PROTECT passed legislation in Tennessee creating a Tennessee Second Look Commission. This independent panel of experts, together with lawmakers and citizens, has the legal authority to closely examine cases where children known to the child protection system have been re-abused.
In 2009, PROTECT won a groundbreaking victory with passage of the Virginia Child Protection System. But opposition from many in the child protection and justice systems left just data from the social services reported. In 2010, PROTECT returned to build on this initial success with legislation that expands the Virginia Child Protection Accountability System, adding the Department of State Police and Circuit Courts to the list of entities required to report information about how they are responding to crimes against children.
A Major Victory in Congress: The PROTECT Our Children Act
It took over two years of hard work and struggle, but the PROTECT Our Children Act was signed into law on October 13, 2008. This landmark legislation sets a course for federal action that could rescue untold thousands of American children. Now, securing full funding for the PROTECT Our Children Act is a top legislative priority for PROTECT in 2011.
July 31, 2011: Elizabeth Smart joined PROTECT on Capitol Hill for meetings last week with members of the U.S. House and Senate.
Our two-part agenda: Hands off the $30 million now in the budget for America’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces and then find another $30 million to fully fund the PROTECT Our Children Act.
Smart, who is now a commentator for ABC News, could fight for a lot of things in Washington. But she’s focused on the same urgent priority as PROTECT: getting desperately needed funding to the ICAC child rescue task forces. The U.S. government knows where hundreds of thousands of child pornography traffickers are right now, and swift action could rescue countless thousands of American children from sexual abuse. But Congress refuses to act.
Smart and PROTECT secured new promises to introduce targeted legislative amendments from several members of Congress, including members of the Tea Party and one powerful Democratic Senate appropriator.
12 Essays in Celebration of Victory... You're not likely to see it on the evening news. It might not even make it into your daily paper. Nevertheless, the passage of the California Circle of Trust bill is a landmark event, potentially affecting far more children, all across America, than the headline-grabbing laws named after murdered children so popular in the news these days.
The National Association to Protect Children is a national, pro-child, anti-crime membership association. We are founded on the belief that our first and most sacred obligation as parents, citizens, and members of the human species is the protection of children from harm.
PROTECT is a bipartisan pro-child, anti-crime lobby whose sole focus is making the protection of children a top political and policy priority at the national, state and local level.
