Teresa M. Kettelkamp
Executive Director
Office of Child and Youth Protection for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Teresa M. Kettelkamp, is currently the Executive Director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. This Office was created in June of 2002 at the Annual Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at which time they drafted a landmark document in response to the crisis of sexual abuse of children in the Church. This document, setting forth their agreed upon responsibilities in combating the problem, was entitled the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The Charter specifically created the Office of Child and Youth Protection and assigned to it three central tasks:
- To assist each diocese and eparchy (eastern Rite Churches) in implementing "Safe Environment” programs designed to ensure necessary safety and security for all children as they participate in church and religious activities
- To develop an appropriate compliance audit mechanism to assist the Bishops and Eparchs in adhering to the responsibilities set forth in the Charter
- To prepare a public, annual report describing the compliance of each diocese and eparchy to the Charter’s provisions
Teresa M. Kettelkamp retired from Illinois State Police (ISP) after 29 years where she was the first female to attain the rank of Colonel. Ms. Kettelkamp began her law enforcement career investigating white collar and public corruption cases. During her career she was also responsible for the functional supervision of 28 specially trained agents who conducted statewide investigations involving missing and/or sexually exploited children. Upon her retirement, Ms. Kettelkamp headed the ISP's Division of Forensic Services which is the 3rd largest forensic system in the world. Prior to that position, Ms. Kettelkamp headed the ISP's Division of Internal Investigation which was responsible for the investigation of allegations of misconduct within the ISP, as well as under the executive branch of government. Ms. Kettelkamp retired from the ISP for the purpose of working for the Gavin Group, Inc. in conducting the first annual compliance audits of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. She participated in the second year of the audits, helped develop the audit instrument, participated in the audit training workshops, and assisted in drafting a draft audit manual. Ms. Kettelkamp is a graduate of Quincy College, Quincy, Illinois, where she obtained a degree in Political Science and of numerous specialized law enforcement courses to include the FBI National Academy after which she served as the State President for the Illinois Chapter. She is the mother of two children.
