Office of Child Advocacy, Implementation and Oversight

Frequently Asked Questions on TAT Program - May 5, 2003

Instructions for Purchasing TAT Curriculum Kits
(This will be discussed in greater detail during the training session)

TAT curriculum kits must be purchased by each parish - one for each two classes at a given level (e.g., if you have one pre-K and one K, one curriculum kit is necessary; if you have one classroom each of grades one through four, two curriculum kits are necessary). The archdiocese has been granted a 10% volume discount. Discounted cost to the parishes for each pre-K/K curriculum is $242; cost for each curriculum kit for grades 1-4 is $215. Shipping and handling at the rate of 7% must be added to the order. It is advised that a Teacher Guide be purchased for each teacher ($40). One guide is included with the purchase of the curriculum kit. In the above scenario, it would be necessary to purchase one additional pre-K/K Teacher Guide and two additional Teacher Guides for grades 1-4. In that scenario, the total cost for the curriculum kits, additional Teacher Guides and shipping and handling is approximately $844.

Orders need to be sent in with an indication that the parish falls within the RCAB system.  Therefore, each school needs to place at the top of the purchase order form: "Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Religious Education."  This will ensure that the Committee for Children will indeed apply the 10% discount as they have agreed. In placing orders, schools need to show the full price and order numbers of the TAT kits $269 each for TAT Pre-K/K, indicate order number 000502; $239 for grades 1-4, indicate order number 000511; $45 for each additional TAT Pre/K Teacher's Guide; indicate order number 015023; $45 for each additional TAT Grades 1-4 Teacher's Guide, indicate order number 015024. After showing the full price and extending the totals for number of kits and additional teacher's guides ordered, the 10% discount can be applied on the line below the product subtotal.  The 10% discount line should indicate "special discount for RCAB Religious Education." Finally, after arriving a new discounted subtotal, each school needs to add 7% on their total for shipping and handling. Orders may be sent to the Committee for Children, Department Code FC100, 568 First Avenue South, Suite 600, Seattle, Washington 98104-2804. Orders can also be faxed to them at 206-343-1445.

Why do we need a program like TAT?

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has recently issued its Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (available on the Office of Child Advocacy website). The Charter mandates that all dioceses in the United States will establish “Safe Environment” programs this year. A compliance audit process is scheduled to begin this July/August. Besides training programs for parish adults in how to identify and prevent child abuse, these programs are also to include training programs for children and young people that include age appropriate materials pertaining to personal safety – including information about improper touching and when they should seek assistance from trusted adults. TAT is the program selected by the Archdiocese to address this requirement.

What specifically is TAT and what does it do?

TAT is an award winning, nationally recognized program based on over 20 years of research that demonstrates the qualities of an effective, beneficial personal safety program. This program is supported by research psychologists and other experts because of its thoughtful approach to teaching important personal safety skills to children and its developmentally appropriate content. TAT is used in thousands of schools across North America; indeed it is the longest-standing and most widely-implemented personal safety program in the country.

Specifically, the TAT program is a personal safety curriculum that teaches children safety, self-protection and assertiveness skills to reduce their vulnerability to harm and abuse. This comprehensive program is developmentally sequenced and is designed to be taught in a classroom setting over a period of six to eight weeks. Topics include safety rules for riding in the car and responding in a fire, as well as handling inappropriate touching and responding to strangers. The program presents the concepts through a variety of media (i.e., video, story and audio cassette, poster) and involves discussion, skill practice, and transfer of training (e.g., classroom activities, take-home information sheets). Parent involvement is highly encouraged.

How many TAT lessons are there to teach?

The original TAT program (as implemented in the Catholic Schools) is fifteen 30-minute lessons in length but, out of respect for the limited amount of time religious educators have their children, the Committee for Children has come up with a scope and sequence for ten, 30-minute, core lessons. As an alternative they also divided each of these 30-minute lessons in half - allowing you the option of teaching a 15-minute lesson over a 20 week period. In each case CFC has also provided guidance as to how and where TAT applies to the Religious Education Curriculum Guidelines. The ideal in terms of these younger children is to teach TAT once per week. This will be discussed in greater detail during the training sessions.

Who needs to be trained in TAT?

There are approximately 67,631 children registered in grades K-4 in Religious Education in the parishes of this Archdiocese. They are taught by 7,742 volunteer catechists under the guidance and direction of 304 Directors, Coordinators and Administrators of Religious Education. It was decided by the Leadership Advisory Board that TAT should be brought into the parishes under the auspices of religious education leadership. Various models were discussed as to the best ways to train this large number of children, and adapting and integrating it into religious education was eventually selected as the best strategy. TAT also has a strong parent component that contains introductory materials to be mailed, a parent video called “What do I Say Now?” that models ways to talk to children about touching safety and how to respond to various types of disclosures should they occur. The curriculum kits also contain parent letters associated with lesson segments so they will know what the children are being taught and support the lessons in the home. It is recommended that after the parish team is trained, Catechetical Leaders and Pastors host a parent information evening prior to teaching the curriculum to the children.

Who should teach TAT?

It was determined that all DRE/CRE/AREs and parish contacts would be trained in the TAT curriculum and would take the responsibility to train those selected to teach the curriculum to the children. There are various teaching models that can be employed. In smaller parishes the Catechetical Leader may want to train the children him/herself. In other parishes, Catechetical Leaders could train the catechists in grades K-4 to deliver the lessons. In other parishes, a team approach would be best. Pastors and Catechetical Leaders could solicit a team from the parish to learn the curriculum and deliver it to the children in the presence of the catechists. Team membership could include a combination of parishioners who are educators, teachers from the parish school if there is one, CAP Team members and the catechists themselves. The pastor and Catechetical Leader would need to determine the best model for the parish, and utilize bulletin announcements, personal invitation and announcements from the pulpit to create the team.

How should TAT be taught in the context of Religious Education?

At the training sessions in June, you will be presented with a scope and sequence detailing the alignment of this program with the Archdiocese’s Religious Education Curriculum Guidelines that will allow you to create the Catholic context for this program.

What are the different models that can be employed to teach TAT in the context of  religious education?

1. Teach one TAT lessons per week by extending the class time 30 minutes (this option takes 10 weeks to deliver)
2. Teach one half of a TAT lesson per week by extending the class time by 15 minutes (20 weeks)
3. Start the religious education year 5 weeks early and only teach TAT twice a week for 30 minutes
4. Extend the religious education year 5 weeks and teach TAT at the end.

What are the timelines for the parishes to implement the TAT curriculum?

Training for Catechetical Leaders will be accomplished in June 2003. The next task will be for the leaders/pastors to select the model for teaching the curriculum and (if necessary) solicit and appoint the teaching team responsible for teaching the children. The Catechetical Leaders who received the June training would then train the teaching team to deliver the curriculum. While this is going on, parish bulletin announcements and pastoral letters to parents and parishioners could be used to introduce the program to the parish. Guidelines for introducing the program and sample bulletin announcements will be presented at the training sessions. One or more parent information evenings will then be necessary to show parents the curriculum and the video, and answer their questions, before the curriculum is actually taught.

In some parishes, all this may be accomplished this summer and they will be ready to implement the curriculum beginning this September using options “a” or “b” above. By the time this is accomplished in other parishes, the academic year will already be underway – necessitating these options being implemented in Winter, 2003 or Spring 2004 (or selecting option “d”). In still other parishes, other arrangements will have to be negotiated. In recent documents regarding compliance with the USCCB directives, implementation dates for the 2003-2004 school year are being defined. I will stay in touch with the USCCB Office of Child and Youth Protection and keep you informed as this guidance matures.

How will progress be measured?

As with the school and parish programs that are underway, the Office of Child Advocacy will be the focal point for ongoing support to, and monitoring of the TAT program in Religious Education. As the parish teams are trained, questionnaires will be sent out to the Catechetical Leaders about when training was accomplished, who was trained, when the parent information meetings were held, how many parents attended, and the start date for the program being taught to the children. The office will then use this data in quarterly and annual reports to the Bishop, the USCCB, and the people of the Archdiocese. The Office of Child Advocacy has also been in contact with three local universities who have volunteered to assist the Archdiocese in creating the measurement instruments necessary to measure effectiveness, and collecting and analyzing the data.

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