Staats Bill to Create Statewide Child Abuse Database Passes House Committee
HARRISBURG – Rep. Craig Staats (R-Bucks) today announced that
House Bill 321, the Enterprise Case Management Act, passed the Children and Youth Committee unanimously.
House Bill 321 is part of Staats package of bills to improve laws that protect children in the foster care and adoption systems, in memory of Grace Packer, a 14-year-old girl brutally murdered by her adopted mother and her mother’s boyfriend.
His bill would require a statewide child abuse database, run by the Office of Children, Youth and Families in the Department of Human Services, to be brought online by the end of the year. This database was previously approved by the General Assembly in 2014.
“I am thrilled to see House Bill 321 officially pass committee,” said Staats. “This is the first step in what I hope will be many in improving the laws we have in place to protect children who find themselves in the foster care or adoption system in Pennsylvania. Getting this system online will give Pennsylvania a central database for all 67 counties to use, providing up-to-date information on those who have been victims of or who have been convicted of child abuse, so that we can protect the victims and punish the abusers.”
House Bill 321 now goes to the full House for consideration.
Representative Craig Staats
145th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Joe Szymanski
jszymanski@pahousegop.com
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