[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17400]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING STOP CHILD ABUSE NOW OF VIRGINIA ON ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 29, 2008

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend the 
work of SCAN Virginia--Stop Child Abuse Now--and congratulate this fine 
organization for 20 years of change in children's lives.
  Twenty years ago, in 1988, a group of Alexandria citizens concerned 
about abused and neglected children in Northern Virginia came together 
to plan ways to prevent child abuse. As a result, David Cleary founded 
Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) of Northern Virginia, a nonprofit 
organization to prevent child abuse and neglect and became affiliated 
with the State organization now called Prevent Child Abuse Virginia.
  The first program offered at SCAN was the Court Appointed Special 
Advocate (CASA) Program that now is the Alexandria/Arlington CASA 
Program. CASA now serves more children and engages up to 75 volunteers 
at a time to give voice to the needs and priorities of abused or 
neglected children, one child at a time.
  SCAN works collaboratively with the Arlington and Alexandria Juvenile 
& Domestic Relations Courts to mold a CASA Program that provides 
helpful information to the Juvenile Judges who make determinations on 
the futures of abused and neglected children, while SCAN's CASA 
volunteers provide an independent voice that focuses solely on the best 
interest of the children.
  SCAN's Parent Education Program has a continuum of services that 
range from intensive parenting classes, weekly educational parent 
support groups and developmental playgroups--all offered in English and 
Spanish. SCAN also offers a tri-annual Parent Connection Resource 
Guide, a publication that gives critical information about region-wide 
parenting classes, support groups, playgroups and other resources 
available to parents in Northern Virginia.
  The Allies in Prevention Coalition, which is made up of child welfare 
professionals from the five major Northern Virginia jurisdictions, is a 
central part of SCAN's Public Education Program, as is SCAN's website: 
www.scanva.org. SCAN's Allies in Prevention Coalition engages child and 
family advocates in communicating regional messages to prevent child 
abuse and promote children's well-being in Virginia.
  Madam Speaker, I can think of no higher calling than to help children 
in need. Please join me in commending SCAN of Northern Virginia as it 
celebrates twenty years of serving children and families in Northern 
Virginia through programs and services that keep children safe, 
strengthen parenting skills and provide advocacy in the courts, 
legislature and the community.

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