[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 17, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H7663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  INTRODUCING THE HEALTHY FAMILIES ACT

  (Mr. DICKS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Healthy Families 
Act, a bill to help prevent child abuse. A 1994 survey of child welfare 
agencies reported more than 3 million cases of child abuse. Three 
children a day died.
  My bill will make Justice Department funding available for local 
programs following the principles of the healthy families initiative, a 
pioneering child abuse prevention program. Communities adopting the 
healthy families model use their existing social service network to 
provide voluntary, culturally appropriate, intensive in-home visits to 
new mothers and their families by professional counselors to teach them 
how to avoid child abuse. The counseling which healthy families 
provides those families who want help with the training and discipline 
needed to prevent child abuse are important for our children.
  Because of the success of this program in Hawaii, Mr. Speaker, the 
healthy families approach has been adopted by communities across the 
country. Earlier this year I visited a program site in the Washington 
State district, which I represent. The effort to prevent child abuse 
that I saw during my visit encouraged me to introduce this legislation.

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