Office of Child Advocacy, Implementation and Oversight

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a question you would like answered, email us at child_advocacy@rcab.org.

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1. Do CAP Team members need to get CORI Forms completed for the people trained in the parishes?

Although we asked you to fill out a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) form during your training weekend for Protecting God’s Children, it is not necessary for you, as CAP Team members, to ask volunteers and staff participating in your parish training sessions to fill out a CORI request form. The CORI process is administered through the Office of Volunteer Resources, and is carried out under the direction of the pastor and members of the parish staff.

The Archdiocese will begin a new CORI cycle as of July 1, 2003. Materials and specific information for the new fiscal year will be mailed to the parishes in March. Ann Lally, the Director of the Office of Volunteer Resources, is currently meeting with various groups to explain the process and the implications of recent legislative changes that will affect the FY04 process – particularly for those ministering to children and youth.

If you have any additional questions, Ann Lally can be reached at 617-746-5840.

2. Does the parish know who the CAP Team members are and what function the CAP Team serves in the parish community?

Have you introduced yourself to the people in your parish? Do they know who you are and what you do? Many pastors have given regular space in the Sunday bulletins for the CAP team to introduce themselves and talk about the upcoming training sessions they have (or will) schedule in the parish. Other pastors have allowed CAP Team members to address the assembly at announcement time before the final blessing at Mass. Some CAP Teams have even posted pictures of themselves on parish bulletin boards. A sample bulletin announcement is available at the Office of Child Advocacy (617-746-5994).

3. Who has to be trained?

After you complete your weekend training in the Protecting God’s Children for Trainers program, your first responsibility is to train the parish pastoral and administrative staff (priest, deacon, pastoral associate, DRE, Director of Music, school principal, etc). Once they are trained, you should then work with this group to schedule additional training sessions for all parish employees and volunteers. Remember that all clergy, parish staff, employees and volunteers are mandated by the Archdiocese to receive this training  - particularly, and as a  priority - those employees and volunteers who work with children in any capacity.

If your parish has a school, make sure that the Principal is invited to your first training session for the parish pastoral staff. Teachers have been mandated reporters for many years in Massachusetts, and they are familiar with reporting laws and the signs and symptoms of child abuse. The training for the “Talking About Touching”™ program was also recently completed in the schools. As parish employees, the teachers should eventually be introduced to the Protecting God’s Children materials since they have a different and specific focus on adult awareness and the ongoing response of the parish community, as opposed to a curriculum for children. However, the priority for CAP teams should be training for the employees and volunteers who have not had the benefit of previous training. Again, it would be best to work with the pastoral staff and the Principal to determine the best time to meet with the teachers, introduce yourselves and show them the Protecting God’s Children materials. Also, some parish CAP Teams have coordinated their efforts with the school and have either co-hosted or attended the parent information evening for the school program “Talking About Touching”.

Finally, don’t forget that the Massachusetts Children’s Trust Fund has offered to help facilitate a parent information evening. Please coordinate all requests for this support through our office.

4. Can a CAP Team member from one parish train a CAP Team in a neighboring parish?

No. The training that you received by attending Protecting God’s Children for Trainers trains you to facilitate a presentation and discussion of the materials you received during your weekend session to other adults in the parish setting. The weekend does not qualify you to do what either Jack McCalmon or Sharon Doty accomplished which was to train you.

5. Can parish CAP Teams join forces and “cluster” to provide services?

Yes. Some parish clusters (especially those smaller, individual parishes who had trouble finding five volunteers) have joined forces and have created a CAP Team to serve the cluster. In these circumstances, the teams came to our training sessions and now provide the program to clergy, staff, employees and volunteers in the multiple parishes of the cluster.

If you are a smaller parish who has only one or two members of your own, you may want to consider clustering with another CAP Team. However, as addressed in Item 4, a CAP Team (or individual Team member) cannot train a CAP Team in another parish. If you are a small CAP Team and need help running programs in your parish, several people who have been through the training have volunteered to assist you. Let us know and we can put you in touch.

6. Should the CAP Team report who attends the training?

The Office of Child Advocacy, Implementation and Oversight needs to know when you have your training sessions and who you have trained. Many parishes have used the sign-in sheets for their training sessions and then faxed them to us. Please send them to the office (fax 617-783-0766) so we can keep a tally (especially of those mandated to attend). We also have a blank sign in form available at the office.

7. Register for VIRTUS Online Services

Don’t forget to register for VIRTUS On-line services, and to have the people you present to sign on as well. The ongoing training and updates they provide are valuable tools for all of us. Signing on to VIRTUS Online also lets me know how many people in the parishes are receiving ongoing training. If you have difficulty registering, call the toll free number for client services (888-847-8870)

8. Why do we need a program like TAT?

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has recently issued its Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (available on the Office of Child Advocacy website). The Charter mandates that all dioceses in the United States will establish “Safe Environment” programs this year. A compliance audit process is scheduled to begin this July/August. Besides training programs for parish adults in how to identify and prevent child abuse, these programs are also to include training programs for children and young people that include age appropriate materials pertaining to personal safety – including information about improper touching and when they should seek assistance from trusted adults. TAT is the program selected by the Archdiocese to address this requirement.

Also, the Archdiocese of Boston “Policies and Procedures for the Protection of Children” promulgated by Bishop Richard Lennon on May 30, 2003 (available at www.rcab.org) conforms to this requirement by stating that “Personal safety programs for children that include information about appropriate behavioral and physical boundaries for children, and what to do if those boundaries are violated, will be standard, permanent elements of Catholic education in the schools and parishes of the Archdiocese for all grades.” (section 2.2, page 19).

9. What specifically is TAT and what does it do?

TAT is an award winning, nationally recognized program based on over 20 years of research that demonstrates the qualities of an effective, beneficial personal safety program. This program is supported by research psychologists and other experts because of its thoughtful approach to teaching important personal safety skills to children and its developmentally appropriate content. TAT is used in thousands of schools across North America; indeed it is the longest-standing and most widely-implemented personal safety program in the country.

Specifically, the TAT program is a personal safety curriculum that teaches children safety, self-protection and assertiveness skills to reduce their vulnerability to harm and abuse. This comprehensive program is developmentally sequenced and is designed to be taught in a classroom setting over a period of six to eight weeks. Topics include safety rules for riding in the car and responding in a fire, as well as handling inappropriate touching and responding to strangers. The program presents the concepts through a variety of media (i.e., video, story and audio cassette, poster) and involves discussion, skill practice, and transfer of training (e.g., classroom activities, take-home information sheets). Parent involvement is highly encouraged.

10. How many TAT lessons are there to teach?

The TAT program as implemented in the Catholic Schools is thirteen to fifteen 30-minute lessons in length. The ideal in terms of frequency of the lessons is to teach TAT once per week. National evaluations of school-based prevention programs indicate that certain features are associated with more effective programs. These are: a coherent theoretical and research basis; active, systematic and specific skills training; multiple program components like classroom training combined with parent involvement, interactive instructional techniques, and programs that are comprehensive, and repeated over a multiple year period. TAT possesses all these attributes.

11. Who needs to be trained in TAT?

There are approximately 56,000 children registered in the Catholic elementary schools of this Archdiocese. Grades PreK – 4 are taught by more than 1200 teachers under guidance and direction of 127 principals. The TAT program creates a safe context for discussion of this sensitive subject, and the lesson format is easy for teachers to use. The TAT program aligns with recommendations contained in the guidelines for personal safety programs established by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

Also, because family involvement is important to a child's safety, the TAT program extends into the home, encouraging parents to reinforce the skills that are taught in school. A parent-education video, “What Do I Say Now? How to Help Protect Your Child from Sexual Abuse”, is included in every TAT kit. Practical examples are also included to help parents respond appropriately to a child's disclosure of abuse. As different sections of the program begin in the classroom, regular parent information letters are sent home to let the parents know about the issues that are being taught to their children so that they are aware of and can reinforce the lessons and support the children in discussions at home. TAT is a program that supports strong parental involvement and seeks to work in collaboration with them for the safety of their children. It is recommended that after the school team is trained, each school host a parent information evening prior to teaching the curriculum to the children.

12. Can TAT be taught in the context of Religious Education?

Yes! During March and April of this year, the Office of Child Advocacy, Implementation and Oversight met with the Archdiocesan Secretary for Education (Sister Clare Bertero), Susan Kay, members of the staff of the Archdiocesan Office of Religious Education, the Archdiocesan Religious Education Leadership Advisory Committee, other catechetical leaders, representatives from the Committee for Children in Seattle (the creators of TAT) and the Massachusetts Children’s Trust Fund.

One of the goals of these meetings was to look at the issue of how to align the TAT curriculum with the Religious Education Curriculum Guidelines of the Archdiocese in a way that would maintain the integrity of each program. After much hard work, a scope and sequence showing how this can be accomplished was created and reviewed by the Office of Religious Education and the Catholic Schools Office. This successful effort now provides the option of allowing teachers to create a Catholic context for this program.

13. Is TAT the same thing as sex education?

The simple answer to this question is “No.” However, this doesn’t adequately address the concerns of parents who take seriously the responsibility to educate their own children about sex. Some parents may be concerned that the material presented in sexual abuse prevention education is too explicit and can scare children. They are also uneasy about the discussion of any sexual issues with small children. Sex education and sexual abuse prevention education are not the same. A discussion and comparison of the two subjects can provide some insight and, perhaps, some reassurance to parents.

Sex Education

Sex education is the process of acquiring information and developing values, beliefs, and attitudes about sex, sexual identity, relationships, and intimacy. According to Familiaris Consortio and The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality, parents are the ultimate educators of children on this subject. While it is certainly the parents’ responsibility to teach children fundamental values and to lay the foundation for basic Christian values of life, human love, and family, these same Church documents provide for collaboration between parents and competent educators to give children accurate information.

The role of teachers is to assist and support the work of the parents. Sex education in the schools is not a substitute for the responsibility of the parents in this area.

The purpose of sex education, whether provided by parents alone or in cooperation with other educators, is to teach children about human love—love between a man and a woman—as an integral part of the manifestation of God’s gift of human sexuality. Therefore, in addition to accurate information about the human body, sex education includes:

Sex education is the process of preparing children and young people to live their lives according to and in conformity with Christian principles. It is the course of action in which parents must participate fully in order to assure that the values of education for human love are at the heart of any information provided to their children. In addition, sex education should assist the child in developing skills in negotiation, decision-making, assertion, listening, and other life skills. Children should learn tools to deal with the emotions and feelings that will accompany their sexual development and the pressures that their peers and others in society will exert on them to experiment with or to exploit their own sexuality.

While many parents may be uncomfortable with the subject of sex, their discomfort does not absolve them from the responsibility to educate their children on this issue and on its importance as an aspect of our humanity. Sex education is, ultimately, education for love.

Sex abuse prevention education

Although some of the information provided in sex education is included in sexual abuse prevention education, these are two distinctly different areas of education. They have different objectives and a different context for providing the information.

Simply said, sex education is teaching children how to live as adults in loving, chaste, sexual relationships. Sex abuse prevention is not about “sex.” It is about empowering children to resist the advances of predators and the lures of manipulative, controlling people who would exploit children for their own sexual gratification.

In its most effective form, sex abuse prevention education teaches children about ”good,” “bad,” “comfortable,” and “uncomfortable” touches in a safety-based curriculum. In order to provide children with adequate tools to resist the overtures of potential offenders, children must have the following information:

Sex abuse prevention is “preventive” in nature. It is not intended to educate children about “sex,” “sexuality,” the “sexual functions” of private parts, or human love relationships. It is intended to teach children about their rights to assert limits over what happens to their bodies and to give them the tools necessary to communicate effectively if someone violates those boundaries.

14. Do children react negatively to TAT - will it be harmful to children?

National studies conducted by the nation’s top researchers in this field indicate that children are not harmed psychologically by programs like TAT. In fact, the effect is the opposite - children feel more confident and empowered to help keep themselves safe, and are more likely to use the skills taught in doing so. From the 1980s forward, in response to growing concern about child abuse and other crimes against children, these types of programs have been adopted widely and quickly throughout the United States. Most have demonstrated that children acquire the concepts they have been taught, can use them effectively, and are more likely to disclose abuse should it occur. The small minority of children in these studies who did report more worry about abuse and fear of adults were also the children who themselves (and their parents) reported the most positive feelings about the programs and the most skill utilization. This suggests that the level of worry and fear was appropriate to the subject – much the same way that some children express a temporary, increased concern and awareness about fire after a fire safety program.

15. What are the timelines for the parishes to implement the TAT curriculum?

Training for teachers, principals, school nurses and guidance counselors was accomplished between October 2002 and February, 2003. In recent documents regarding compliance with the USCCB directives, implementation dates for the 2003-2004 school year are being defined. I will stay in touch with the USCCB Office of Child and Youth Protection and keep you informed as this guidance matures.

16. How will progress be measured?

As with the parish programs that are underway, the Office of Child Advocacy will be the focal point for ongoing support to, and monitoring of the TAT program in the Catholic schools. Questionnaires will be sent out to the principals about when training was accomplished, who was trained, when the parent information meetings were held, how many parents attended, and the start date for the program being taught to the children. The office will then use this data in quarterly and annual reports to the Bishop, the USCCB, and the people of the Archdiocese. The Office of Child Advocacy has also been in contact with three local universities who have volunteered to assist the Archdiocese in creating the measurement instruments necessary to measure effectiveness, and collecting and analyzing the data.

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If you have any questions or feedback as to how things are going in the parish, please let us know (617-746-5994). Our new email address is child_advocacy@rcab.org.