Statement of H Jerome Miron, National Sheriffs' Association Before the House Select on Children, Youth, and Families Concerning H R 1904 The Child Abuse Amendments of 1984 on June 14, 1984

• NCJ Number: 94537
• Author(s): H J Miron
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 18 pages
• Corporate Author: National Sheriffs' Association (NSA)
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The National Sheriffs' Association supports the Child Abuse Amendments of 1984 (H.R. 1904), because this legislation would provide expanded Federal leadership and modest support for training, technical assistance, and the development of coordination mechanisms among programs addressing child abuse and family violence.

Abstract

A feature of the bill that will be of great assistance to law enforcement and the victims such agencies serve is the provision for the study and investigation of the national incidence of child abuse. Another important feature is the requirement for new efforts to collaborate among agencies and organizations that are responsible for programs and activities related to child abuse and neglect. The bill further offers the prospect that information on community resources and how to develop such resources in a given area can be used by the police. An amendment of particular interest to law enforcement is the authorization and appropriation of modest sums to support training designed to prevent, identify, and treat the sexual abuse of children. The National Sheriffs' Association supports the inclusion into this bill of Title III: Family Violence Prevention and Services. This amendment encourages and supports the enhancement and expansion of shelters for victims of family violence. Features of Title III that will assist law enforcement are provision for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information and statistics relative to the incidence of family violence as well as the authorizing of grants for technical assistance, training, and outreach services to local public agencies and others. Other notable features of the bill are the establishment of a National Center on Elder Abuse and the provision of police training and technical assistance grants to help in the development of means to respond to family violence incidents. The appendix lists three references and provides a fact sheet for a child sexual abuse program for police.