PRINTER'S NO. 633
No. 62 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY ORIE, O'PAKE, PUNT, TARTAGLIONE, COSTA,
WONDERLING, ARMSTRONG, KASUNIC, BOSCOLA, FONTANA, LOGAN,
STOUT, TOMLINSON, ERICKSON, RAFFERTY, LAVALLE, DINNIMAN,
MELLOW, MUSTO, WAUGH, PILEGGI, WASHINGTON, STACK,
C. WILLIAMS, MADIGAN, KITCHEN, ROBBINS, GREENLEAF, BAKER,
D. WHITE AND EARLL, MARCH 20, 2007
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, MARCH 20, 2007
A RESOLUTION
1 Designating the month of April 2007 as "Child Abuse Prevention
2 Month" in Pennsylvania.
3 WHEREAS, Each year more than 1 million children in the United
4 States are documented as the victims of child abuse, and at
5 least 1,500 children die as a result, with children under four
6 years old accounting for 81% of the fatalities; and
7 WHEREAS, Forty Pennsylvania children died in 2005 as a result
8 of abuse and neglect and over 4,000 children were abused in
9 Pennsylvania in 2005; and
10 WHEREAS, The damaging effects of child abuse include, but are
11 not limited to, school failure, alcohol and drug abuse and
12 physical and psychological difficulties; and
13 WHEREAS, Child abuse crosses all racial, economic and
14 geographic boundaries and has reached epidemic proportions
15 across this nation and throughout this Commonwealth; and
16 WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania General Assembly enacted the
1 Newborn Protection Act, or Safe Haven Law, in 2002; and
2 WHEREAS, Thirty of the forty Pennsylvania children who died
3 in 2005 as a result of abuse and neglect were under the age of
4 five years and nine of the children were under the age of one
5 year; and
6 WHEREAS, Only two children have been relinquished under the
7 Newborn Protection Act; and
8 WHEREAS, Child abuse can and must be prevented and awareness
9 raised so that families learn they have access to community
10 resources which offer support, information and guidance to help
11 stop or prevent abusive behaviors or conditions; therefore be it
12 RESOLVED, That the Senate designate the month of April 2007
13 as "Child Abuse Prevention Month" in Pennsylvania; and be it
14 further
15 RESOLVED, That the Senate commend those persons who work to
16 treat and prevent child abuse in Pennsylvania and urge all
17 Pennsylvanians to do their part in preventing the tragedy of
18 child abuse.
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