questions or need assistance/clarification, please feel free to call Ms. McKenna at (847) 253-8475 or by email [email protected]  

Sincerely,  
Ms. Theresa McKenna
Virtus Site Administrator
St. Raymond School
847) 253-8475
[email protected]