Archdiocese Appoints Chicago Heights Native to Child-protection Post

By Angela Denk
Daily Southtown
January 22, 2016

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/news/ct-sta-archdiocese-appointee-st-0124-20160122-story.html

The Archdiocese of Chicago announced Friday that Chicago Heights native and Marian Catholic High School graduate Mary Jane Doerr has been named director of its Office for the Protection of Children and Youth.

Her predecessor, Jan Slattery, held the position for a decade before retiring late last year.

According to a news release from the archdiocese, Doerr comes to the job with more than 20 years of experience in Catholic education, having taught at the elementary and college levels, and also having served as a school principal. She joined the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, or USCCB, in 2008, and was appointed its associate director for the Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection.

Doerr also spent five years as the safe environment coordinator for the Diocese of Kalamazoo, Mich., where she was responsible for implementing the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which "is a comprehensive set of procedures … for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy," according to the USCCB website.

Archbishop Blase J. Cupich called Doerr "a national leader in child protection."

During her 10 years as director of the archdiocese program, Slattery authored an approach to preventing child abuse that is recognized on a national scale, with an emphasis on victim assistance and recovery, the release stated. She fostered a relationship between her office, child protective services and the state's attorneys offices of Cook and Lake counties, according to the release.

Doerr will begin her tenure on Feb. 8.