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	Report Cites Archdiocese Cincinnati Post March 31, 2006 http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060331/NEWS01/603310341 The Archdiocese of Cincinnati is not in full compliance with church rules on the protection of young people, according to a national report issued Thursday. The archdiocese - which reported the non-compliance a month ago in its newspaper, the Catholic Telegraph - cites a change in the interpretation of the specific rule it violated. The archdiocese was in compliance with all the rules in the 2003 and 2004 reports. But on Thursday, it was cited as one of 22 dioceses in the country not in full compliance in the 2005 Annual Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The charter was part of the national review process that the National Conference of Catholic Bishops implemented in 2002 to deal with the church's growing scandal of sexual abuse by its priests. Cases arising from the scandal locally culminated in a $3 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 2003 and an $85 million settlement of a class-action suit with the Diocese of Covington last year. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops charter made a number of recommendations for all dioceses to follow. Specifically, the Cincinnati archdiocese was cited for failure to comply with Article 12, which calls for "safe-environment training" for any diocese priest, employee or volunteer who works with children. Of the 22 dioceses found out of compliance, 21 were in violation of Article 12, the report says. "This change reflects a stricter interpretation of the article for the 2005 audits," according to the report. Much of the report is based on self-reporting by the dioceses involved. Archdiocese spokesman Dan Andriacco said the change is because of the stricter record keeping now required. The archdiocese now must keep a database of every person who has gone through the training, classifying them according to whether they are priest, volunteer, teacher, employee or something else, he said. In the past, it did not keep records of everyone, relying instead on a certificate a person obtained after going through the training, he said. Since 1993, the archdiocese has put more than 75,000 people through the safe-environment training, he said. Since 2003, more than 45,000 persons have undergone criminal background checks, including the 38,000 who are working with children in archdiocesan programs. But the required training in the archdiocese's child protection policies could not be documented for approximately 10,000 persons, mostly volunteers, Andriacco said. The Cincinnati archdiocese is rectifying the problem by requiring those people whose training cannot be documented to go through another training session, he said. It also is updating its records to list those who have gone through the training by the correct category. Anyone working with children must undergo the background check and have proof of the training, he said. While the Cincinnati archdiocese was not in compliance, the Covington diocese was in compliance with the charter recommendations.
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