Archdiocese of Oklahoma City launches training program to protect children

By James Neal
Enid News & Eagle
June 16, 2020

https://bit.ly/30Yrtcm

Volunteers, staff members and clergy of the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City who work with children will be required, starting July 1, to complete a new training program designed to protect children from abuse.

The curriculum, Safe & Sacred Training Program for Catholic Dioceses, "provides online training in several areas, including appropriate and inappropriate interaction with minors, proper boundaries, potential red flags and how to report suspected child abuse," according to an archdiocese press release.

Safe & Sacred updates and builds on the existing safety training program, adopted after the 2002 national “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People." Expanded training has been added to "reflect current knowledge about topics such as human trafficking and grooming and includes specific content related to local needs," according to the press release.

“Archbishop Coakley and leaders of the archdiocese are committed to creating and maintaining safe environments for children and vulnerable adults in all churches, schools, Bible studies, youth groups, camps or any event sponsored by the archdiocese or a parish,” said Maggie Beckham, coordinator of the Safe Environment Office for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. “It is important that we always assess, evaluate and update our training and reporting so we do all we can to create a safe environment and protect our parishioners, especially minors, from anyone who seeks to do harm.”

Training is conducted by Proud to Protect, a training company that has been providing the Safe & Sacred online program to Catholic dioceses across the United States for more than 10 years. Thousands of adults serving in Catholic schools, parishes, youth programs and other service organizations participate in Safe & Sacred Training Programs every year, according to the press release.

Along with the required training, adults who work or volunteer for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City must have a completed background check, three approved references and be interviewed.

The updated training requirements come after a lengthy independent investigation of Catholic clergy in the archdiocese, commissioned by Archbishop Paul Coakley and conducted by the law firm of McAfee & Taft.

An investigation report released in October 2019 identified 11 priests who had substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors since the 1960s, including two priests with Enid ties — David Imming and James Mickus. An update to the report released in January added a third priest with Enid ties to the list — Marvin Leven.

McAfee & Taft examined the files of 545 priests who served in the archdiocese between 1960 and 2018.