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	Ayotte: Final NH Diocese Audit Shows Improvement By Beth LaMontagne Hall Foster's Daily Democrat January 26, 2009 http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090126/NEWS0201/901269918/-1/CITIZEN CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The latest audit of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester shows the church has made dramatic policy changes to prevent sexual abuse of children by clergy, New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said Monday. Although there has been remarkable progress, Ayotte said, there are still areas that need improvement. This fourth and final audit is part of the state's December 2002 agreement with the diocese as to how it should handle allegations of sexual misconduct by priests and other church personnel. Under the agreement, the diocese was to undergo four annual audits that looked at how new abuse cases were reported and what kinds of safeguards were set up to prevent further abuse. The Attorney General's Office reviews the audits, conducted by KPMG Forensic, and lists recommendations for further improvement. Last year, the state asked the diocese to include in its formal policy manual their policy of immediately removing clergy from a post after a reasonable allegation of abuse is made. The state also asked the diocese to improve the database that keeps track of background checks and training. Ayotte said the diocese made the improvements her office asked for. This year, the audit made four requests. By Monday morning — the day the audit was made public — Manchester Bishop John McCormack had already responded to the requests in a letter to Ayotte, saying the diocese would continue to work toward ensuring a safe environment for children in the church. The attorney general's office recommended the diocese do the following: improve communication between various church officials working to prevent further abuse; enact a policy determining who can control the background check and training database; make sure all diocese clergy, staff and volunteers are getting the required background checks and training. The office also asked that the diocese begin conducting its own internal auditing. "It is now up to the diocese, the parishioners — many of whom are parents — and other members of the diocese to continue their commitment to this program in the future," Ayotte said at a press conference. "The end of the oversight does not mean the diocese's system is perfect, but what it means is that they have a structure in place to review and correct deficits, and develop and understand the need to improve their program." The diocese has 18 days from Monday to formally respond with an action plan, laying out how it will address the remaining problems named in the audit. Either side can now ask for the oversight to continue, but Ayotte expects the action plan will sufficiently address the problems and that the 2002 agreement will expire. "We are confident the diocese will continue to report allegations of sexual abuse as required by law and I think they are aware if they don't what the consequences are," said Ayotte. In his letter, McCormack said the diocese has already taken steps to improve communication, set new database safeguards and create a self-audit plan. The diocese is also in the process of making sure all church administrators and leaders know their staff and volunteers must be trained and undergo background checks. McCormack said the diocese will have a final action plan to the state by Feb. 9, within the deadline. The New Hampshire Voice of the Faithful, a sex abuse victims' advocacy group, issued a release on Monday commending the diocese for its reporting, screening and training policies. The group, however, still remains suspicious of the church and questions if it will continue these new policies when the Attorney General's Office is no longer conducting audits. "My concern is that it always seems to be at the point of a legal gun," said Voice of Faithful member Carolyn Disco after the press conference. "I'd like to believe the change of heart is genuine and not strategic." The Rev. Edward Arsenault, the diocese's delegate for ministerial conduct, said the diocese has a record of compliance with the state. "Every expectation that the attorney general has set for us in the past we've met and I think ahead of time," he said. Ayotte said although the diocese has been cooperative the last two years, that was not always the case. During the first two audits, it was not uncommon for the attorney general's office to be asked to settle disputes between the KPMG auditors and the diocese about what kind of information should be provided and how the audit was supposed to work, said Assistant Attorney General Kristin Spath. This year, there were no calls asking the office to intervene, she said. "The single most important change we saw two years ago was a change in the attitude and the tone at the top," said Ayotte. "It was adversarial at the beginning of the audit process and there was a shift to realizing that in order to make improvements and for this process to work, that there had to be and attitude shift. We saw that two years ago and we saw it even more dramatically this year." Arsenault said the diocese has always tried to cooperate, but admitted there were some growing pains in the early days of the auditing process. "There was a learning a curve around the audit process for all of us," said Arsenault. "What (the Attorney General and auditors) have done by way of their observation and recommendations has only served to make our program even more sustainable."
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