Five years have passed since June 2002 when the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted its “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” in response to the clergy sex abuse crisis.

Throughout these five years, many significant decisions, programs and actions unfolded, marking a turning point in U.S. church history, and giving rise to a new era of humility, healing and hope.

One mandated program, in particular, known generally in all dioceses throughout the country as the Safe Environment Program, requires diligence in the safety and well-being of youth. The Herald spoke recently with Mary Hastings, safe environment coordinator for the Diocese of Sacramento, about the priority focus given to this program in the diocese.

Q: Why is the Safe Environment Program as important today as it was five years ago when the charter mandated its creation?

A: It is still very important because sexual abuse of children is a huge problem in our society. It is a reality of the world we live in and it is occurring in frightening numbers everywhere in our society. As we continue to educate parents and children, we hope that our children will be less victimized. And while the origins of the program stem from the clergy sex abuse crisis, it is real beyond our church. The Safe Environment Program can heighten awareness, expose concerns or problems, and help us to prevent abuse.

Q: What are the components of the Safe Environment Program?

A: The program consists of four primary components with training and education as the foundation of its ongoing success. First, all priests, deacons, pastoral ministers, spiritual directors, administrators, employees and all volunteers in ministry must undergo thorough training on the Diocesan Code of Pastoral Conduct, child abuse prevention, and the Diocesan Sexual Misconduct Policy. Second, the diocese requires fingerprinting and background checks for all priests and deacons, and all employees and volunteers who have regular contact with children. Third, the diocese engages in extensive and enhanced screening of all seminarian candidates. And fourth, personal safety education programs must be implemented for all children and teens enrolled in Catholic Faith Formation classes and Catholic schools. Parents and guardians, too, receive workshops conducted by trained facilitators to equip parents with parallel information that guides and reinforces the material that children receive.

Q: Have people been receptive to the education programs?

A: Overall, yes. The programs that we have in place are very good. For children in kindergarten through grade eight, we use the Virtus “Teaching Touching Safety” program, and we will continue with it in the years ahead. A real benefit of this program is that the lesson plans rotate over a three-year cycle so that as children grow, the lessons address their experiences and knowledge. We do evaluate new programs as they become available to ensure that we offer interesting education that can be implemented consistently and monitored for effectiveness.

Q: The Safe Environment Program undergoes a periodic compliance audit to ensure it satisfies the charter requirements. When does this occur and what do they review?

A: The Diocese of Sacramento receives another audit October 1-5. The National Review Board of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops retained an independent consulting firm, The Gavin Group, to conduct the audit. Previous audits occurred in 2004 and 2005. During the audit, the contracted auditors visit parishes and meet with pastors and directors of religious education. They will also review all programs and policies, the Diocesan Code of Pastoral Conduct, the Diocesan Sexual Misconduct Policy, adult training programs, youth programs, fingerprinting procedures and the process for screening seminarians.

Q: What are the main goals of the audit process?

A: Auditors simply want to verify that dioceses implement the required programs, and they want to create an avenue for sharing all that we learn with other dioceses. However, the process can be very exacting as auditors examine whether all our youth and all our adults have received training.

Q: What do you see as the greatest challenges for the Diocese of Sacramento regarding the Safe Environment Program?

A: We are a very large diocese geographically, encompassing more than 42,000 square miles. We have more than 16,000 children enrolled in Catholic Faith Formation programs and over 12,000 students enrolled in Catholic schools. It can be very challenging to implement programs consistently throughout our diocese while recognizing that resources vary significantly.

Q: You are relatively new in your role as safe environment coordinator. How will you perpetuate and emphasize the importance of the Safe Environment Program?

A: I accepted this position in June after many years as a volunteer parent trainer. It is important to me. I do want to focus on creating efficiencies in the implementation process so that frustrations and barriers are minimized. I want to help people at the parish level create a seamless and organized system for all safe environment program components. I’m especially interested in the smaller parishes that have unique structures that challenge the standardized approach.

Resources on the Web

• Information about safe environment, pastoral outreach and education programs in the Diocese of Sacramento:
  http://www.diocese-sacramento.org/family_youth_young_adult/protecting_our_children.html
• Information about the Office of Child and Youth Protection at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and an interview with its executive director:
  http://www.usccb.org/ocyp/whoweare.shtml
• Dioceses have made significant strides to instill practices that will ensure the safety of children in the church. Several articles take a look at a variety of related issues, from strategies in place to prevent and identify child sexual abuse to the growth of transparency in the church:
  http://www.usccb.org/ocyp/5yearsfromdallas.shtml
• A video conversation with Bishop Gregory Aymond, chair of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, regarding his personal reflections on what church leaders have experienced in the tragedy of clergy sexual abuse:
  http://www.usccb.org/ocyp/aymond.shtml

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