[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 163 (Friday, December 10, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8807-S8809]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CAPTA REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2010

  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I ask that the Chair lay before the 
Senate a message from the House of Representatives with respect to S. 
3817.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the House of Representatives.

       Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 3817) entitled 
     ``An Act to amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 
     Act, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, the 
     Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act 
     of 1978, and the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act of 1988 to 
     reauthorize the Acts, and for other purposes'', do pass with 
     an amendment.

  The amendment is printed in the Record of December 8, 2010, at page H 
8114.)
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I want to start by thanking my friend and 
colleague Senator Dodd. Throughout his career in the Senate, he has 
always made it a priority to protect and support America's children and 
families. I am delighted to reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act, Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, the 
Adoption Opportunity Act and the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act as we 
celebrate the congressional legacy of the distinguished senior Senator 
from Connecticut. Children and families will benefit from these and 
improvements in the system designed to prevent and serve victims of 
child abuse and neglect, as well as family, domestic, and dating 
violence.

[[Page S8808]]

  I would also like to thank the Senator from Wyoming, Mr. Enzi, and 
the Senator from Tennessee, Mr. Alexander, for working with us and 
showing a true commitment to getting this done. The efforts of the 
Senators and their staff were invaluable.
  The legislation that was just passed and is being sent to the 
President is a step forward in improving child safety and strengthening 
critical services for children and families. At a time when there is 
little talk of successful bipartisan effort in Congress, this 
legislation is a reflection of changes we are able to make on behalf of 
American citizens when we work together, to do better for our Nation's 
children and families.
  The need for this reauthorization is real. In my home State of Iowa, 
after a 2-year drop, the rates of child abuse rose 11 percent in 2009. 
The CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 will help communities better meet 
the needs of our children. This reauthorization encourages states to 
provide high-quality prevention services to reduce abuse and neglect, 
ensures that investigations of allegations protect children and reduce 
trauma, and directs vital resources to communities that need them most. 
Each of these enhancements should ultimately result in improved systems 
for training and supporting adults charged with identifying, 
preventing, and responding to reports of abuse, neglect, and 
maltreatment; stronger coordination among service providers; and a 
renewed focus on the need to respond to the conditions that lead to 
abuse, neglect, and maltreatment in order to prevent them from 
occurring.
  These are important steps, but we still have a lot of work to do. 
Rates of child abuse and neglect are still far too high across the 
country. Each year, an estimated 794,000 children are victims of child 
abuse or neglect. In its Child Maltreatment 2008 Report on Child Abuse 
and Neglect, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported 
that, each year, 141,700 children are seriously injured, 18,000 are 
severely disabled, and 1,760 children die as a result of abuse or 
neglect. Children younger than 6 years of age accounted for 76 percent 
of child fatalities. Babies younger than one year of age accounted for 
42 percent of child fatalities. Each of these children is one too many 
children who have suffered.
  Similarly, we cannot ignore the 1.5 million women and 900,000 men who 
are raped or physically assaulted by a partner every year in the United 
States. Last year over 247,000 victims and their children were turned 
away because shelters were full or programs lacked resources. The 
services provided for through this reauthorization are essential. In 
one day alone in 2009, more than 65,000 victims of domestic violence 
and their children received life-saving services from local domestic 
violence programs because of the services provided through FVPSA. By 
passing this reauthorization we have taken steps toward providing a 
better system.
  I want to take a moment to mention those who have worked so hard on 
my staff. I would like to thank Dan Smith and Pam Smith, who do a great 
job on all of the undertakings of our committee. I would like to thank 
Bethany Little, David Johns, and Ashley Eden of my staff. David has 
been working on this for over 3 years; I especially appreciate his 
diligence and effort. I would also like to thank Senator Dodd's staff 
Jim Fenton and Averi Pakulis. Also, as I mentioned, this has been a 
bipartisan effort, and I would also like to thank Senator Enzi's staff, 
Beth Buehlmann and Kelly Hastings as well as David Cleary from Senator 
Alexander's staff. I am also grateful to Chairman Miller and Ranking 
Member John Kline of the House Committee on Education and Labor and 
their excellent staff for the impressive work they did moving this bill 
quickly through the House. I appreciate the assistance of Lynn 
Rosenthal, the White House Adviser on Violence Against Women, in 
improving the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. Vice 
President Biden has long been, and continues to be, a leader in this 
area and Lynn assisted him ably in this effort. This is a major 
undertaking, and to be able to get this kind of joint effort at time 
like this is a great tribute to all of those who have worked so hard. 
As always, we could not work without the excellent services of the 
Senate Office of Legislative Counsel, especially Liz King.
  This is a critical step forward to ensuring the safety of America's 
children, youth and adults--let's keep walking forward together.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, today the Senate passed the CAPTA 
Reauthorization Act of 2010, S. 3817, and cleared it for the 
President's signature. This bill reauthorizes several important 
statutes--the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, CAPTA, and the 
Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, FVPSA, the Adoption 
Opportunities Act, and the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act. I would 
like to thank Chairman Harkin for his work on this reauthorization, and 
for his tireless efforts on behalf of abused and neglected children and 
victims of domestic and dating violence. I would also like to thank the 
ranking member of our committee, Senator Enzi, and the ranking member 
of my Subcommittee on Children and Families, Senator Alexander. They 
have been good partners in this process. I also thank Chairman Miller, 
who brought this bill to the House floor this week and worked hard to 
ensure that we passed it before adjourning for the year.
  I would also like to thank the great work of the advocate communities 
that work constantly to protect children and victims of domestic and 
dating violence, including the National Child Abuse Coalition and the 
National Task Force to End Violence Against Women. Work on this 
reauthorization would not have been possible without the expertise and 
on-the-ground knowledge that these groups possess.
  The numbers of children abused or neglected and individuals affected 
by domestic and dating violence are astounding and intolerable. In 
fiscal year 2008, 772,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect, 
1,740 children died due to abuse or neglect, and 38 percent of victims 
of abuse did not receive postinvestigative services. Nearly one in four 
women is abused by a partner in her adult life, three women are killed 
by a partner each day in this country, and 15.5 million children are 
exposed to domestic violence each year. We cannot be complacent on 
these issues with numbers like this.
  The programs authorized under CAPTA and FVPSA provide vital direct 
services and prevention efforts to the victims they target. I am 
pleased with some of the improvements we were able to make to these 
programs in this reauthorization bill.
  CAPTA funds State and discretionary grants designed to help States 
strengthen their child protective service agencies to prevent and treat 
child abuse and neglect, including research, home visitation, outreach, 
and education. It also funds community-based efforts to develop, 
operate, expand, enhance, and coordinate initiatives aimed at 
strengthening and supporting families in the prevention of child 
maltreatment, and to foster an understanding of diverse populations to 
more effectively prevent and treat child abuse and neglect.
  For CAPTA, our bill encourages States to adopt a differential 
response model in working with at-risk families to improve their 
outcomes and prevent child abuse and neglect from ever occurring; 
addresses the co-occurrence of child abuse and neglect along with 
domestic violence, mental health problems, and substance abuse 
disorders; strengthens data collection regarding our child protection 
service systems in States; and increases parental involvement in the 
planning and implementation of programs under these grants, to better 
meet the needs of children.
  FVPSA is the primary Federal funding stream for domestic violence 
shelters and direct services to victims of domestic violence and their 
children. Over 2,000 shelters and programs receive grant funding under 
FVPSA, which provide emergency shelters, hotlines, counseling and 
advocacy, and primary and secondary prevention for victims of domestic 
violence. For FVPSA, our bill recognizes dating violence victims as 
recipients of FVPSA services, and acknowledges that women between the 
ages of 16 and 24 are at greatest risk for being victims of domestic 
violence; addresses the needs of underserved populations that find it 
challenging to access FVPSA services; and codifies a program to provide 
services for children exposed to violence in their homes and 
communities.
  The Abandoned Infants Assistance Act provides assistance to abandoned

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infants by supporting recruitment of and training for foster families. 
The Adoption Opportunities program is designed to promote adoption, 
eliminate barriers to adoption, and provide permanent, loving homes for 
children, especially children with special needs. Adoption promotion 
and post-adoption support are both critical components in successfully 
achieving the goals of the program and I am pleased that our bill 
reauthorizes these two programs as well.
  We have an enormous responsibility to provide for some of our most 
vulnerable citizens--children who have been abused or neglected, 
victims of domestic violence and their children, children who have been 
abandoned, and those awaiting adoption. The programs reauthorized under 
S. 3817 represent some of the Federal Government's best approaches for 
addressing these issues and challenges and I am pleased to see this 
Chamber recognizing their importance.
  I would again like to thank my colleagues for their work on this 
important bill and pledge to continue to do the work we need to and 
have the responsibility to do to prevent child abuse and neglect, and 
domestic and dating violence in this country.
  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Senate concur in the House amendment, the motion to reconsider be laid 
upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any 
statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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