TimesLeader.com

Diocese taking steps to raise child safety

By Mark Guydish mguydish@timesleader.com
Education Reporter

SCRANTON – The Diocese of Scranton has expanded programs and improved background checks in an ongoing effort to protect children from sexual misconduct, the Diocesan newspaper reported Thursday. The details were included in a Catholic Light article announcing that an annual audit by an outside agency found the diocese “in compliance” with national guidelines for protecting children.

The audits were set up when the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops devised the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” in 2002, a direct result of the priest sexual misconduct scandal that started in Boston and rapidly spread across the nation. The Gavin Group Inc. was commissioned to annually ensure each diocese was meeting the provisions in the charter.

The article noted the diocese met all those provisions from the start, including paying for “awareness and prevention training” for priests, employees and volunteers who work with children. More than 18,000 people have undergone training. A “safe environment” program for students in kindergarten through grade 10 also was introduced, in 2005, and the article noted it was expanded into parish religious education programs in fall of 2008.

The charter also requires background checks for employees and volunteers who spend 20 or more hours a year with children. The article notes that, in 2008, the diocese switched from using state police background checks to screening people through “ChoicePoint VolunteerSelect.”

The service “provides a national criminal search, Social Security verification, and a sex offender registry search,” the article said, noting that, “Background checks and clearances have been completed for 3,633 individuals in the past year alone.”