By Rod J. Herrera
Kim Pinto. Pam Celenza. Sue Bacon. Samara Lawry. These are the four New Jersey Child Assault Prevention (CAP) employees who are the county coordinators in the Diocese of Camden. They have a combined 52 years of working with CAP, teaching our children to be safe, strong and free. They have taught adults in regular contact with our children how to keep our children safe.
Two of them are Roman Catholic, active in their parishes. All of them have been instrumental in developing and teaching the bullying awareness and bullying prevention program. All of them are deeply involved in every one of our 29 Catholic elementary schools, annually teaching our students to recognize inappropriate behavior by adults.
Among other endeavors, they work with the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP), with migrant workers, with behavioral health systems and with missing and abused children.
Kim, Pam, Sue and Samara are the real heroes of CAP in the Diocese of Camden. They teach, they challenge, they encourage, they empower.
When Kim called me to tell me I had been nominated and that I had been selected to receive the 2014 CAP Clergy/Ministry Award, I was stunned. What do I do, but tell countless people, “Yes, you have to go to CAP. That is the requirement of the diocese.”
Two lines in the letter I received from the state-wide directors of CAP stand out: “We are proud to recognize you for the efforts you have made to encourage the safety of children and to lessen the threat of abuse. In honoring you, we send a message to our state and to our nation that children are, indeed, our most precious resource.”
This is the second time CAP has recognized the Diocese of Camden with this honor. In 2006, Msgr. Peter Joyce, then the vice-chancellor, Sister Dawn Gear, GNSH, then superintendent of Catholic schools, and Sister Mary Beth Coyle, IHM, then director of religious education, were co-recipients for having started the alliance between NJ CAP and the Diocese of Camden.
What a valuable alliance this has been. Over 19,000 adults have attended CAP workshops. CAP 1 offers a general introduction to the signs of child abuse, neglect and assault. CAP 2 teaches bullying awareness and bullying prevention. CAP 3 is a new program on the potential dangers of the internet and is entitled Cyber Empowerment. The Diocese of Camden is the only diocese in New Jersey that requires adults to be re-trained.
When people resist or delay in attending a CAP session or ask me why they have to go, I simply remind them that we do so because it is the obligation of the Diocese of Camden to protect our children. One of the ways we protect our children is by asking the adults to attend a 90-minute session once every five years. Ninety minutes every five years. That’s not asking for much. The adults who attend will learn how to better protect our children.
To all those adults who have attended a CAP session – thank you for your attention and participation. To all the parish safe environment coordinators and parish catechetical leaders who make sure their volunteers are attending CAP – thank you for your cooperation. To all the principals who schedule CAP each year in the schools – thank you for building a safer environment. To all the children who listen to CAP – tell everyone how we are helping you to be safe, strong and free!
Rod J. Herrera, LCSW is director, Office of Child and Youth Protection, Diocese of Camden.
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