 |
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
September
5, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 15Oakland,
CA
Safe Environment
training aims
to protect children from abuse
The Oakland diocesan Safe Environment for Children project,
which trained 13,000 volunteers and employees during the last year, is
hoping to double that number by the end of June 2006.
“Everyone who works or volunteers in a capacity with children”
must take the training session and sign the Policy of Expectations each
year, according to Nancy Libby, project coordinator. In addition, volunteers
undergo a “Megan’s law” check for past criminal records
and all employees are fingerprinted.
The training sessions, which are offered in Spanish and English and last
about 90 minutes, teach participants to recognize signs that a child may
be suffering abuse and also give instruction on identifying abusers. The
Policy of Expectations outlines detailed procedures to insure the safety
of children in school, at the parish, on the playground and elsewhere.
The workshops scheduled for this year, Libby said, are listed on the diocesan
website under the Safe Environment for Children project. The goal is to
train 26,000 during the fiscal year that began July 1, and volunteers
and employees can check the site to find a convenient time and place.
Oakland and other dioceses throughout the United States have adopted safe
environment policies to meet the requirements of the Charter for the Protection
of Children and Youth adopted by the U.S. bishops in 2002. But Libby noted
that the diocese is responding not simply to comply with the charter but
also out of a desire to support parishes, victims, schools and other groups.
“We are trying to be very pastoral,” she said. “It’s
not just regulations that we’re ticking off.”
The project developed a curriculum for use in Catholic schools and parish
religious education programs. It teaches child safety with an emphasis
on how to recognize and prevent child abuse. Schools taught the curriculum
for the first time last year, Libby said, and parish programs will use
it in the coming school term.
This year the project aims to set up safe environment committees in every
parish, she said. The committees will help implement the project at their
sites.
The project staff is also looking into translating training materials
into languages others than Spanish, Libby said. Once the material is translated,
she said, the staff will identify leaders who can do the training within
their parishes.
During their annual conference this past June, U.S. bishops revised the
charter to mandate that diocesan safe environment projects remain in effect
for the next five years. After that time, they will review the effects
of the programs.
The bishops have also required audits of each diocese to determine how
well they have complied with the charter. Beginning in October, auditors
will be visiting dioceses again to assess how well they have fulfilled
the requirements.
Nancy Libby, a former elementary school principal in
the Oakland Diocese, is coordinator for the Safe Environment for Children
project.
JOSE LUIS AGUIRRE PHOTO
