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	Mediation Effort Nears End in Clergy Sex Abuse Cases Aid Requests Due by Oct. 25 from Those Attacked As Minors in Diocese By Michele Morgan Bolton Albany Times Union September 13, 2006 http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp? storyID=516438&category=ALBANY&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=9/13/2006 Albany - A landmark $5 million mediation initiative launched in 2004 to help victims of clergy sex abuse is now coming to a close, according to its administrator and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. On Tuesday, retired Court of Appeals Judge Howard Levine and Bishop Howard Hubbard said those who were minors when they were abused by diocesan priests have until Oct. 25 to request aid from the Independent Mediation Assistance Program. The project, designed and overseen by Levine and intended to last one year, was extended until it had provided $1,890,045 in financial assistance, counseling and other services to 31 people. Lately, calls have dropped down to nothing, they said. "This unique program has had a profound and positive impact on everyone involved in it, whether victim, mediator or administrator," Levine said. It was funded by the diocese and open to those who had not already received assistance and who preferred to work with a group other than the church. IMAP will accept applications until Oct. 25 and continue operations until Nov. 27. Mediation is coordinated through the nonprofit New York State Dispute Resolution Association in Troy. Hubbard noted that the diocese will continue to work with the association. Levine, a senior counsel at Whiteman, Osterman and Hanna, did not receive a salary for his work, the diocese confirmed. His firm did bill for the work, as well as investigative, mediation, office and other costs, which will be tallied and included in a final report, spokesman Ken Goldfarb said. Anything remaining from the $5 million will go to victims, Goldfarb said. From the beginning, victims groups criticized the program, saying it couldn't possibly be independent if it was funded and overseen by the diocese. On Tuesday, that opinion hadn't changed. "My concern is, what now?" asked Mark Lyman, director of the Capital Region chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. "IMAP is a Trojan horse," Lyman said. "It always has been. All it wound up being is a sexual abuse clearing house for the diocese. Anywhere else in the country, victims take their cases into a courtroom." Lyman said the 31 victims assisted by the program are but a small number of the victims out there. The creation of IMAP followed an unprecedented, explosive and expensive investigation into claims that Hubbard had broken his priestly vows. An exhaustive probe by a former federal prosecutor, who was paid $2.5 million, cleared the longtime church leader. A number of victims told the Times Union they were fairly satisfied with the result of their work with IMAP. Several said it wasn't perfect. "Am I better off because of it?" said one man. "The answer is 'definitely.' ... Given the fact that they did compensate me, that I didn't have to share it with an attorney, that I haven't had to testify in public ... I think it went well ... and I'm glad it's settled." Michele Morgan Bolton can be reached at 434-2403 or by e-mail at mbolton@timesunion.com.
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