CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010
S. 3817

Congress passed the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act December 10. CAPTA was first passed in 1974 and was last reauthorized for five years under the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003. In late September 2010, Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Michael Enzi (R-WY), and Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced the reauthorizing legislation (S. 3817). 

In addition to CAPTA, this reauthorization bill encompasses the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 (Adoption Opportunities), and the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act of 1988. 

Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act: CAPTA is the only federal legislation exclusively targeting prevention, assessment, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect. It is also the only federal legislation providing for universal primary prevention of child abuse and neglect capacity building. See an in-depth summary of changes to CAPTA below. 

Family Violence Prevention and Services Act: FVPSA is the only dedicated federal funding resource for emergency shelter, direct services, and assistance for victims of domestic violence and their dependent children, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The legislation includes three formula grants, one competitive grant, and small discretionary grant. 

This reauthorization bill makes dating violence victims eligible for services, addresses systems collaboration by coordinating reporting data, includes resource centers focused on expanding access for underserved populations, creates a program for children exposed to domestic violence, makes improvements to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and strengthens confidentiality provisions. 

Adoption Opportunities - A discretionary competitive grant program funding projects that eliminate barriers to adoption and promote permanent families through adoption for appropriate children. The legislation includes a national adoption information exchange system, adoption family recruitment, post-permanency services for adopted children with special needs, and other programs supporting child placement in kinship care, pre-adoptive, and adoptive homes. The reauthorization strengthens focus on minority and older children adoptions by reserving 30-50 percent of funding on key areas, including post-adoption support and recruitment efforts for older children, minority children and children with special needs. 

Abandoned Infants Assistance Act - This act funds prevention and assistance programs that target infants abandoned in hospitals and churches and infants born with drug dependencies or HIV. It also includes preservation and foster family training for families of this population. The reauthorization bill strictly reauthorized this act. 

CAPTA
Summary of New Provisions

The reauthorization bill targets improved child protection services systems, improved training programs for mandatory reporters and child workers, and enhanced service collaboration and interagency communication across systems. It does so by addressing the following topics in pertinent sections of the legislation: 

Differential Response
Differential response allows greater flexibility in investigations and better emphasis on prevention, by offering more than one method of response to reports of abuse and neglect. This approach recognizes the variation in the nature of reports and the value of responding differently. 

The bill adds differential response as an eligible use of state grants and requires states to identify "as applicable" policies and procedures around its use. The bill also requires HHS to disseminate information on differential response best practices. Furthermore, differential response is added as an eligible topic of research and personnel training under the discretionary grants. 

Domestic Violence
CAPTA's findings are amended by recognizing the co-occurrence of child maltreatment and domestic violence. The bill then adds services for children exposed to domestic violence as an eligible expenditure under the state grants and requires states "where appropriate" to show procedures in place to address the co-occurrence of child maltreatment and domestic violence. The bill also requires HHS to disseminate information on effective programs and best practices that address this co-occurrence and ameliorate its negative effects. Discretionary grant programs providing research, training, and technical assistance are each amended to include domestic violence as an eligible target. Finally, services and treatment to children and their non-abusing caregiver are added to eligible CBCAP services. 

Substance Abuse
Here again, CAPTA's findings are amended by recognizing the relationship between child maltreatment and substance abuse. Furthermore, the collaboration between substance abuse treatment services and maltreatment prevention services is promoted by including substance abuse as an eligible topic under the research, technical assistance, and program innovation discretionary grants. 

Tribes
For the first time, tribes are recognized in CAPTA by including tribal representatives on the advisory board and, in that forum, treating tribes as states. Tribes are also eligible for discretionary grants, but not the basic state grants.

The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release  December 10, 2010  Statement from Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on the Reauthorization of Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act The President is pleased that today Congress passed S. 3817 reauthorizing the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. This important legislation will strengthen child protective services and continue life-saving programs for victims of domestic violence. The President thanks Chairman Harkin and Chairman Miller for their great work, and he particularly thanks Senator Dodd for his leadership. This legislative achievement is a fitting tribute to his many years of effort in the Senate to protect the most vulnerable of our citizens. Current Status of bill.  Apparently now it goes back to the Senate to accept the House amendments. http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/bills/?billnum=S.3817&congress=111&size=full Status: 09/22/2010: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. 09/29/2010: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Date of scheduled consideration. SD-430. 10:00 a.m. 11/17/2010: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Date of scheduled consideration. Room to be announced. Time to be announced. 12/01/2010: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Date of scheduled consideration. SD-430. 9:45 a.m. 12/02/2010: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Harkin with amendments. Without written report. 12/02/2010: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 670. 12/03/2010: Passed Senate with amendments by Unanimous Consent. 12/06/2010: Message on Senate action sent to the House. 12/07/2010: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. 12/07/2010: Received in the House. 12/08/2010: Message on House action received in Senate and at desk: House amendment to Senate bill. 12/08/2010: Mr. Sablan moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended. 12/08/2010: DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 3817. 12/08/2010: Considered under suspension of the rules. 12/08/2010: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection. 12/08/2010: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.

House Passes CAPTA again December 8, 2010 1:46 PM  WASHINGTON, D.C. – With resounding bipartisan support, the U.S. House of Representatives voted today in favor of legislation that would significantly improve and strengthen efforts to identify, treat and prevent abuse and neglect of children in this country. The House passed S. 3817, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Reauthorization Act Of 2010 by voice vote.  The Senate is expected to take up the legislation soon to accept the amended changes made by the House. FULL STORY I have been screaming from the housetops for OVER A YEAR about this nightmare being renewed.  For some reason, not enough people cared.  So for the forseeable future, American families will continue to live and die by this monster?  We need to spread the word far and wide -  Tell your Senator NO on S.3817 Tell everybody you know.  Post it on every group you belong to- Here's your chance to SHUT DOWN the Organized Crime Ring that CPS is Learn more about S.3817 at AFRA Activism My email to my Senator- Senator Wyden- As a co-founder of American Family Rights Association, I am asking you to vote NO on S.3817 The Child Abuse and Treatment Act (CAPTA) has been an utter nightmare for families and it has created an Organized Crime Ring bureaucracy to administer it. This agency practices law without a license and the courts families attend are unconstitutional courts of NO Due Process. Falsely accused families are guilty until proven innocent and they are forced to prove a Negative- that Nothing happened. The kids are denied their Fourth Amendment Rights, which has been supplanted by the "Best interest of the child" theory from Eastern Socialism. CPS destroys every life they touch. Please represent me in voting NO on S.3817 Leonard Henderson, co-founder American Family Rights http://familyrights.us "Until Every Child Comes Home"© "The Voice of America's Families"©

Washington Watch posted S. 3817 and set us up with a Widget to vote on it!

CURRENT AFRA AGENDA ITEM #1 September 28, 2010   NO on S. 3817 Defeating CAPTA is what we started AFRA for in 2002! CAPTA expired September 30, 2008.  Renewing it has been on the back burner while the communists have been working on taking over everything else in America. Now, their attention turns back to renewing the unGodly CAPTA and several other expired or soon to expire "laws" We have an opportunity like never before to finally KILL this KIDNAPPING and child torture mess. See the latest AFRA News story Also see the story from September 27, 2010 We need to spread the word far and wide -  Tell your Senator NO on S.3817 Tell everybody you know.  Post it on every group you belong to- Here's your chance to SHUT DOWN the Organized Crime Ring that CPS is September 27, 2010 CAPTA Reauthorization Introduced in the Senate Legislation (S. 3817) to reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) was introduced in the Senate on Wednesday by Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT), Mike Enzi (R-WY), and Tom Harkin (D-IA). The bill includes some changes to CAPTA, including the promotion of differential response* and family group decisionmaking* as best practices; an emphasis on approaches that address how child maltreatment is linked to both domestic violence and substance abuse; and a refined Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention focus on the range of prevention services with attention to including the child and family voice in planning efforts*. The bill also takes steps to enhance research on how to prevent child abuse and neglect in tribal families and expands the involvement of tribal leaders in an advisory role*. The legislation includes an increase of 10% over the current authorized levels, as well as a "such sums" authorization for the out years. In addition to CAPTA, the reauthorization bill encompasses the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act, and the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act.  The legislation is scheduled for markup in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee this week. A House bill has yet to be introduced, but action is expected following passage of the reauthorization in the Senate.  Contact your Senators and tell them NO on S.3817 *The "carrots on a stick" may be appealing, but it's still a stick Why trying to "Fix" CPS with legislation isn't going to work- To help you understand that CAPTA is the SUPPLANTING*of the unratified UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the DE FACTO* enforcement of it- FLDS girl receiving her Best Interest Civil Right Photo: Scott Sommerdorf, The Salt Lake Tribune Best interest of the child- A new "Civil Right" October 16, 2009 Family Rights Examiner Leonard Henderson Last year, I was cleaning up my computer desktop. One item I came across was a poignant photo of a FLDS girl alone on a bus waving goodbye to her home and the life she knew. As I was looking at this image, it struck me that- This IS a photo of the "Best Interest of the Child". And then it struck me- This is a NEW Civil Right That is, the child has the "right" to have her life decisions made for her by government. HER "BEST INTEREST" CIVIL RIGHT.  FULL STORY  *Look these words up so you really understand what they mean and what I am REALLY saying

Leonard Henderson CAPTA up for reauthorization November 5, 2009 10:52 AM See all of Leonard's Family Rights Examiner stories

It's Time to re-energize activism November 12th, 2009 Family Rights Examiner Leonard Henderson We found THIS at the National Center for State Courts- NCSC.org > Services & Experts > Government Relations > Child Welfare > CAPTA Reauthorization "The authorization for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) expired 9/30/08. The 111th Congress will be considering CAPTA reauthorization in 2009. The Senate HELP Committee staff circulated draft reauthorization language in early June 2009. The draft did not include the provision mandating appointment of a second person to provide legal representation. A letter was submitted to HELP Committee leadership on behalf of CCJ/COSCA. APHSA and NCSL also have a concern regarding a new unfunded mandate. The legislation is on hold until health care reform legislation is resolved. The House is expected to defer action until after legislation is filed in the Senate." See CAPTA up for reauthorization November 5, 2009 10:52 AM Family Rights Examiner Leonard Henderson CPS has been operating with NO AUTHORIZATION since September LAST YEAR.  CAPTA '74 is the grandmother of this entire insane mess with CPS destroying American families FOR THE MONEY. The WAR  on the Family "Families ARE the GENERAL INTEREST GROUP all the "special interest groups" want to knock chunks out of". -Leonard Henderson Also see