Archdiocese’s compensation program aids abuse survivors

When it comes to child sexual abuse, the Archdiocese of Baltimore for decades has offered counseling to anyone harmed by church personnel and for more than 12 years has provided an option for a monetary settlement mediated by a retired, non-Catholic judge.

The archdiocese offers nearly unlimited counseling with the counselor of the victim-survivor’s choice for as long as they need it. The offer also extends to immediate family members who have been affected by the abuse.

Since 2002, when the U.S. bishops passed the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and the archdiocese published one of the first lists in the country of clergy credibly accused of child sexual abuse, the archdiocese has paid nearly $4.3 million for counseling services.

Jerri Burkhardt, director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection, said the archdiocese does not specify or recommend only certain counselors. In fact, those who have been harmed are not just allowed but encouraged to select their own counselor; the only stipulation is that the counselor must be licensed.

“The archdiocese doesn’t require any kind of oversight as far as seeing records or speaking to therapists or any kind of release of information. We don’t want to look into somebody’s medical records,” Burkhardt said.

“So as long as they’re seeing a licensed therapist of their choosing, the archdiocese is committed to paying for that, for the survivors and oftentimes for their family members as well.”

When child sexual abuse is alleged, the archdiocese reports it immediately to civil authorities and cooperates in their investigation. When civil authorities allow it, the archdiocese conducts its own investigation. If an allegation is deemed credible, the accused person – whether clergy or lay person – is permanently removed from ministry.

When a survivor comes forward, the archdiocese apologizes for the abuse and offers counseling. The victim-survivor is also given the opportunity to meet personally with Archbishop William E. Lori.

Burkhardt acknowledged that some people choose not to take the offer of unlimited counseling. In those cases, they can utilize a victim compensation program the archdiocese established in 2007 that provides a voluntary mediated settlement.

The archdiocese insists that the victim-survivor be represented in the mediation by a licensed attorney of her or his own choice. If the attorney agrees to be paid by the hour, the archdiocese agrees to pay the lawyer’s hourly fee in addition to the settlement so that survivor does not have to pay a large percentage of the recovery to the attorney.

The offer of counseling or the victim compensation program is available even to those who would not be eligible to file a suit due to the civil statute of limitations. In Maryland, the statute for an allegation of child sexual abuse was extended in 2017 to age 38, a change that the Catholic dioceses that serve Maryland supported when it passed the General Assembly three years ago.

Maryland is one of the few states with no criminal statute of limitations for child sexual abuse; that is, an offender can be prosecuted at any time. Maryland has a statute of limitations for civil or monetary lawsuits, taking into account that many years after an alleged incident, witnesses may be unavailable and the perpetrators may be deceased.

Even though it may be hard to prove a decades-old case, the archdiocese uses a much lower standard in offering counseling. “It’s more like, ‘Is it possible this happened?’,” Burkhardt said.

She said that even when there is a mediated settlement, the archdiocese tries to designate at least a portion be set aside for counseling. “That’s not saying that the whole lump sum couldn’t be used for counseling. In fact, that’s the intent of the settlement.”

She also noted that those who opt for a mediated settlement through the victim compensation program cannot come back later and say they have run out of money from the settlement and want more counseling. That’s why the open-ended counseling is the first option offered, since the archdiocese will continue to pay therapists or reimburse victim-survivors for therapy as long as they need it. That counseling can cover individual counseling, for example, for the survivor and her or his spouse – both individual counseling for each and couples counseling – or treatment for sexual dysfunction. The counseling can also be made available for survivor’s parents or children, who may be affected.

The unlimited counseling also puts victim-survivors in charge of their own recovery.

“I think giving people control is really important because they didn’t have control when they were young, when they were victimized – and they’re survivors,” Burkhardt said. “It’s important that (adult survivors) they have as much control as possible.”

There are times when a victim-survivor feels they have recovered enough to no longer need counseling. Burkhard said Bishop Adam J. Parker has noted on several occasions that based on his experiences talking with victim-survivors, their healing is not linear, that is, it doesn’t necessarily follow a progression of time.

“Oftentimes someone might feel like they’re in a place where they don’t need counseling,” Burkhardt said, “and then the death of a parent or marriage problems, their child hits a certain age or something and they feel like they need some extra support or a family member might need support.”

She said if she or a loved one of hers was the victim of abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, “I would encourage them to take the archdiocese up on the offer of counseling, because that’s unlimited. We’ve rarely cut anybody off.”

Although there were occasional settlements with victim-survivors before 2007, since the program was more formally established at that time, settlements of claims that are legally time-barred total more than $5.8 million. Further, Burkhardt noted, the archdiocese does not require survivors to make any kind of nondisclosure agreement in the settlement.

Diane Barr, the chancellor of the archdiocese who holds doctorates in both civil and canon (church) law, said that although the archdiocese is not required by law to provide counseling or the victim compensation program, it does so because it is a moral obligation.

“Canon law always talks about approaching mercy with equity and looking for the opportunity to make reparations,” she said. If there is a wrong, there is a responsibility over time to do justice.

“Each person’s journey is unique. What they need is a question only they can determine,” Barr said. The counseling or mediation is “an option, not a requirement. Reparation helps the person be heard and understood.”

For more information on the archdiocesan response to the clergy abuse crisis, visit www.archbalt.org/accountability

Email Christopher Gunty at editor@CatholicReview.org

Editor’s note: Story was updated 3/4/2020, 2:53 p.m., to clarify length of time the mediated settlement program has been offered.

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