By Irene Lagan
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 9/4/03)

When Catherine M. Nolan accepted her first position as a master’s level social worker in Fairfax County Public Schools, she did not imagine her career would take her overseas and back as an expert in child abuse prevention and policy, and eventually as the head of a newly created diocesan office.

Nolan, whose 25 years of experience in direct service to victims and establishing programs for dealing with child abuse qualify her as an expert in the field, has been appointed by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde as the diocesan victim assistance coordinator and director of Child Protection and Safety.

Currently on leave for one year from her position as director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, Nolan said she was drawn to working with the diocese after serving on a volunteer basis as a consultant.

"I was interested and surprised when Father (Mark) Mealey invited me to consider the position," Nolan said. "But after much prayer, reflection and discussion, it became clear to me that this work was something I wanted to do. Everything in my career to this point has prepared me for this."

Nolan views her role as director of the Child Protection and Safety Office as a proactive one that will facilitate opportunities for community building, as well as healing for the whole Church in the wake of the recent nationwide clergy sex abuse scandal.

In addition, Nolan will oversee the implementation of the diocese’s updated policy on prevention of sexual misconduct and child abuse to ensure that it conforms to the norms adopted by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) last November.

According to the USCCB’s Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and the Essential Norms for the Diocesan/Eparchial Policies Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse, each diocese is required to implement protocols for responding to allegations of sexual misconduct and child abuse and to establish diocesan review and advisory boards.

While most dioceses have had policies in place, the Charter and the Norms set forth guidelines both for creating a safe environment for children and for responding to allegations of abuse. They were agreed upon by all the U.S. bishops and received approval from Rome.

Independent audit teams are scheduled to visit each diocese to assess what progress has been made in complying with the new norms. Nolan will lead the diocesan effort to prepare for the audit, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 22.

"The audit will allow us to see what progress we have made according to each article of the Charter and the Norms," Nolan said. "It will give us a handle on what has been done and what concrete tasks must be done."

The diocese, under the guidance of the late Bishop John R. Keating, implemented a sexual misconduct and child abuse policy for all diocesan employees and volunteers in 1991. The new protocol stipulates that credible allegations of sexual misconduct or abuse by diocesan personnel while performing diocesan work or activities continue to be reported to public authorities; that victims receive counseling; and that any priest or deacon who has committed an act of abuse be removed from active ministry.

Since assuming office in August, Nolan has met with all those who have been involved in the process of establishing the diocese’s policy on the protection of children and young people, as well as with members of the review and advisory boards. In addition, Nolan has met with Kathleen McChesney, executive director of the USCCB Office for Child and Youth Protection.

The audit, according to Nolan, is one part of a larger vision of ensuring safety for children community-wide. Nolan will set up a program designed to educate students in Catholic schools and religious education programs, school personnel, youth ministers, coaches, child care providers and others.

Nolan’s plans for implementing a program of action and education include individual meetings with every pastor in the diocese before the priests’ annual meeting in October.

"I want to meet every pastor on his home turf, just to say hello and get to know each one," Nolan said.

Nolan, who is a 1979 graduate of Catholic University’s School of Social Work, began her professional career as a social worker in Fairfax County Public Schools. At about the same time, she said, information about child abuse and neglect, including child sexual abuse, began receiving public attention. Among her first assignments as school social worker, Nolan was part of a small working group to improve the school’s relationship with Child Protective Services and to update the school system’s procedures responding to allegations of abuse. After two years of working with a consortium of agencies, parents, teachers and others, the group issued an updated protocol for school principals and faculty.

In addition, Nolan facilitated training seminars to educate parents, teachers, school administrators and others in recognizing the signs and symptoms and responding to allegations of abuse, and helped design curricula for teaching students appropriate measures of self-protection and where to turn for help.

She left Fairfax County Public Schools in 1986 to accept a position with the Department of Defense as a school social worker for American schools on military bases in Germany. Nolan’s then recent experience in Fairfax proved timely, as the military schools were seeking to establish new guidelines for handling cases of child abuse. In addition to her role within the schools, Nolan served on the Military Family Advocacy Program as part of team that disposed of individual cases and devised appropriate interventions.

Following her tour in Germany, Nolan served on staff at a NATO base in Belgium, where she gained further administrative and clinical experience in the area of child abuse and neglect.

After returning to the U.S. in 1992, Nolan worked as a child abuse consultant and program manager for the Navy Family Advocacy Program, then based in Arlington. She chose to remain in the metro area and assumed her current position as director of the Office of Child Abuse and Neglect in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services when the office relocated to a military base in Tennessee.

Nolan is confident she can accomplish the task of implementing programs. "This is an opportunity for heightened awareness not only about abuse, but about prevention and about how to make our communities safe for children," she said.