The criteria which indicate that this standard is being met include…

SMR1: Management

The Church body will:

• Have access to personnel that have been trained in providing management, monitoring and support of respondents.
• When required, ensure that preliminary investigations and canonical investigations into allegations, including through referral to the National Tribunal Service, take place in compliance with can. 1717 §§1- 3, other relevant provisions of the 1983 Code of Canon Law and any lawfully promulgated revisions, Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela (as amended in 2010), Vos Estis Lux Mundi (2019, revised 2023), the DDF’s Vademecum (2022) and other applicable law and instruction from the Holy See.
• Access suitably accredited professionals to conduct risk assessments to inform the provision of safeguarding plans.
• Enable respondents to safely participate in the life of the Church through the use of regularly reviewed safeguarding plans.
• Maintain confidentiality whilst meeting disclosure requirements to statutory and canonical authorities.

SMR2: Support

The Church body will:

• Adhere to national policies and/or practice guidance that set out how a respondent is to be informed when an allegation has been made, and supported afterwards.
• Be mindful of the impact on the wellbeing of the respondent and appoint a support person with the responsibility for listening to and addressing the pastoral needs of the respondent.
• Access suitably accredited professionals to deliver professional mental health and other appropriate support when required.
• Ensure that the respondent has access to suitable legal representation when subject to statutory/canonical investigation.

The Church body may evidence that it is meeting this standard by:

• Appointing appropriately trained and experienced personnel.
• Demonstrating adherence to national policy through how they inform, support, manage, and monitor respondents.
• Facilitating leave from sacred ministry.
• Managing the return of the respondent to ministry when there is no case to answer or the allegation has been shown to be false.
• Conducting appropriate safeguarding risk assessments.
• Providing records detailing the steps taken to monitor respondents.

< Standard Four

Standard Six >

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The criteria which indicate that this standard is being met include…

Engaging and Caring (EC) 1

The Church body will:

• Respond to any disclosure of abuse with compassion and care, provide signposting, support and advice, and offer pastoral care tailored to the needs of the individual.
• Establish access to personnel with training relevant to specific needs, to deliver professional support when required.
• Collaborate with other organisations, both voluntary and statutory, who specialise in this area of work.
• Learn from the experience of those that are provided with a service, to confirm that it is meeting their needs.
• Reflect on any disclosures that it receives with a view to drawing learning from them.

EC2

The Leadership of the Church body will:

• Actively reflect upon their individual and organisational response to those who report having been harmed.
• Make themselves available to engage with those who report having been harmed in order to respond to their needs.
• Support development in their practice that is aimed at enhancing a compassionate and caring response.

The following represents evidence that would indicate compliance with this standard:

• Seeking training for all members who may receive a disclosure of abuse to help them respond in a compassionate and caring way.
• Signposting to other organisations that have appropriately trained personnel to respond to those that report that have been harmed.
• Commissioning reviews of their practice from the CSSA (Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency).
• Creating conversations with those that report that they have been harmed, either in groups or individually.
• Records that show that the experience of those that report that they have been harmed has been actively discussed and reflected upon within leadership and management meetings in the Church body.

< Standard Two

Standard Four >

The post Standard Three: Engaging with and Caring for those who report having been harmed appeared first on Catholic Safeguarding Council.

These should be used for situations where ministry involves volunteers and direct work with children and young people.

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The current available resources have been produced by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA). The Strategic Council for Catholic Safeguarding (SCCS) is currently working to update these resources to take ownership of the documents and their ongoing maintenance. Until this time, these pages will link out to the relevant sections on the CSSA website.

Click for Safeguarding Forms on the CSSA website.

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