Office of Child Advocacy, Implementation and Oversight

October 1, 2002

To All Parishes, Pastors, Parish Staffs, Principals, Schools and People of the Archdiocese

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In my last letter to you, I mentioned that I would be sending additional information about schedules and locations regarding the abuse prevention training for the parishes, schools and institutions of the archdiocese: “Protecting God’s Children” and “Talking About Touching”.

The Parish Program for Adults:

Again, the VIRTUS® training program for adults regarding the prevention of child sexual abuse is called “Protecting God’s Children” and will be the comprehensive vehicle for training all parish clergy, staffs, employees, and volunteers in parishes and other institutions in the archdiocese. I have enclosed a brief description of the program as an attachment. The VIRTUS training program is two full days in length (arrive 7:45AM with class from 8AM to 3PM) and will be held during weekends so as not to interfere with the parishioner-volunteers’ work week. There are ten training sessions planned that can accommodate up to 200 participants each, and the sessions are scheduled in all five regions of the archdiocese to allow flexibility in terms of where people attend. If a parishioner’s schedule does not permit attendance in their particular region, then attendance at any of the others is available to them. After coordinating with the trainers regarding dates, and with Regional Bishops for locations, the schedule for the VIRTUS training is as follows:

Session 1: October 26 & 27, Central Region, Mount St. Joseph Academy, Brighton

Session 2: November 16 & 17, Central Region, Boston College High School, Boston

Session 3: November 23 & 24, South Region, Xaverian Brothers High School, Westwood

Session 4: December 7 & 8, North Region, Bishop Fenwick High School, Peabody

Session 5: December 14 & 15, North Region, St Francis of Assisi, Medford

Session 6: January 11 & 12, West Region, Marian High School, Framingham

Session 7: January 18 & 19, West Region, Marian High School, Framingham

Session 8: February 1 & 2, Merrimack Region, Central Catholic High School, Lawrence

Session 9: February 15 & 16, Merrimack Region, Central Catholic High School,

                   Lawrence

Session 10: February 22 & 23, South Region, Xaverian Brothers High School, Westwood

Please be aware that since the class size is limited, the volunteers from the parishes should respond to the enclosed registration form with their 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd choices. As the attendance for any of these sessions reaches 200, registration for that class will be closed. Training costs will be assumed by the archdiocese. Lunch will be provided. Once volunteers from a parish are trained, they will then go back into the parish and train parish administrative staff, employees and volunteers on a schedule to be determined by the parish, but not later than June 2003. We estimate that in an average parish this would translate into approximately 24- 30 hours per year (see attached job description). Going forward, the parish team acts as a “Child Abuse Prevention Team” that provides points of contact for parishioners and those in the parish with mandated reporter responsibilities, and works with the Office of Child Advocacy to ensure the abuse prevention programs of the archdiocese are implemented at the local level.

The School Program for Children, Parents and Educators:

The personal safety curriculum for children that has been chosen as a standard program for Catholic schools is called “Talking About Touching™ ”(TAT). I have enclosed a one-page description of the program as an attachment. The TAT training program for school volunteers is three full days in length and will be scheduled on three consecutive days during the week.  There are eight 3-day sessions (arrive 7:45AM with class from 8AM to 3PM) scheduled that can accommodate up to 30 participants. The sessions are scheduled in all five regions of the archdiocese to allow flexibility in terms of where participants attend. If a teacher’s schedule does not permit attendance in their particular region, then attendance at any of the others is available to them. Three sessions are scheduled in the central region to minimize drive time for those unable to attend in their own region. The schedule is as follows:

Session 1: October 28, 29, 30, Central Region, St. Columbkille, Brighton

Session 2: November 13, 14, 15, Central Region, St. Columbkille, Brighton

Session 3: November 18, 19, 20, Central Region, St. Columbkille, Brighton

Session 4: December 9, 10, 11, West Region, St Julia, Weston

Session 5: December 16, 17, 18, West Region, St Julia, Weston

Session 6: January 6, 7, 8, Merrimack Region, Franciscan Center, Andover

Session 7: January 22, 23, 24, North Region, Immaculate Conception, Malden

Session 8: February 5, 6, 7, South Region, St. Catherine, Norwood

Please be aware that since the class size is limited, volunteers from the schools should respond to the enclosed registration form with their 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd choices. As the attendance for any of these sessions reaches 30, registration for that class will be closed. I’d also like to let you know that I am pursuing accreditation of this program that will grant continuing education credit or professional development points to participants. The cost of the training will be assumed by the archdiocese. Lunch will be provided. Once the school teams are trained, they will then go back into the schools and train their fellow teachers, school employees and volunteers on a schedule to be determined by the school’s administration, but not later than June 2003.

As we spoke about at the Principal’s Convocation last week, it is necessary to purchase TAT curriculum kits - one for each two classes at a given level (e.g., if you have one pre-K and one K, one curriculum kit is necessary; if you have one classroom each of grades one through four, two curriculum kits are necessary). The archdiocese has been granted a 10% volume discount. Discounted cost to the schools for each pre-K/K curriculum is $242; cost for each curriculum kit for grades 1-4 is $215. Shipping and handling at the rate of 7% must be added to the order. It is advised that a Teacher Guide be purchased for each teacher ($40). One guide is included with the purchase of the curriculum kit. In the above scenario, it would be necessary to purchase one additional pre-K/K Teacher Guide and two additional Teacher Guides for grades 1-4. In that scenario, the total cost for the curriculum kits, additional Teacher Guides and shipping and handling is approximately $844. Title V funding may be utilized to fund this purchase. However, these purchase orders must be channeled through your local public school district as all federally funded purchase requests are channeled.

Orders need to be sent in with an indication that the school falls within the RCAB system.  Therefore, each school needs to place at the top of the purchase order form: "Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston School."  This will ensure that the Committee for Children will indeed apply the 10% discount as they have agreed. In placing orders, schools need to show the full price and order numbers of the TAT kits $269 each for TAT Pre-K/K, indicate order number 000502; $239 for grades 1-4, indicate order number 000511; $45 for each additional TAT Pre/K Teacher's Guide; indicate order number 015023; $45 for each additional TAT Grades 1-4 Teacher's Guide, indicate order number 015024. After showing the full price and extending the totals for number of kits and additional teacher's guides ordered, the 10% discount can be applied on the line below the product subtotal.  The 10% discount line should indicate "special discount for RCAB schools." Finally, after arriving a new discounted subtotal, each school needs to add 7% on their total for shipping and handling. Orders may be sent to the Committee for Children, Department Code FC100, 568 First Avenue South, Suite 600, Seattle, Washington 98104-2804. Orders can also be faxed to them at: (206) 324-1445.

Many questions have come up about training in the “Talking About Touching” curriculum for Directors of Religious Education and the RE teachers in the parishes. They will be trained in the parish-based VIRTUS program by virtue of being on parish staff, but the catechists are unique because they need training in both the VIRTUS materials and in the TAT curriculum for children. We are currently working with the Committee for Children and with the Office of Religious Education to outline a plan to build in-house capability to train DREs and catechists throughout the archdiocese. I will keep you informed as these plans progress.

A webpage for the Office of Child Advocacy, Implementation and Oversight is also available on the RCAB website, and will be a source of ongoing information and progress. The webpage contains updates, schedules and other materials pertinent to these programs, and also provides links to the websites of the Committee for Children, VIRTUS, and the Department of Social Services. In this way, you can learn about the companies who will be conducting the training, and view their materials and curriculum on-line. Connect to the page at www.rcab.org and click on the link for the Office of Child Advocacy, Implementation and Oversight.

Thank you for all your help so far as we move together toward building permanent abuse prevention education and training in the archdiocese. If you have any questions, please call either Bob Kelley or me at the Child Advocacy Office at 617-782-2544 (Fax: 617-782-8358).

Yours in the Peace of Christ,

Deacon Anthony P. Rizzuto

Director

Office of Child Advocacy, Implementation and Oversight

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