January 6, 2007    

Board of Registration of Social Workers fails to hear complaint for second consecutive month.

The board of social workers for the second month in a row did not have enough members in attendance at their monthly meeting to meet a quorum. The failure by the board has resulted in the inability to process the complaint filed against Ms. Frances Nugent co-director of the Worcester Diocese Office of Healing and Prevention.  Mrs. Frances Nugent currently has had three complaints filed against her social workers license.

The first complaint was filed in the beginning of July 2007 and delayed according to social worker’s board investigator Robert Williams due to the fact that Ms Nugent retained legal council to address issues presented in the first two complaints.

It is unclear if the Worcester Diocese is paying Ms Nugent’s legal expenses.  

The most offensive violation is contained within the first complaint. The fact is that Ms Nugent was using her social workers license as a means of professional presentation and she failed to assist Michael Chesnis when he approached the Worcester Office of Healing for assistance.

Ms Nugent when asked for counseling assistance informed Mr. Chesnis that the diocese could not afford to pay for counseling and that he should quit his job and go on MassHealth. This statement was witnessed by Mary T Jean of the Worcester Voice and Teri Bisbee who volunteers at the Voice as a paralegal.

Ms Nugent further attempted to force by means of verbal aggressiveness towards Mr. Chesnis his signature on a blank page in regards to his statements of sexual abuse by Fr John Szantyr.  

Ms Nugent under the guise of providing housing assistance requested Mr. Chesnis to come to the Chancery without his advocate. When Mr. Chesnis arrived hoping to receive assistance he was instead treated with disrespect and questioned about his criminal case currently in Worcester district court involving Fr John Szantyr.

Ms Nugent decline to provide housing assistance which resulted in Mr. Chesnis becoming homeless.

The second complaint was filed by Sr. Keri Burnor, a Catholic nun who alleged sexual abuse at the Spencer Abbey. Sr. Burnor had spent six years in the convent at St Benedict’s Center, Still River prior to seeking a hermit nun status in the Worcester Diocese.   

The third complaint came about from an interaction unknown to the Worcester Voice who was later contacted after the very disturbing and aggressive conversation with Ms Nugent.  Within this complaint Ms Nugent demoralizes the individual who she called back by the request of Father Rocco Piccolomini. Ms Nugent was uninformed of the circumstances surrounding the reason for the contact by Ms Tara Kozub. Ms Nugent became verbally abusive and aggressive to the point of shouting at Ms Kozub saying “Oh so you were abused huh, you were abused huh, so you were abused!”  Ms Nugent projected no compassion or empathy but rather aggression and air of superiority which has been a common thread in all three complaints.

The failure by the board of registration of social workers to bring forth these serious complaints has placed all Worcester Catholics in jeopardy.

The office of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick was contacted on Wednesday, January 3rd.  As of this article his staff has not returned communication in regards to the fact that the Board of Social workers has been two members short of the required seven members since August 2007.  The required individual members need to be appointed by the Governor according to Erin Labelle, Executive Director of the Board of Registration of Social Workers.  

Public record requests were filed with the board of social workers on Friday, January 4th to obtain the actual attendance records from the board meeting.

The lack of members on the social workers board should be a top priority for Governor Patrick and the State of Massachusetts.

Once again we see a governmental agency who investigates themselves not making public safety a top priority. The social workers board will go behind closed doors in executive sessions to discuss the complaints filed against Ms Nugent.

Once the Board of Social workers hearing has occurred which is currently scheduled for January 22nd all documentation will then become a public record according to Erin Labelle.  

Worcester Bishop Robert McManus was contacted due to these issues which have now been documented occurring within the Office of Healing and Prevention. In typical fashion, Bishop McManus who views himself superior to the faithful refused to address the issues to protect the flock.