Empowering God’s Children offered, encouraged in every parish
Parishes in the Diocese of Richmond have implemented another way to safeguard children and youth from harm.
Empowering God’s Children is a VIRTUS program that has been a successful part of diocesan Catholic school curriculum “forever,” according to Nazia Shafi, director of the diocesan Office of Safe Environment. As of September 2022, it is present in every parish.
“One thing (people) need to know is that in the Diocese of Richmond, we’re always working to take proactive measures so ensure the safety of children and youth,” Shafi said. “We want to prevent child sexual abuse taking place in this diocese, and this (program) allows children and young people to have a safe environment and to grow and develop to their full potential. That’s what the aim of the program is, and that’s why we would like them to take part in it.”
Shafi explained that Empowering God’s Children offers tools for children and youth to identify and overcome advances from people who intend to do them harm.
“What we’re trying to do here is to assist the children and the young people in our parishes in recognizing their dignity and to advocate for their own physical and emotional protection,” Shafi said.
Like the Protecting God’s Children for Adults program that is required of all clergy, religious, employees and volunteers of the diocese, Empowering God’s Children is offered in English and Spanish.
Learning to set boundaries
Empowering God’s Children provides age-appropriate lessons for elementary (grades K-6), middle (grades 6-8) and high school (grades 9-12) aged youth. Parishes are asked to complete the program once per year, between September and December.
“We provide simple steps of what to do and how to react” in certain situations, Shafi said, listing examples such as feeling uncomfortable, confused or scared around an individual or about something that has occurred.
“This program will help young people learn to practice setting boundaries with friends and classmates and other people in their lives, and they can draw on their skills when feeling threatened by another peer or adult,” she said.
Each age-appropriate program begins with a short video that facilitators watch with the children and youth, which is followed by a lesson that invites discussion. The videos are sent to high school participants before gathering for the lesson so that young people can watch with their parents.
Lessons emphasize the importance of keeping private body parts private, setting boundaries, learning safe versus unsafe touch, and telling trusted adults when a situation is uncomfortable.
“Sometimes youth are not confident in doing that because they feel this has happened because it’s (their) fault, but it’s not,” Shafi said.
Year in development
During discussions held in fall 2021 with the diocesan Offices of Christian Formation, Ethnic Ministries, Catholic Schools and Evangelization about developing the program for parishes, Shafi said the need to create a pilot program became evident. Development of the pilot began in November 2021.
Between February and March 2022, the pilot program was introduced in small, medium and large parishes, and also a parish that has a large Hispanic population.
“We got some feedback from each of the facilitators that ran the pilot program for us, and then (the diocesan offices) got together,” Shafi said of the collaborative effort. “We had several meetings to discuss what worked, what didn’t work and how should we go forward with the program.”
Each parish in the Diocese of Richmond has at least one Empowering God’s Children facilitator, namely catechetical leaders who work with youth in the parish, and youth ministers were put forward to administer the program for high schoolers. They received training on how to administer the program from June through August 2022.
According to Shafi, facilitators were given instructions on how to help prepare and deliver lessons, the framework of how to keep lessons within the context of Catholic tradition and theology, and how to achieve the learning goal of expected outcomes for children and youth.
Her office also provided multiple activity options with instructions for lesson planning and prayer guides – the latter used to open and close training sessions with prayer that reflects the key message of the lesson.
Parental consent required
While Empowering God’s Children is “highly recommended because of the practical life skills it teaches young people” and all are encouraged to participate, the program is not mandatory in parishes. The parish facilitator provides consent forms and a safety guide for parents so that they understand the content of lessons. Parents are asked to complete the form to allow for their children to take the training, and they are welcome to sit in on the lessons and to participate with their children.
“All families that are involved in any family program in that parish – children and youth that are in faith formation classes, religious education classes, children that are homeschooled – we are encouraging them all to take part in this program,” Shafi said.
If a parent prefers their children not receive the training from the parish facilitator, Shafi said that they are encouraged to complete it themselves. She emphasized the importance of “every child and youth” in the diocese having the “opportunity to take part in this critical element of our Safe Environment program.”
“It really teaches children and youth to take care of themselves,” she said. “That’s really important for us to give them those tools to be able to do that.”
Editor’s note: For more information about the Office of Safe Environment, visit richmonddiocese.org/protecting-gods-children.