A new clergy abuse hot line staffed by mental health professionals from a Twin Cities nonprofit was announced Thursday by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The archdiocese partnered with Canvas Health to staff the 24-hour line, assess callers and refer them to appropriate services. It's the first time an independent agency has been hired to handle these sensitive calls.

Until now, archdiocese staffers would field such calls and make the first contacts with victims, a process victims' advocates say often resulted in abuse reports being discounted or stifled.

"We're not sure how many people have not called because there wasn't an independent option," Tim O'Malley, the archdiocese's director of ministerial standards and safe environment, said Thursday. "And we haven't had the expertise that Canvas brings."

The archdiocese has had a victims' assistance program since 1992. However, it hasn't been able to identify how many new victims have called the program in recent years, in part because call statistics may include duplicate calls by the same person, church officials said.

That said, the chancery reported that nine people called the victims' assistance program in 2012, 10 in 2013, and 26 so far this year.

Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul attorney who has represented many clergy abuse victims, said archdiocese staffers were not equipped to help individuals facing psychological trauma and that their allegiance was to the archdiocese, not victims.

"This is a very positive step," said Anderson, adding that Canvas Health is well qualified to take on the new role.

The independent hot line was recommended by an internal task force report released earlier this year. The task force found the archdiocese suffered from "serious shortcomings" in its handling of sexual abuse complaints, which often allowed offending priests to continue abusing.

That task force also recommended that the archdiocese centralize abuse reporting and open communication channels among staff. The chancery's abuse victim advocate did not meet with top archdiocese officials to share reports from the community, the report said.

O'Malley said the chancery is working to make those changes as well. The reports of abuse coming in under the new system, for example, will be immediately forwarded to a key chancery staff, he said.

Under the new system, calls made to the hot line at 651-291-4497 will be taken by staff members from Canvas Health. They will assess the caller's condition, make a report of the abuse complaint — which will be forwarded to law enforcement and to the archdiocese — and recommend services to the caller, said Canvas Health CEO Mark Kuppe.

Callers will be referred to services across the metro area, Kuppe said, including Canvas Health's eight locations when appropriate. Canvas Health offers mental health counseling, chemical dependency counseling and treatment, and a variety of other services.

Those who want to speak to archdiocese officials will be referred to them.

Callers wary of the church can choose to remain anonymous in reports to the archdiocese, O'Malley said. But their reports will nonetheless be sent to the chancery to put officials on alert about the clergy members in question.

The archdiocese will continue to operate its victim assistance program, which includes referrals and financial support for counseling, therapy and spiritual guidance.

'What took so long?'

Bob Schwiderski, a longtime survivors' advocate in Minnesota, applauded the archdiocese for hiring an independent group to hear child sex abuse reports. But he asked: "What took so long?"

Schwiderski said his telephone number has been listed as a contact person for Minnesota abuse victims for 14 years. He estimates he's fielded 1,000 calls over that period, a volume that sometimes was personally difficult to handle.

"It wasn't just the person who had the [priest's] hands laid on him," Schwiderski said. "It might be a family member asking, 'What can I do?' I've had parents call with a child committing suicide."

O'Malley said the archdiocese will review the initiative in three months, to see how it is working. It also is working to improve internal record-keeping of abuse complaints, he said.

In the past, he said, the archdiocese official who took the phone call from a victim would write a memo about the reported abuse, then try to find services for the caller. Those reports did not necessarily make their way to top archdiocese officials, the archdiocese task force found.

"Now when Canvas Health fills out the intake form and hits 'save,' it will come here," said O'Malley. "And it will trigger an e-mail to everyone who needs to know."

Jean Hopfensperger • 612-673-4511