A Bill Funding Pa. Child Advocacy Centers By Fining Sex Offenders Passes With Bipartisan Support
Pennsylvania lawmakers this week overwhelmingly voted to create a new fine on convicted sex offenders to help fund organizations that provide services to thousands of children who have experienced abuse.
Offenders will be fined up to $1,000, depending on the seriousness of their conviction. The fee is expected to generate between $3.6 million and $3.9 million annually, according to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
That money will be placed in a newly created Child Victim Recovery Fund and distributed by the commission to the 41 Children's Advocacy Centers across Pennsylvania.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, signed the bill into law Thursday afternoon.
children who have experienced abuse are often referred to these centers — most of which are nonprofits — by local law enforcement or county children and youth agencies.
Children’s Advocacy Centers of Pennsylvania, a statewide organization that advocates on behalf of the local centers and provides training to them, estimates that 70% of referrals are related to suspected sexual abuse. The centers serve roughly 14,000 children annually.
“The effects of child sexual abuse can be lifelong if there's no intervention, if there's no support response given, if there's no mental health therapy that's appropriately given to the child and the family,” said Abbie Newman, chief executive of Montgomery County’s Mission Kids Child Advocacy Center.
The centers coordinate medical and social services for victims, while also working with law enforcement and prosecutors to streamline investigations. They specialize in conducting what are known as forensic interviews, which take place in quiet rooms, include open-ended questions, and are designed so a victim has to tell their story only once — rather than to several agencies.
Currently, the state earmarks roughly $2 million per year from fees on birth certificates for these centers. That works out to about $50,000 per center, plus $400,000 for Children’s Advocacy Centers of Pennsylvania.
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