Child Abuse Prevention Month Set for Parishes, Diocese in April
Catholic Diocese of Jackson
P.O. Box 2248
Jackson, MS 39225-2248
Communications Office
Mary Woodward, Director
601.960.8475
mary.woodward@jacksondiocese.org
WASHINGTON/JACKSON—Child Abuse Prevention Month will be marked in parishes and dioceses around the United States in April.
To assist church groups, the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection has developed resources in English and Spanish to facilitate activities to highlight the need for prevention efforts. They include posters, liturgical guides, articles on church efforts to reach out to abuse victims and to protect children, and bulletin announcements. All materials may be downloaded for use locally. The materials are available on the USCCB’s website at http://www.usccb.org/ocyp/april_cap_month_2009.shtml
The Child and Youth Protection Secretariat has made care for minors a key priority and spearheaded nationwide safe environment programs. Through these programs more than five million minors already have been educated on such how to protect themselves from harm and almost two million adults have undergone background screening and training on appropriate relationships with youth in their care.
The Office of Child Protection for the Catholic Diocese of Jackson facilitates the ongoing criminal background screening process and monitors the prevention component of the safe environment training program for adults who work with children and youth in schools and parishes. At the present time, we have 3,390 adults in active ministry with young people who have undergone criminal background checks and have received training in the diocesan safe environment program.
Additionally, children and youth receive an age-appropriate safe environment lesson annually. The lesson material introduces young people to the basic concept of body safety and self-protection skills. There were 8,202 children and youth instructed in self-protection skills in school year 2007-2008.
The Diocese of Jackson, along with other dioceses nationwide, recognizes and promotes April as Child Abuse Awareness Month. The Office of Child Protection has distributed child abuse prevention and awareness resource material to all parishes and schools. It is requested that the information be used in liturgies and bulletins.
According to Vickie Carollo, Director of the Office of Child Protection for the Jackson diocese, “Child abuse is a challenging topic to address. However, we must keep in mind that by providing safe environment education to adults, children and youth we may save one child from a horrific incident or encourage a child to get the help he or she deserves. Parents, teachers and volunteers must help children and youth feel they can speak openly and honestly about their concerns and make time to keep dialogue open about this important topic.”
“There are few things more important than protecting our children from harm,” said Bishop Blase Cupich of Rapid City, South Dakota, chair of the bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People. “Child abuse in our society is rampant and we are called to do what we can to stop it. Children are gifts entrusted to us by God. All responsible adults must protect the life and dignity of those gifts. Child Abuse Prevention Month deserves our attention in both prayer and action.”
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