|
Prevent Child Abuse America advocates for policies that promote healthy child development by preventing child abuse and neglect from occurring in the first place.
In 2009, we urge the Administration and Congress to:
Having a national policy and commitment to prevent child abuse and neglect is necessary to ensure that every child has the opportunity to grow up in a nurturing, stimulating
and stable environment. Implementing a national strategy will require the coordination of federal agencies, and the assurance that all federal funding, policies, and regulations related to child well-being are coordinated and working towards complimentary goals. Prevent Child Abuse America will work with the Administration and Congress to outline specific steps that our nation must take to embrace child abuse and neglect prevention in a more effective, meaningful, and comprehensive manner.
[Back to top]
The Education Begins at Home Act (EBAH) would establish the first federal funding stream dedicated to early childhood home visitation. Funding would be provided to states on a formula basis to expand and enhance quality home visiting services to families with newborns and young children; states would be able to use the funds to support a service delivery approach that best suits their population’s needs. EBAH also authorizes two competitive grants to reach military families and families with English language learners. Prevent Child Abuse America urges Congress to pass EBAH this year.
Take Action on the Education Begins at Home Act
[Back to top]
Fully Fund the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA): CAPTA embodies the federal commitment to preventing child maltreatment, but has not been funded adequately to meet the demand for community-based prevention programs. In FY 2010, Prevent Child Abuse America urges Congress to fund CAPTA programs at their fully authorized levels:
- Fully fund CAPTA community-based grants (CBCAP) at $80 million. CBCAP helps states develop and implement effective approaches to preventing child abuse and neglect, and was funded at $41.6 million in FY 2008. Full funding will provide communities with additional support to implement effective prevention strategies such as parenting education, home visiting programs, mutual self-help support groups for parents, and crisis nurseries.
- Fully fund CAPTA state grants and CAPTA discretionary research and demonstration grants at the combined level of $120 million.
- CAPTA state grants provide funds to improve child protective services, and were funded at $26.5 million in FY 2008. Fully funding state grants will shorten the time that post-investigative services are delivered, and increase the number of children and families who receive these services.
- CAPTA discretionary research and demonstration grants were funded at $37.1 million, $10 million of which was designated to support evidence-based home visitation. Fully funding research and discretionary grants will pay for valuable data collection, technical assistance, and grant-funded research and demonstration projects.
Fully Fund the Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) discretionary grant at $200 million: PSSF helps states pay for family support, family preservation, family reunification, and adoption support. Unfortunately, the PSSF discretionary grant is currently funded at just $63.3 million. Fully funding the PSSF discretionary grant at $200 million in FY 2010 will promote the expansion of family support services in communities across the nation and provide more intensive help for families in crisis. Research is clear that by investing in positive outcomes for children and families, family support and family strengthening programs can also lead to fewer incidences of child abuse and neglect.
Fund the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) at no less than $1.7 billion: HHS reports that SSBG funded preventive services for 20 percent of the total child recipients of preventive services in 2006. Despite the many critical services that SSBG makes possible, funding for the block grant has been chipped away over the past decade from a high of $2.8 billion to its current authorized level of $1.7 billion a year. Prevent Child Abuse America urges Congress to fund SSBG at no less than $1.7 billion in FY 2010, with the goal of ultimately restoring SSBG funding to $2.8 billion a year.
Increase resources in the work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control: The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control addresses child maltreatment through a public health approach. This approach compliments other federal initiatives and efforts and provides another inter-agency link toward a unified and integrative approach to address child abuse and neglect prevention. The CDC’s child maltreatment prevention work is designed to better understand the scope, causes, and consequences of child abuse and neglect, and to indentify and disseminate effective prevention strategies. They are a critical partner in preventing child abuse and neglect from occurring in the first place.
[Back to top]
The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is up for reauthorization. Since 1974, CAPTA has been a key part of the federal government's effort to help states and communities improve their practices in preventing and treating child abuse and neglect. CAPTA provides grants to states to support innovation in state child protective services (CPS) and community-based preventive services, as well as research, training, data collection, and program evaluation. Prevent Child Abuse America urges Congress to reauthorize CAPTA this year with the goal of strengthening and supporting state and community child maltreatment prevention efforts.
[Back to top]
In recent years, Congress and advocates have focused on ways to alter the federal child welfare financing structure. Prevent Child Abuse America will continue to evaluate legislative proposals with the dual policy objectives of securing adequate, guaranteed funding for front-end, prevention services and ensuring an effective approach to child welfare that is comprehensive and provides for a full continuum of care.
[Back to top]
The Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) Prevention Act would provide funding to the HHS to develop and implement a public information and education campaign aimed at preventing SBS. Prevent Child Abuse America urges Congress to pass the SBS Prevention Act this year. SBS prevention programs have demonstrated that educating parents and other caregivers about healthy strategies for coping with a crying infant, infant soothing skills, and the danger of shaking young children can bring about a significant reduction in the number of SBS cases.
[Back to top]
For more information contact:
Bridget Gavaghan
Senior Director of Public Policy
Prevent Child Abuse America
312.334.6819
bgavaghan@preventchildabuse.org
|
