We are called to share our Catholic Faith, and, at St. Francis, we heed this call in so many ways. From our various ministries, to our faith formation program and schools, to the parish athletic and camp programs, and many other events and programs, St. Francis is a hub of activity that can be frenetic. Providing a safe environment for our faith to grow is essential, and Trish Adamkowski, the parish’s Coordinator of Human Resources, is the parish contact for the parish’s “Safe Environment Program,” which includes safe child training, reference checking, and background checks, as required by the Diocese of Raleigh’s Safe Environment Program.
The Diocese of Raleigh developed the initial safe environment training course in cooperation with Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina. Its design is such as to enable adults to recognize and report child abuse. “I believe the safe environment program, which includes the training, is important,” Trish says, pointing out that, “part of the Diocese of Raleigh Safe Environment vision statement says: ‘Because all human life is a precious gift from God, we must assure that all persons, especially the young and the vulnerable, are to be treated with dignity, respect, and offered an environment which promotes safety.’” The St. Francis website has a landing page dedicated to this safe environment program that explains the expectations for those who work in the Diocese or volunteer and oversee children on campus.
“One thing I’ve encountered, and I don’t think it is specific to St. Francis, per se,” says Trish, “is that people think because we are a Church and Catholic school campus that it is safer here than another place. We’ve seen time and again, sadly, that churches and schools can sometimes be no safer than anywhere else. While we’d like to believe that the bad things we see in the news will never happen here, and we pray constantly that it’s the case, we know that bad things can happen anywhere.” This concern is not new to the Diocese.
The tenets of the ‘Safe Environment Program’ of the Diocese of Raleigh have been in place since 1993, with an update in 2003, to support planning and to recognize what we can do to provide the safest environment possible, given the structure and function of our campus. The leadership of the parish and the schools has always focused on providing a safe and secure environment for all on campus, including electronic screening and check-ins, as well as safety drills for fire, weather, and other potential concerns throughout the year. However, a lot of ‘unstructured time’ in the afternoons and evenings presents challenges.
“We are a large campus encompassing dozens of acres, and we don’t have fences and gates,” says Trish. “I’m sure we would all be fine 99.99% of the time, but we are only ‘fine’ until we’re not.” As Thomas Jefferson has been credited with saying, “Eternal vigilance is the price we pay for liberty.” The freedom we have to practice our faith and enjoy events on our campus can only be assured by the vigilance that recognizes situations of vulnerability and addresses them proactively. Part of that effort is the attention the parish and school staff pay to helping enforce the Diocesan Guidelines.
No one on campus is ‘being mean’ or ‘picky’ when they ask parents and visitors to make sure their children are supervised on campus. The Diocesan standard is that anyone under 18 needs to be under the supervision of a responsible adult while on Diocesan property. The staff is only providing the vigilance necessary to ensure our campus is safe for parish members and others who use it. Trish believes that the parish is providing the proper environment and process for reporting concerns, but cautions, “that’s not to say we can’t always do better. We really need the partnership of parents and other adults to ensure we are doing everything we can to keep our children and the vulnerable population safe. There are multiple avenues people can bring concerns to light, either to us on the campus, or to the Diocese Office of Child and Youth Protective Services.”
Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14) We want to provide for all God’s children an environment, programs, and a campus where they see and feel the love of God at all times. To accomplish this, St. Francis and the Diocese of Raleigh have committed resources and put in place a comprehensive plan to provide the safest possible environment. However, we are all asked to maintain the vigilance and attention necessary to ensure we remain focused on delivering those safe surroundings.
To learn more about the Diocese of Raleigh Office of Child and Youth Protection and to read the Code of Conduct for Church Personnel of the Diocese of Raleigh, click here. If you have any questions about our campus programs or the Diocesan Safe Environment requirements for volunteers, please visit the safe environment landing page on the parish website or reach out to Trish Adamkowski (trish.adamkowski@stfrancisraleigh.org) or your ministry leaders to determine what training may be required.
