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PROSPECT HEIGHTS \u2014 An independent\u00a0monitor\u2019s\u00a0first-year review<\/a>\u00a0of the Diocese of Brooklyn\u2019s child-protection program\u00a0has credited the diocese\u2019s\u00a0efforts\u00a0to foster<\/a> a safe environment\u00a0and recommended enhancements\u00a0for\u00a0current processes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe invited this oversight because protecting young people and vulnerable persons is a sacred responsibility, and accountability is part of that work,\u201d Bishop Robert Brennan said in a statement. \u201cWe are grateful for the\u00a0monitor\u2019s careful review and equally committed to the improvements suggested.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSafeguarding our youth is a continuing obligation, and we remain steadfast in our commitment\u00a0to improving our practices and providing a safe environment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0independent\u00a0monitor was\u00a0appointed\u00a0in 2024 as part of an agreement\u00a0reached with Attorney General Letitia James following her office\u2019s investigation into the diocese\u2019s handling of clergy sexual abuse allegations since 2002, when the nation\u2019s bishops implemented\u00a0the \u201cCharter for the Protection of Children and Young People.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The attorney general\u2019s office began its investigation into all\u00a0eight New York Catholic Dioceses in 2018. In 2022, James reached a settlement with the Diocese of Buffalo. Investigations into the Archdiocese of New York and the Dioceses of Albany, Ogdensburg, Rochester, Rockville Centre, and Syracuse remain ongoing.\u00a0<\/p>\n To monitor\u00a0the Diocese of Brooklyn, as required by the agreement between the two sides, the\u00a0StoneTurn, a global\u00a0services firm,\u00a0for\u00a0a three-year term\u00a0with a mandate to issue an annual compliance\u00a0report.\u00a0<\/p>\n This first report from StoneTurn\u00a0concluded that in the first year of the monitorship,\u00a0the diocese has shown a commitment to the mandates of its agreement with the\u00a0attorney\u00a0general\u2019s\u00a0office\u00a0\u201cand, in certain respects, exceeded the requirements.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Diocese successfully established key oversight roles, updated core policies and maintained a high level of receptivity to the Monitor\u2019s contemporaneous feedback,\u201d the report states. \u201cThese actions reflect a genuine effort to foster a safer environment and improve responses to allegations of\u00a0abuse and\u00a0improper\u00a0conduct.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n As part of its review, the report recommended further process improvements for the diocese, including stronger participation in the 2025 Code of Conduct certification and annual compliance training, as well as more consistent documentation in the diocese\u2019s response to allegations.\u00a0To address these areas, the monitor and the diocese have\u00a0established\u00a0protocol enhancements to\u00a0be\u00a0implemented.\u00a0<\/p>\n Through the first monitorship term, which began in April 2024 when the agreement was reached with the\u00a0Attorney\u00a0General\u2019s\u00a0Office,\u00a0the diocese has received allegations of historic abuse against 11 clergy, which it\u00a0determined\u00a0\u201cat least seems to be true,\u201d according to the report. <\/p>\n There is one allegation of present misconduct under review,\u00a0but it\u00a0has yet to be\u00a0determined\u00a0whether it\u00a0constitutes\u00a0abuse or improper conduct.\u00a0Also,\u00a0during the period of the first monitorship, the diocese received six\u00a0code\u00a0of conduct allegations against clergy\u00a0involving\u00a0minors that did not rise to the level of abuse.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Regarding\u00a0employees and volunteers, the diocese received and addressed six allegations of abuse and 23 allegations of code of conduct violations that did not rise to the level of abuse during the\u00a0monitoring period.\u00a0<\/p>\n The diocese is\u00a0in the process of investigating\u00a0and addressing one abuse allegation and one improper conduct allegation reported against an employee and a volunteer, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n In year two of the monitorship, according to the report,\u00a0StoneTurn\u2019s\u00a0focus will shift from design and implementation of the enhanced policies to testing their effectiveness\u00a0across the diocese, including in\u00a0parishes\u00a0and schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n While announcing the results of the first monitor\u2019s report, the diocese encouraged anyone who has experienced or is\u00a0aware of abuse to report it to local law enforcement and to the diocese through its confidential reporting line (888-634-4499), which\u00a0is immediately turned over to law enforcement.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n For information on how the diocese is dealing with clergy sex abuse, visit the website of the\u00a0Office of Safe Environment<\/a>\u00a0and \u201cProtecting our Children<\/a>\u201d on the Diocese of Brooklyn\u2019s website.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PROSPECT HEIGHTS \u2014 An independent\u00a0monitor\u2019s\u00a0first-year review\u00a0of the Diocese of Brooklyn\u2019s child-protection program\u00a0has credited the diocese\u2019s\u00a0efforts\u00a0to foster a safe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-264935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}