I bet not.
But no matter how time consuming they are and no matter how nit-picking they may seem, audits are a standard part of how we operate in every important endeavor in our society.
In the Diocese of Tucson, audits are a regular part of how we operate in the Safe Environment Program.
In fact, we have just finished another on-site audit of the Safe Environment Program conducted by the Gavin Group.
This independent firm does the audits of dioceses nationwide that are required by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Review Board that collaborates with the Conference to prevent the sexual abuse of minors by persons who serve the Church.
Exactly what does our audit involve?
Before all else, the audit requires preparation. Preparing for an audit is hard work, but it provides the framework for a thoughtful review of what has been done.
This preparation goes on in each parish and school of the Diocese. It is not a job that is taken lightly.
The review of what has been done leads inevitably to what might have been done better. This is the real fruit of an audit.
An operation as complex as that of a parish, school or a diocese has so many moving parts, it is unreasonable to believe that they will all be working well at any given time.
From that perspective, audits are simply an opportunity to discover those areas that need more attention so that a timely correction can be applied.
So, as much as we might wish that we could do away with the stress of audits, dispassionate consideration suggests that timely “maintenance” of the Safe Environment Program would suffer if we did.
In the Diocese of Tucson, we put such store in audits that we not only commit to the annual audit through the Bishops’ Conference, we also have the professional services of our own internal auditor, Katherine Preble.
Katherine visits each of our parishes and schools on a two-year cycle to examine financial records, human resources practices and, importantly, Safe Environment Program implementation.
Many people have commented to me about the positive impact Katherine has made through her visits.
In addition to these more traditional types of audits, the Safe Environment Program also includes another type of audit process: the review of the Compliance Plan.
A compliance plan is a policy statement of the parish or school that outlines the way in which the Safe Environment Program will be implemented in that particular place, so an audit of the compliance plan is central to the planning process of each parish and school.
Each year, when the leadership of the parish or school reviews the plan, they consider whether the plan still fits the local circumstances and whether is actually being carried out.
These three audit processes – annual collection of data, internal auditor visits and annual review of the compliance plan – are just the formal ways in which the audit component of our complex Safe Environment Program is carried out.
Also, in the course of each year, there are many other specific checks that are done as issues arise, augmenting our common commitment to try to do the right thing and to keep on doing it.
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( 3 / 137 )By Paul Duckro, Ph.D
A newspaper story caught my eye a few weeks ago.
It was about child molester who had been arrested in Tennessee after hiding from authorities for seven years.
He had been convicted in Georgia and had fled after violating his probation by failing to register as a sex offender.
As described in the story, he literally recreated himself.
He established a new life in Tennessee under an assumed name. He worked at a retail store. He was a volunteer youth minister in a local Baptist church.
It is not known yet whether he harmed any children under his care at the Baptist church, but you can imagine the anxiety that the leaders of that church must have experienced when they learned of his background.
The story did not make clear whether the church had tried to do any kind of background check or how completely the fugitive had covered his tracks. He may have taken on not only a new name, but also a new Social Security Number.
That notwithstanding, it is likely that the “low tech” aspect of a background check, a simple set of phone calls, might have been enough to expose him.
I read this story with particular interest because it coincided with the completion of this year’s education video for our diocesan Safe Environment Program.
In the video, we listen to the chilling account by a child molester who specialized in church settings. He describes how he infiltrated churches, committing his crimes against children while hiding in plain sight.
The video helps us to understand that child molesters can look like ordinary people who work their way into the heart of a church community by being pleasant and useful.
As they gain trust, they gradually take liberties with the behavioral limits built into the policies – like the Code of Conduct and Standing Operating Procedures (SOPs) of our Safe Environment Program – written for their particular ministry.
If they are not called on these violations, child molesters know that they are safe to act out.
They are a small percentage of all the persons who so generously give their time to carry out the ministries of churches, but that small percentage does untold damage if they are not detected in time.
The video – as does the newspaper story – also emphasizes for us just how critical it is to follow through on background checks for any person new to a parish or school community.
If you are an employee or volunteer at a parish or school, you will see the video during these next few months. I hope that it will encourage you to advocate for and follow the policies and procedures that your parish or school has put into place to protect those that our parishes and schools serve and those, like you, who provide the service.
If you are a parishioner or member of a school family, I hope this column will give you the confidence that the persons responsible for the care of children at your parish or school are receiving education that will help them to recognize child molesters and to respond to situations that put a child’s safety at risk.
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( 3 / 199 )Keeping children safe from harm is a concern that goes beyond our Diocese and the Catholic Church.
Nationally, efforts to protect our children from harm receive considerable attention and resources.
Are these efforts having an impact on the societal problem of child abuse?
Updated statistics on child abuse are released each spring, tabulating the data from two years earlier.
Here is a quick scan of the most recent data as presented in “Child Maltreatment 2007,” issued by the Children’s Bureau of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, that compiled information from more than three million reports made to child protective service agencies, reports that touched on the lives of nearly six million children.
In 2007, initial screening eliminated more than 38 percent of the reports. Of the investigations that were opened, more than 25 percent resulted in confirmed cases of abuse or neglect. These cases involved approximately 794,000 children.
Clearly, the reports of suspected child abuse exceed the confirmed findings of abuse by a large factor.
This is not a failure of the system. It is the way the mandated reporter law is designed to work. It is better to have reports that do not lead to findings of abuse than to have calls that were not made, with potentially catastrophic results.
Who is making the reports?
In 2007, nearly 58 percent of the reports were made by professionals. A professional is simply defined as someone who had contact with the child as part of his or her job.
In the Diocese of Tucson, this definition includes anyone who is ministering or serving in any capacity on behalf of the parish, school or agency.
In our experience, most reports are made by those who come into regular contact with children in their ministry or service. But, any person who is educated as to what to look for and motivated to act with courage can be the source of a report that might save a child from harm.
Although each state has its own definitions of child abuse and neglect, Federal law sets this minimum standard: any act or failure to act that results in or presents an imminent risk of serious harm will be classified as maltreatment, which is defined as neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse and psychological maltreatment.
The most common form of maltreatment was neglect. In 2007, almost 60 percent of documented cases fell into this category.
Neglect may be associated with many causative factors and can be very serious in its consequences. More than 30 percent of child fatalities (the great majority in children under four years of age) were associated with neglect alone.
Physical abuse was the second most common form of maltreatment (more than 10 percent) and was also a major contributor to the death of the children.
Sexual abuse again ranked third (7.6 percent) among the four major categories of maltreatment.
Who is abusing these children?
Unhappily, nearly 80 percent of maltreatment was perpetrated by parents, almost all of them biological parents. Another 6.6 percent of abusers were other relatives.
For all of us in ministry in our Diocese, the lesson of these statistics is clear: your eyes and ears, your courageous willingness to act, may lead to the call that saves a child’s life.
What are we looking and listening for?
There is an old saying in health care, “common diseases are common,” meaning that health care personnel should be on the lookout not only for the more unusual diseases that might be misdiagnosed, but also for the common diseases that are most often the cause of symptoms and that might be overlooked in the fear of missing the more unusual diseases.
As you see from the statistics, the most common source of danger for a child comes within the family and will be recognized in signs of physical neglect, physical damage or remarkable changes in usual behavior. These statistics are supported by the experience of our parishes and schools.
If you would like more information, check out the related publication, “The Role of Professional Child Care Providers in Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse and Neglect,” available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/childcare.
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