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	April Is Child Abuse Prevention Month in the U.S. Catholic Telegraph April 18, 2008 http://www.catholiccincinnati.org/tct/apr1808/041608childabuse.html WASHINGTON, DC — Child Abuse Prevention Month is being marked in parishes and dioceses throughout the United States in April To assist church groups, the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection has developed resources in English and Spanish to help highlight the need for child abuse prevention efforts. These include posters, liturgical guides, articles, brochures and bulletin announcements to assist church personnel. The Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection has made care for minors a key priority and spearheaded nationwide safe environment programs through which 5,683,940 minors have been educated on how to protect themselves from harm and 1,844,681 adults have undergone background screening and training on appropriate relationships with the youths in their care. "We can never rest when it comes to protecting children and teenagers," said Bishop Gregory Aymand, chair of the bishops' Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People. "Child Abuse Prevention Month deserves our attention in both prayer and action." In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, regular orientation sessions on the archdiocesan Decree on Child Protection are held for persons working with or volunteering with children or teens locally. To find a current schedule of sessions, go to www.catholiccincinnati.org/childorient/childprotection_calendar.htm In 2007, seven new allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were made against six priests of the archdiocese. Of the six priests, five were previously accused. The one accused for the first time is deceased. Of the five living priests, four are permanently removed from ministry and one was suspended from public ministry prior to 2007 pending final disposition of his case. The archdiocese spent about $690,000 in 2007 on expenses related to child abuse by priests. As with earlier such expenditures, the money came from general untargeted revenues available, not from the parish weekly collection basket, not from the Archdiocesan Annual Fund Drive, and not from any other designated collection. Approximately $310,000 was spent in 2007 on child protection efforts such as training and criminal background checks. As of February 2008, the archdiocese has fingerprinted 57,000 persons. Since 1993, more than 80,000 clergy, employees and volunteers who work with children have been trained in the provisions of the Decree on Child Protection. Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk urges anyone who was abused as a child by a priest or any other representative of the archdiocese, or knows someone who was, to report the abuse immediately to the secular legal authorities and to the Victim Assistance Coordinator of the Archdiocese, Sister Mary Garke, at (513) 421-3131 or 1 (800) 686-2724. In addition, the Catholic Conference of Ohio has established a fund to provide counseling assistance for persons who were sexually abused as minors by clergy or other representatives of the Catholic Church but are reluctant to contact the cChurch for help. Information about the fund and claims forms is available at www.counselingassistancefund.org.
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