Child Abuse and Neglect: Federal Administrative Agencies

"The Administration for Children & Families (ACF) is a division of the Department of Health & Human Services. ACF promotes the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals and communities."

"The mission of American Humane Association is to ensure the welfare, wellness and well-being of children and animals, and to unleash the full potential of the bond between humans and animals to the mutual benefit of both. Our goal is to measurably, demonstrably and significantly increase the number of children and animals who are protected from harm — and the number of humans and animals whose lives are enriched — through direct action, thought leadership, policy innovation, and expansion of proven, effective programs."

Among many other things, "The Center’s attorneys represent children who have been abused and neglected. We work to provide protection and safety for every child we represent. Children in the care of the state’s child welfare system should be in a family-like setting whenever possible, have access to a consistent and effective education, and receive quality health and mental health care."

"Every day in this country, 1,900 children become victims of abuse or neglect, and four of them will die. Every day. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children is a network of 933 community-based programs that recruit, train and support citizen-volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in courtrooms and communities. Volunteer advocates—empowered directly by the courts—offer judges the critical information they need to ensure that each child’s rights and needs are being attended to while in foster care.

Volunteers stay with children until they are placed in loving permanent homes. For many  abused children, a CASA volunteer is the only constant adult presence in their lives."

"Child Welfare Information Gateway connects child welfare and related professionals to comprehensive information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. We feature the latest on topics from prevention to permanency, including child abuse and neglect, foster care, and adoption."

• State Statute Search. Find information in the State Statutes database in two ways:
• Click on a title to read a brief introduction, or download a PDF of statutes for all States and territories. OR
• Search the database to access the statutes for a specific State. You can select more than one State per search or more than one title per search.
• Reporting Child Abuse.  Each State has a system to receive and respond to reports of possible child abuse and neglect. Professionals and concerned citizens can call statewide hotlines, local child protective services, or law enforcement agencies to share their concerns.

"The Children’s Bureau (CB) is the first federal agency within the U.S. government—and in fact, the world—to focus exclusively on improving the lives of children and families. We celebrated a full century of progress on our centennial anniversary, April 9, 2012."

"First Star improves the lives of America’s abused and neglected children by strengthening their rights, illuminating systemic failures and igniting necessary reforms. We pursue our mission through research, public engagement, policy advocacy, education direct services and litigation."

• Federal Child Welfare Policy.  "Considering that children’s issues only made their debut on the nation’s political stage a few decades ago, the federal government has made important strides in protecting vulnerable children – although there remains much work to be done. The 1960s and 1970s marked the inception of child policy making, as the federal and state governments assumed greater responsibility for social welfare programs via funding and administration.  In particular, 1974 was a watershed for children’s wellbeing with the creation of the first Federal Office for Child Support Enforcement and the passage of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). In the years since, the area of children’s protection services have evolved substantially."

"Child Welfare:

Federal Agencies Can Better Support State Efforts to Prevent and Respond to Sexual Abuse by School Personnel

GAO-14-42: Published: Jan 27, 2014. Publicly Released: Jan 30, 2014.

To help prevent the sexual abuse of students in public K-12 schools, 46 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia surveyed by GAO required background checks of applicants--such as teachers or bus drivers--seeking public school employment; however, the methods and sources varied widely. Forty-two states established professional standards or codes of conduct for school personnel, and 22 of those included information on appropriate boundaries between personnel and students. Although experts view awareness and prevention training on sexual abuse and misconduct as another key prevention tool, only 18 states reported in the survey that they require school districts to provide this training. However, two of six districts GAO visited provided training to school personnel, volunteers, and students in response to prior allegations of sexual misconduct by school personnel. These trainings covered a variety of topics, including recognizing the signs of abuse and misconduct."

This website provides information on understanding the issues relating to parental rights.  It also provides helpful links and other information about how you can get involved in the fight to stop governmental invasion of parental rights.