Charter
for the Protection of Children and Young People
February 28, 2005
My dear people of God,
I want to thank all the staff and volunteers who worked so
diligently these past two years to implement safeguards for the protection of
children and youth throughout our Diocese.
Through their hard work, our Diocese has all the efforts in place that
comply with the U.S. Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and
Young People.
For example, all active priests, deacons and seminarians
have been fingerprinted and cleared through the State. All lay staff and volunteers who supervise
youth have also been fingerprinted and cleared criminal background checks. Over the last two years, we have rejected or
removed six volunteers from ministry who are ineligible to work with youth
without supervision because of something in their past. By May 1, the last group of clergy and
volunteers who supervise children, or who are alone with children, will be
trained in the Safe Environment program and in recognizing and reporting child
abuse, as required by the Charter. New clergy, staff and volunteers will be
trained as they are hired to ensure that they are familiar with the diocesan
Safe Environment Program.
Our compliance efforts were recently audited. Based on the 2004 audit, the auditors are
satisfied that the Diocese of Fresno is doing all that it can under the Charter
to protect youth in the parishes and schools of the Diocese. Note, however, that the body of the
February 18, 2004 audit report lists Fresno among the dioceses not in
compliance, as does part of the Audit Executive Summary for the Diocese. Those statements are incorrect because they
are based on miscommunication between the visiting audit team and the Diocese.
A news story based only on the incorrect conclusion gives an incomplete and
inaccurate understanding of our compliance.
The
report was very favorable about how well the Diocese met the many requirements
of the Charter. However, the
Executive summary in one place concluded that the Diocese did not fully comply
with the Charter on two points as of December 31, 2004. These statements were based on a
misunderstanding and lack of clarity between the Diocese and site auditors
concerning the number of volunteers that were subject to training and
background checks, and the clergy Safe Environment training schedule. We learned about the inaccurate conclusions
too late to correct the body of the report.
However, information clarifying our compliance was added in the “Additional
Information” section of the Executive Summary.
The summary now reads: “During
subsequent discussion with representatives of the Diocese of Fresno, it appears
that the Diocese did have information available that would have resulted in a
finding of compliance with all articles of the Charter as of December 31, 2004. That information was not clearly defined
for the Gavin Group. While the Diocese
of Fresno documented it was clearly in compliance as of December 31, 2004, it
did not clearly document that fact until after December 31, 2004.” (http://www.usccb.org/ocyp/dioceses04/fresnoca.shtml)
Again, I thank our many staff and volunteers throughout our
Diocese for their hard work and for being so assiduous in following the demands
of the Charter to promote the safety of your children. I am pleased to report to all our Catholic
faithful that we are in compliance with the Charter, and that we are
making every effort under the Charter for the protection and safety of
children when in the care of our church and school personnel. Now we, and the greater community, must do
everything possible to root out the evil of child abuse throughout the many
others structures of our society.
Bishop John T. Steinbock
Diocese of Fresno