WORKSHOP EXPLORES HOW
TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM ABUSE

            Promoting an awareness of how to protect children from sexual abuse was the theme of a workshop attended by more than 250 pastors, parish elementary school principals and parish directors of religious education and held Feb. 11 at the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston.

“Our goal is to train everyone in the Brooklyn Diocese who has contact with children to detect patterns of behavior that might indicate that young people are in danger of being abused,” said Sister Jane Ann Scanlon, C.N.D., Vice Chancellor.  She chairs the nine-member diocesan Committee for Education toward Awareness and Prevention of Sexual Abuse, appointed last year by Bishop Thomas V. Daily.

            Conducting the workshop was Jack McCalmon, an attorney who represented VIRTUS, a program designed to train a cadre of adults about ways to protect children from persons who would prey on them.

            He said “VIRTUS came about several years ago because concerned individuals felt that “there were no tools to protect kids.”

            Entitled, “Protecting God’s Children,” the program Mr. McCalmon presented “provides third-party adults with tools that will safeguard children,” Sister Jane said.  Diocesan personnel attending the workshop explored a series of statements, such as “What Are the Myths and Facts about Sexual Abuse?” and “What Are the Warning Signs?”

            Mr. McCalmon also discussed how to control access to children, how to monitor programs involving young people, how to develop an awareness of situations where a child might be vulnerable and how to communicate concerns.

           The participants viewed two videos produced by VIRTUS.  One focused on the testimony of young victims and their parents and included an account by offenders of how they groomed their victims.  The second described a plan to protect children.

            Sister Jane said that written responses submitted by the participants supported VIRTUS as a vehicle for contending with potential child exploitation issues.

            Several officials of the Diocese of Rockville Centre attended the workshop as guests of the Brooklyn Diocese.

            The Douglaston workshop was the latest phase of the VIRTUS program initiated in the Diocese.  A workshop last October prepared 13 trainers to “facilitate” awareness training workshops, Sister Jane said.

            The objective is to train a pool of individuals in the techniques of conducting workshops for approximately 50 persons, she explained.

            “Expanding the number of qualified trainers increases the potential of reaching as many people as possible,” she added.

            In order to formalize the VIRTUS program in the Diocese, the Awareness and Education Committee will recommend to Bishop Daily that the Diocese “move forward and require awareness training for all persons in the Diocese who have contact with children in any capacity," Sister Jane said.

            She also indicated that the committee will suggest to the bishop that the Diocese introduce a background screening process involving diocesan employees and program volunteers.

            Sister Jane noted that the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People approved by the U.S. bishops last year in response to the sexual abuse scandal called for dioceses to establish “safe environment” programs.

            “We believe that the program now under way in the Diocese will offer a safe environment for children and is an appropriate way to meet the concerns stressed in the charter,” she said.