Director: ‘All in this prevention mission together’

“Establishing safe environments is foundational to creating a place of trust and safety that encourages faith to take root and thrive – the gift and responsibility of bestowing this type of safety is of utmost importance for the wellbeing of our children,” said Lisa Linnell, administrator of education and training in the diocesan Office of Safe Environments. Protecting God’s Children version 4.0 has been updated with 250 new videos and other visuals elements. 

The new Virtus training, Linnell said, has an emphasis on hope. “We are now all in this prevention mission together.”

As with so much that has been affected by COVID-19, the diocese’s training program is no exception. Before the pandemic, the diocese utilized 38 facilitators to teach live training sessions to employees and volunteers.  

“But with the pandemic, we couldn’t do that anymore, so we switched to the online training,” Linnell said. “It was very well received because it’s easier to complete on your own time, it’s not as time-consuming, you don’t have to travel. So, we’ve pretty much stayed with that now. The majority of training is done online.”

Another element showing the evolution of abuse prevention is the requirement for all diocesan employees to be trained, not just the individuals who have regular contact with children. Since 2002, all employees have gone through background screening. But last year, Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito required all employees to be trained in abuse awareness, prevention and reporting.

In Florida, any person who knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that a child is abused, neglected or abandoned by a parent, legal custodian, caregiver or other person responsible for the child’s welfare is required to report it. The motto, “If you see something, say something,” is the same for abuse against children and vulnerable adults.

Those who work with vulnerable adults – classified as someone older than 18 whose ability to perform normal activities of daily living is impaired due to a mental, emotional, long-term physical or developmental disability, or the infirmities of aging – are advised on what to look out for, what to do and what not to do. Any Catholic Church employee or volunteer ministering in homes, hospitals and nursing facilities participate in a separate, similar training program. 

An important aspect of preventing abuse is teaching students in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs how to stay safe. The Virtus Empowering God’s Children program has been taught to 10,299 students in the past year, supplemented by NetSmartz and KidSmartz online education programs from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“With COVID, we did collaborate with the offices of Catholic Schools and Family Life and the diocesan chancellor and created online policies because there was virtual teaching going on, a lot of social media and a lot of texting,” Linnell said. Their goal was to keep children just as safe as if they were in their classrooms.

Calling internet use the biggest threat from child predators, Linnell said it’s essential that parents are educated about the possible dangers. Giving minors unchecked access to the web can give criminals a direct line to potential victims. 

“We’re big on education because it educates everyone,” said Kathy Casey, administrator of background screening. “We have a lot of grandparents who are not just caregivers but are also the legal guardians.”

Her work focuses on checking the background of all employees (490 teachers, 896 other workers, 158 priests and 68 deacons) and 1,428 volunteers (all figures are from 2021), with renewal every five years. An essential part of that screening is fingerprinting, which is done at five sites in the diocese. Two more fingerprinting machines have been purchased that will be used at new locations.

The Office of Safe Environments appreciates the willingness of parishes and schools to operate the fingerprinting machines so it’s more convenient for those needing to be screened, Casey said. Leading the fingerprinting efforts and other work is office assistant Connie Oblaczynski.

Helping the office operate its programs are compliance administrators at every entity in the diocese.    

“The compliance administrator position was created in 2002 when we started because we need a main contact that oversees the policies,” Casey said. “They know the volunteers, who’s employed, who’s up to date, who’s not up to date, who’s training needs to be done.”

Because of the work of many, the Diocese of Palm Beach has been judged to be in compliance with the national charter every year since 2002. Audits of diocesan efforts to safeguard children are conducted every year by an independent organization, and live audits are held every three years, which is set to occur in 2022.

“What an incredible mission our diocese has established for the safety of children and vulnerable adults,” Linnell said. 

In a January 2021 letter to pastors, Bishop Barbarito thanked them for diligently following the Church’s mandates on screening and training. “The Office of Safe Environments is continually evolving in our mission to keep our vulnerable safe with best practices.

“Thank you for all you do for the people of God of our diocese,” he said. “I am also grateful for your assisting us in doing our part to ensure that these same people can have complete faith in the clergy, religious and laity who serve them and in all their church environments.”

For more information on the diocese’s Office of Safe Environments, visit https://www.diocesepb.org/ministriesoffices/offices/safe-environments/.