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House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	January 22, 2016 03:18 PM
From:	Representative Marcy Toepel and Rep. Mauree Gingrich
To:	All House members
Subject:	Funding Restoration for Child Advocacy Centers

In the near future, we will be partnering to introduce legislation that would restore $1 million in funding to Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) which was recently eliminated as part of Gov. Tom Wolf’s veto of House Bill 1460 (Act 10A of 2015). When children are victims of abuse, the CACs bring together an array of skilled professionals (law enforcement, Children and Youth Services, district attorneys, medical professionals, etc.) to a safe, comfortable location, where a child can be interviewed by specially trained interviewers. The interviews are recorded and utilized in the criminal justice and civil child protection processes, so that abusers can be successfully prosecuted, and child victims do not have to re-live their abuse every time they are interviewed by another agency. In addition to assisting the multidisciplinary investigative teams, CACs also provide support to the victims of child abuse and their families. In a state budget that allocated more than $30.2 billion as presented to the governor, this $1 million in funding for Child Advocacy Centers represented a mere fraction of the overall spending total; yet these funds can make a world of difference to victims that these centers serve. While debates over the state budget may persist, child victims should not be caught in the middle. To prevent this from occurring, we ask that you please consider joining us in sponsoring legislation to restore funding to our Child Advocacy Centers

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