What makes better outcomes for abused children?

Friday, 03 September 2010 00:00

For decades the debate has been waged over "children falling through the cracks," "permanency" and "safe and stable homes." Federal and state policies, and hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to the states, have reflected these debates – The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), and The Juvenile Justice Delinquency Protection Act (JJDPA).

In 2009 and 2010, PROTECT successfully passed The Virginia Child Protection Accountability System, creating a first ever look at child abuse down to the local level. What did we find?

The criminal justice response to sex abuse against children is inconsistent and dangerously negligent in some localities. The good news? Some investigators are getting it right and PROTECT has been on the ground conducting research and interviews, separating the wheat from the chaff.

What makes better outcomes for abused children? Leadership from police chiefs and local politicians, cooperation between agencies, rapid response, aggressive investigations including evidence collection and searches, rapid polygraphs, and sound forensic child interviews.

None of this can be accomplished without resources. As long as the public and elected officials continue to dump millions into education and prevention, and starve enforcement...abused children will continue to fall through the cracks.

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The PROTECT Lobby

Our Mission

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.

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