PROTECT's early work bearing fruit in Arkansas

Monday, 16 August 2010 09:19

One of PROTECT's earliest victories was reforming child abuse and incest laws in Arkansas, back in 2003. Out of that work came a long and successful partnership with Arkansas Senator Percy Malone, a champion for child protection.

Next on the agenda for PROTECT and Malone were child interview centers, the "one stop shops" long-ago called for by PROTECT national advisory board member Andrew Vachss. The Senator, and his wife Donna, set their sights on making Arkansas a national model, starting with the establishment of new interview centers across their state. They forged a partnership with national forensic interview expert Victor Veith and his National Child Protection Training Center in Winona, Minnesota.

Now comes news that Rep. John Boozman (R-Ark), together with Rep. Tim Walz (DFL-Minn), have introduced a bill to provide $5 million for the Winona center. $3 million will allow the establishment of four regional centers and $2 million will create a grant program for forensic interviewing training development and expansion. Rep. Boozman represents the child protection center's regional partner: NorthWest Arkansas Community College. The Representatives proposed this funding under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). The Center currently depends on annual appropriation requests, so this bill will reduce that "funding uncertainty."

Minnesota Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar introduced companion legislation in the U.S. Senate in May of this year.

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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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