Dallas Diocese audits its own parishes on sex abuse policy

Published: 2005-01-18

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Well before dioceses were audited for compliance with the U.S. bishops' national policies to prevent child sex abuse, the Dallas Diocese had audited its parishes, schools, institutions and agencies to see if they were toeing the line on diocesan norms. As a matter of fact, the first Dallas audits began before the bishops approved their current policies contained in the 2002 "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People." "We were looking for a good snapshot of how far along we were in implementation," said Wayne Sandy, risk manager for the Dallas Diocese. Sandy is in charge of diocesan safe environment programs. These consist of education programs on preventing sex abuse and background checks for diocesan employees and volunteers coming in contact with minors. The audits were done in the spring of 2002 with the results sent to the approximately 125 diocesan entities the following September. The diocese began developing sex abuse prevention polices in 1988 and was the first diocese to do compliance audits on its dependencies. A second wave of audits was done in 2003 and a third is planned for 2005. Kathleen McChesney, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection, said the idea is catching on. About 12 other dioceses have initiated local audits or are planning them, she said.

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