Diocese offers guidelines to help with safety plans

By MAUREEN MCGUINNESS- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

This fall, parish catechetical and youth ministry leaders will be trained in emergency responses to crises and learn techniques that can help prevent disasters from occurring.

Spurred on by a request from the U.S. Catholic Conference's Department of Education that all schools and parish catechetical/youth ministry programs form policies to ensure the safety of its participants, the diocesan Office of Evangelization and Catechesis (OEC) formed a task force to develop guidelines for safety and crisis response.

The task force was made up of diocesan personnel, clergy, catechetical and youth ministry leaders, legal counsel, and members of the New York State Police. Their "Safety and Crisis Management Guidelines" will be distributed to parishes during regional meetings. The meetings will be followed by training sessions facilitated by the troopers.

Potential danger

Jeanne Schrempf, director of the OEC, said the guidelines and workshops are designed to give parish leadership confidence in dealing with crisis.

"The goal is to make us stop and think of how to respond," she said. "The good news is that we haven't had any incidents."

But parishes may have a false sense of security. According to the guidelines, "while Catholic schools and parishes have been spared the agony of recent school tragedies, our parish buildings and the settings in which we minister are no more secure or safe than any other public building. Emergency situations can happen anywhere and anytime."

The document and training will address a variety of crises, including physical illness or injury, fire, winter storms, tornado and severe windstorms, earthquakes, hazardous material spills, transportation disasters, utility failure, bomb threats, fighting, weapons, suicide threats and hostage situations.

Records

Parishes are also being reminded to keep updated records to ensure the safety of those participating in catechetical programs.

Mrs. Schrempf said it is important for catechetical programs to know who a child can be released to. In the past, there have been incidents where a non-custodial parent has tried to take the child from the parish program.

Another important document for parishes is the catechist application form, which has been required since 1990. The form requests data on the applicant, including criminal background information, and requests two references to be checked by the parish.

Variety of Diocese

The diversity of the Albany Diocese makes it difficult to create rules that apply to all catechetical programs, so it's important that each parish use the guideline to make their own emergency plans, said Mrs. Schrempf.

She also pointed out that parish programs take place in a variety of environments, including church basements, school buildings and borrowed space. Programs are offered after school, in the evening and on weekends. All of these variables affect a safety plan.

"I've been a catechetical leader at a large suburban parish in New Jersey and one in Albany," said Mrs. Schrempf. "Both of these parishes had schools and ran fire drills. We participated in these. However, in many parish settings, there hasn't been training for emergencies."

Tips

One simple thing that can aid in an emergency is ensuring that catechetical and youth ministry programs have access to a phone so that help can be called.

Catechetical programs should also have a person on site that serves as a greeter. Often, the catechetical leader is working with the young people or leading a prayer service, making them unavailable for monitoring the building. The greeter would make sure that unknown or unsupervised people are not given access.

"We don't want to be inhospitable," Mrs. Schrempf said, but she pointed out that it is common in public and Catholic schools to have visitors report to the office upon entering the building. A greeter would serve a similar purpose.

The guidelines also encourage parishes to network with local community safety agencies, like fire and police departments. These agencies can provide assistance in creating safety plans, and insight into proper evacuation procedures.

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