COMMITTEE TO PROTECT CHILDREN
RECOMMENDS TRAINING PROGRAM  

Bishop Thomas V. Daily has announced that he has accepted an initial recommendation issued by a committee he formed last Spring to develop a plan to promote awareness among clergy, Religious, lay employees and volunteers of the Diocese of Brooklyn of the sexual mistreatment of children.

            The nine-member committee, headed by Sister Jane Scanlon, C.N.D., Vice Chancellor, has recommended that the Diocese examine a program called VIRTUS (Latin for “valor”), designed to train a cadre of adults about ways to protect children from sexual abuse.

Sister Jane said four U.S. dioceses had piloted the program and several others are also studying it for their own use.

Jack McCalmon, an attorney who directs VIRTUS, said the program is intended to help churches and religious organizations both to “renew their role as safe havens for children” and empower them with the tools to help adults protect children.

Mr. McCalmon, who has met with the diocesan committee, said that renewing a church’s role as a child safe environment “begins with making adults more aware of the ways children and adults interact with each other.”

The program “educates and trains adults about the dangers of abuse, the warning signs of abuse, ways to prevent abuse, and the methods for properly reporting suspicions of abuse,” he said.

            “We’re eager to see how this program fits into our multi-ethnic, urban environment and whether it would have to be customized for our diverse diocese,” Sister Jane said.                                                                                                             

            She stressed that whatever shape or form a plan would take, the people implementing it “must be comfortable that, given the unique qualities of our Diocese, they can feel a real ownership of the plan so that it will reach the objective---protecting children.”

            As a first step, a team of professionals in social service and education, several of whom conduct training programs for Catholic Charities and the Office of Catholic Education, will comprise a focus group that will participate in a two-day VIRTUS workshop Oct. 10-11 to be held at the diocesan building at 310 Prospect Park West.

            “When they come back, they will serve as a ‘think tank’ for us, sharing their experience and suggesting whether and how the program might be tailored to our Brooklyn-Queens reality,” Sister Jane said.    

           “Several will serve as the first tier of future trainers,” she added.

           Bishop Daily said the committee “has been working diligently” to develop a child protection program that will “effectively educate people as to the devastating effects of abuse by anyone in any capacity.”

            In addition to Sister Jane, the committee members appointed by the Bishop include Msgr. John J. Antoncic, pastor of St. Mel’s Church, Flushing; Brian T. Cosgrove, director of the Diocesan Insurance Office; Thomas A. DeStefano, executive director of Catholic Charities; Kevin M. Kearney, diocesan attorney.

Also, Sister Helen M. Kearney, C.S.J., director of the Dillon Child Study Center of St. Joseph’s College; Father Guy A. Massie, pastor of St. Andrew the Apostle Church, Bay Ridge; Michael J. Monahan, director of the diocesan Human Resources Department, and May Santos, Associate Superintendent for Program Management in the Office of Catholic Education.