Diocese of Sioux City in Compliance with Dallas Charter

By Joanne Fox
The Catholic Globe of the Diocese of Sioux City
October 19, 2017

http://www.catholicglobe.org/?p=12688

The Diocese of Sioux City submitted its audit on Aug. 30 pertaining to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (Dallas Charter) to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and is in compliance.

According to Dan Ellis, diocesan coordinator of the office of safe environment, during the 2016-17 fiscal year, there were nine new allegations of misconduct reported to the diocese. All of the allegations pertained to priests who are currently retired or are deceased. There were no new allegations regarding any priests currently serving in the diocese.

Ellis stressed the importance of the church remaining diligent in the work of protecting children. He noted that in every case of abuse, there were warning signs that were either not recognized or not reported.

“The child protection measures that the Catholic Church takes cannot guarantee every child will be shielded from abusers – nothing can do that,” he said. “But we can, and do, insist that every adult who works with our children knows the warning signs of an abuser, and how to report those warning signs.”

The USCCB selected a national auditing firm to oversee compliance with the Dallas Charter and for the last four years have used StoneBridge Business Partners.

“StoneBridge compiles the data from each diocese and reports this data to the USCCB Committee on Child and Youth Protection,” Ellis said. “They also make recommendations to us as to how our safe environment programs can be improved.”

Auditors from StoneBridge were at the diocesan offices the first week of October for the onsite portion of the audit.

In this process, Ellis filled out a form stating how many people work in the diocese in various roles and documentation that each has received VIRTUS safe environment training, completed a background check and is in compliance with the Code of Conduct.

“If there are persons needing to complete one of these three elements, we must have plans in place to follow-up and bring everyone into compliance,” he said.

The diocese also reports any incidents of abuse of children by anyone working in the diocese who may have been reported during the previous year and how any such reports were handled.

“Tracking compliance for approximately 6,000 employees and volunteers is a huge task, but we have made it more manageable by having a VIRTUS site coordinator at most of the parish and school locations in the diocese,” Ellis said. “The site coordinators oversee the files for the people working or volunteering at an individual location, and they are responsible for monitoring compliance.”

This past year approximately 500 individuals received their initial Protecting God’s Children training.

“We have a great team of teachers, clergy and VIRTUS site coordinators who work hard every day, making sure we remain in compliance and that our safe environment programs are as strong and effective as they can be,” Ellis said.

Information gathered from these diocesan audits is used in a national report. The chairman of the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People, Francesco C. Cesareo, Ph.D., urged bishops during their spring general assembly in Indianapolis on June 14 to continue their commitment to stopping clergy sexual abuse and supporting victims of abuse “at the forefront” of their ministry.

Cesareo said sexual abuse of minors by clergy is “not a thing of past” and stressed the bishops have to always be vigilant and be sure to not “let complacency set in” in their efforts to stop it.

Ellis agreed with those insights.

“Child molesters seek out jobs and volunteer positions that give them access to children, and churches are often targeted,” he said. “Through abuse awareness programs such as VIRTUS, background checking, codes of conduct that spell out specific behaviors that are expected of all personnel, the Catholic Church will continue to be a safe place for children to learn and grow.”