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March 21, 2006 - Archdiocese of Boston Completes 2005 Full, Independent Audit of its Compliance with the USCCB 'Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People'Archdiocese found to be in compliance with reporting, screening and outreach provisions; deficient in completing 'safe environment training' for parochial school and religious education students Archbishop launches effort to encourage U.S. religious education publishers to include personal safety and abuse prevention information in texts (Brighton, Mass.) March 21, 2006... The Archdiocese of Boston today announced that, The Gavin Group, an independent firm retained by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has completed a full, independent audit of the Archdiocese's compliance with the provisions of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the child protection policy adopted by the Bishops in 2002. Under USCCB provisions, the Boston Archdiocese was eligible to self-audit its compliance in 2005, however, Archbishop Sean O'Malley requested that the Archdiocese continue to take part in an independent review of its policies and practices. Based on the results of the audit, the Archdiocese of Boston was found to be in compliance with 16 of 17 articles of the Charter including satisfying requirements to guarantee effective reporting and responses to allegations of sexual abuse, to ensure that Archdiocesan and religious priests, deacons, educators, volunteers and other personnel are properly screened through CORI background evaluations and to promote healing and reconciliation with survivors and those harmed by clergy sexual abuse. As of the conclusion of the audit period, however, the Archdiocese was found not to be in compliance with one element of Article 12. Article 12 requires the Archdiocese to a) conduct safe environment training of adults who work with children including clergy, employees, volunteers and parents, b) conduct safe environment training of children and c) institute standards of conduct for those who work with children. While the Archdiocese is in full compliance with the requirements to train adults and to institute standards of conduct for those who work with children, a portion of parochial school and religious education students have not yet received safe environment training. The Archdiocese has outlined a remediation plan that calls for the non-complying schools and pastors to implement the training immediately. More than 119,000 children have been trained in the various aspects of safe environments, personal safety and abuse prevention. Through this effort, an additional 90,000 students will receive the safe environment training in 2006. "In 2004, I committed this Archdiocese to doing everything humanly possible to ensure our children's safety," stated Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley. "While these results demonstrate that much has been accomplished, they also reveal that more must be done in order to live up to our commitment and responsibility. As we strive to protect our children and to ensure that the sexual abuse scandal is never repeated, anything short of full compliance is unacceptable. On behalf of the Archdiocese, I acknowledge our deficiency and renew our pledge to doing all that is possible to create safe environments in our churches and schools and to continuing to provide support to survivors and all people who have suffered as a result of clergy sexual abuse. By working together as a faith community, we hope to continue the healing process and to strengthen and enhance our policies and practices to protect our children and young people." In addition to renewing his commitment to voluntarily participate in a full audit of the Archdiocese's compliance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the Archbishop asked the Implementation and Oversight Advisory Committee to work with members of the Review Board to conduct a two-year assessment of the Archdiocese's compliance with the child protection policies and procedures promulgated in 2003 and to identify ways to improve on the implementation of child protection measures and abuse prevention programs in the Archdiocese. When complete, the Archbishop plans to share the committee's findings and recommendations broadly with members of the Archdiocese and the general public. Separate from the Charter requirements on religious education programs, Archbishop Sean has initiated a first-of-its-kind effort to encourage the five primary U.S. publishers of religious education materials to include personal safety and abuse prevention information as part of the religious education texts. At this time, the Archdiocese is working with the USCCB Office of Child and Youth Protection to create a proposal that identifies guiding principles and best practices and provides a recommended implementation schedule for the project. If successful, the integration of child personal safety education into the major religious education texts would have significant and national implications for the Church. It is expected that the USCCB will release a summary of the 2005 audit results later this month. Additional information about the audit can be found at http://www.usccb.org |
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