April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Recent statistics tell us that one out of every four girls and one out of every six boys are sexually abused before age 18. There are more than 40 million adults in the United States who are survivors of child sexual abuse – and those numbers are only the reported ones.
Child sexual abuse is not only a Roman Catholic Church problem. It is a societal problem. It happens in sports programs, scouting troops and packs, other religious denominations and, sadly, most often in our homes. In nearly 90 percent of abuse cases, the offender is a well-known, trusted adult of the child and family.
The graphic on this page from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops highlights what the Roman Catholic Church is doing to protect our children and to heal victims/survivors.
What do we do in the Diocese of Camden?
Every adult in regular contact with minors is fingerprinted and cleared. Fingerprints are run through the databases of the FBI and New Jersey State Police. All volunteers are prohibited from having contact with minors until the clearance letter is available. All volunteers and parish employees are rechecked every three years but not by fingerprinting. This includes all members of the clergy.
Adults are required to complete safe environment training. Since 2018, the program used by the Diocese of Camden is VIRTUS – Protecting God’s Children. Adults learn the warning signs of inappropriate behavior that may indicate possible grooming by an offender. Adults also learn the behaviors of young people who might be the victims of abuse.
During the VIRTUS training, all are taught that in the State of New Jersey, every adult is a mandated reporter even if child abuse is only suspected. Adults are taught to report abuse either to the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency or to local law enforcement.
The Diocese has appointed a victim assistance coordinator, Sylvia Loumeau, LCSW, whose responsibility is to address the Diocese’s outreach to victims/survivors. The Diocese will pay for counseling for those who have been abused by a Diocesan employee or volunteer. Ms. Loumeau can be contacted at 800-964-6588.
Several policies have been created to enforce our commitment to protect our children including a social media policy, a chaperone policy and a code of conduct policy called Standards of Ministerial Behavior. These are all available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese at camdendiocese.org/standards-for-protection.
Every parish and every school has a safe environment coordinator whose role is to ensure all adults in that location are in safe environment compliance. The protection of children is of the highest priority and the ministry of the Safe Environment Coordinator is supported by the pastor and/or principal of the location.
The Diocese of Camden is committed to protect our children and to heal victims/survivors. Even adults who do not have regular contact with minors are invited to complete the VIRTUS online training module to learn more about preventing child sexual abuse. To register, visit virtusonline.org.
Rod Herrera, LCSW, is director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection for the Diocese of Camden.
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