WASHINGTON -- The House Education and the Workforce Committee today approved H.R. 3839, “the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act.”

     The Keeping Children and Families Safe Act -- introduced by Select Education Subcommittee Chairman Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) -- reauthorizes the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and other related acts. The bill primarily focuses on preventing child abuse and family violence and protecting and treating abused and neglected children.

     H.R. 3839 will also promote partnerships between child protective services and private and community-based organizations -- including education, health, and mental health providers -- to offer child abuse prevention and treatment services and improve public education on the role of the child protection system.

     “This bill reauthorizes and improves CAPTA, which created a focal point in the federal government to identify and address the issues of child abuse and to support effective methods of prevention and treatment,” Hoekstra said.

     “The Keeping Children and Families Safe Act continues to provide important federal resources for identifying and addressing the issues of child abuse and neglect and family violence, and for supporting effective methods of prevention and treatment. It also continues local projects with demonstrated value in eliminating barriers to permanent adoption and addressing the circumstances that often lead to child abandonment,” he continued.

     H.R. 3839 modifies current law by:

· Promoting partnerships between child protective services and private and community-based organizations, including education, health and mental health providers, to offer child abuse prevention and treatment services;

· Improving public education on the role of the child protection system and the reporting of suspected incidents of child abuse and neglect to reduce the number of false or malicious allegations;

· Improving the training, recruitment and retention of child protective service personnel;

· Improving the training of child protective services to ensure collaboration with families and protection of individual rights;

· Requiring child protective services personnel to advise individuals subject to a child abuse investigation of the allegation made against them;

· Instructing the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct the fourth National Incidence Study (NIS-4), which collects data on children who have been investigated by child protection agencies and those suspected of abuse;

· Requiring the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a study on the number of infants and young children abandoned each year and their parents; and

· Extending the authorization for the transitional housing assistance program, which awards grants that provide housing assistance to victims and their dependents fleeing a domestic violence situation.

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