By Chris Kirchner<\/p>\n
Children\u2019s Advocacy Centers of Pennsylvania<\/p>\n
This summer, Pennsylvania demonstrated what can happen when people speak up for survivors and legislators act. Advocates, survivors and service providers shared their stories and explained what was at stake. Legislators responded by making a historic investment in services for survivors of sexual violence by doubling rape crisis center funding across the commonwealth.<\/p>\n
We celebrate with our partners who fought for it and reminded us that\u00a0victim services are\u00a0not optional. These services are vital to ensuring victims can heal and become survivors.<\/p>\n
But thousands of child abuse victims are still waiting for funding that will meet their unique needs \u2014 a need for the coordinated, child-focused response found at Children\u2019s Advocacy Centers, or CACs.<\/p>\n
The Pennsylvania Senate must pass House Bill 2443 as soon as possible. It is a commonsense, strongly bipartisan bill that creates a Child Victim Recovery Fund paid for by fees assessed on the offenders who harmed them. The House must agree to Senate changes, and Gov. Josh Shapiro must sign it into law. Our children can\u2019t wait another year.<\/p>\n
At CACs, investigative teams are brought together under one roof. Children speak with one trusted interviewer and get the medical care, victim advocacy and therapy they need without having to navigate a fragmented system and dozens of appointments. This approach minimizes re-traumatization and helps families move forward after abuse.<\/p>\n
Last year, after 12 years of stagnant funding, Children\u2019s Advocacy Centers of Pennsylvania learned that CACs would not receive a line item in the budget despite our advocacy. We went back to the drawing board and developed a plan for an offender-funded recovery fund.<\/p>\n
H.B. 2443, championed by bipartisan lead sponsors Reps. Kyle Mullins and Jim Rigby, offers a solution to meeting the growing needs of child abuse victims. It creates a Child Victim Recovery Fund to support the collaborative, comprehensive services children receive at CACs. And it places responsibility for funding healing services and justice for victims where it belongs: with individuals found guilty of child sexual abuse, not taxpayers.<\/p>\n
Offenders convicted of sexual crimes against children would be assessed fees per conviction: $1,000 per felony, $400 per misdemeanor, and $250 in pretrial diversion cases. Even if only half of those assessments are collected, the fund is expected to generate approximately $3.25 million.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers agree that child abuse victims deserve coordinated care by police, prosecutors, social services, specialized medical providers and mental health professionals. Families deserve to know that a team of professionals are ready to support them as they navigate what happened. Children find hope, healing and justice at CACs.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania CACs currently receive just $50,000 per year in guaranteed funding, but providing comprehensive services averages $350,000 annually. That leaves a $300,000 gap to be filled through competitive grants, donors, community fundraisers, partnerships, and making difficult choices.<\/p>\n
When there\u2019s no funding for a medical provider, families drive farther for care. When there\u2019s no funding for a therapist, children wait longer for treatment. When rural services can\u2019t be expanded, families may spend hours in a car to reach help.<\/p>\n
Child abuse victims don\u2019t know that CAC funding has been stagnant for 12 years or whether a bill is sitting in committee, how many votes it received or how many legislative session days remain.<\/p>\n
They do know whether someone is there when they need them. They know whether their caregiver has someone to turn to with hard questions, and whether they have a victim advocate to help them navigate the complex legal system they need for justice and to keep other children safe.<\/p>\n
H.B. 2443 has moved through the legislative process with overwhelming bipartisan support.\u00a0On June 17, the Pennsylvania House passed it unanimously, 202-0. Less than a week later, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced it with another unanimous vote.<\/p>\n
The path forward is clear. Pennsylvania senators must pass H.B. 2443 and the governor must sign it as soon as possible to ensure\u00a0 all necessary services are available when a child walks through the doors of a CAC.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania\u2019s children are waiting.<\/p>\n
Chris Kirchner is executive director of Children\u2019s Advocacy Centers of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Chris Kirchner Children\u2019s Advocacy Centers of Pennsylvania This summer, Pennsylvania demonstrated what can happen when people speak…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1559,1560,28,30,29],"class_list":["post-271123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-opinion","tag-opinion-columnists","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}