The Diocese of Sacramento has implemented the first phase of “safe environment” programs which include the training of facilitators to take the programs into the parishes.

Safe environment programs are mandated by the U.S. bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People”, approved in June 2002 in light of the clergy sex abuse scandal.

Article 12 of the charter says dioceses “will cooperate with parents, civil authorities, educators and community organizations to provide education and training for children, youth, parents, ministers, educators and others about ways to make and maintain a safe environment for children.”

In four training sessions conducted since October, 76 people from parishes in the diocese have been trained as facilitators in a program from the KidWISE Institute for pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, called “Out of Harm’s Way: Teaching Kids To Be Safe and Strong.”

About 25 parish youth ministers and others have been trained as facilitators in the Youth Protection/Personal Safety Awareness Venturing Program of the Boy Scouts of America for junior high and high school youth.

Nancy Milton, pastoral care and safe environment coordinator for the diocese, said “Out of Harm’s Way” provides training for parents, followed by family training involving parents and their children.

“It’s a positive, non-threatening program that gives parents and children practical suggestions to ensure personal safety,” Milton said.

She said parish facilitators are in the process of holding meetings before the end of the school year with parents of children in the parishes, whether the children are within the Catholic school system or in parish religious education programs.

The training sessions were conducted by Paula Statman, founder of KidWISE, and the author of an award-winning book, “Raising Careful, Confident Kids in a Crazy World.”

Statman was joined by a bilingual trainer, Maria Soval, who presented to facilitators in Spanish.

A spiritual component of the training was offered by Jesuit Father Bernie Bush of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and participants viewed a video with an introduction by Bishop William K. Weigand in English and Auxilary Bishop Richard J. Garcia in Spanish, and segments with Statman and Soval.

The selected facilitators from each parish will lead both a video-based parent education program and a family training for parents and children in the form of a “family safety fair” at parishes or in deaneries this fall. The family training will include facilitator-led activity stations organized by age groups.

Statman is a family educator and psychotherapist. “Out of Harm’s Way” has earned national acclaim for its “no-scare tactics, developmental approach” to keeping kids safe, she told The Herald last fall.

She said “Out of Harm’s Way” covers some key questions for parents and children about personal safety issues, such as what does respect mean, what is open communication, what makes families vulnerable and what can help make them less vulnerable.

Among other topics covered in the program are: how to be a helpful — not a fearful — parent; the five “P’s” of personal safety; an inventory of safety skills that tests what their child knows and identifies what they need to learn; five “family safety rules” that reduce the chances of their child being victimized; and how to promote good communication and foster healthy self-esteem.

“Out of Harm’s Way,” according to Milton, meets the requirements set in the U.S. bishops’ charter. It is also being implemented in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the Diocese of San Bernardino.

Milton said the safe environment program for junior high/high school youth includes a video on personal safety awareness that will be shown to parents first, then to parents and their children. Volunteers with the Diocesan Committee for Catholic Scouting, specifically Bob Shumate and Garrett Gunther, are helping to implement the program and conducted training sessions.

While both programs are being implemented, Milton noted that in subsequent years the programs will be presented to parents and children each fall, to coincide with the beginning of each school year.

“I’m very appreciative to all those who have been trained as facilitators for these programs and for their commitment to protecting all of our children, now and in the future,” Milton said.

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