The governor's proposed budget provides $2 million in state aid for the first time to help Children's Advocacy Centers do their work, a key recommendation of a special task force that called for an overhaul of the child protection system following the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
The report of the Task Force on Child Protection, issued in 2012, calls the centers the "single most important tool in the investigation of child abuse" and recommends that every child in Pennsylvania be within a two-hour drive of one.
The $2 million would go to set up advocacy centers in areas of Pennsylvania that lack them and support existing centers if lawmakers approve.
These centers provide a place where a suspected victim of child abuse can be interviewed in a non-intimidating environment by a trained forensic interviewer while a multidisciplinary team of professionals listen in another room. The interview is videotaped so the child doesn't have to undergo numerous interviews and potentially experience further trauma.
The centers provide medical treatment, counseling, and court and mental health services based on a child's individual needs.
http://citizensvoice.com/news/corbett-budget-addresses-child-abuse-1.1631711
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