Delivers Petition at Congressional Briefing on Child Abuse Deaths
Washington, D.C./// March 30, 2011///- On April 5, 2011, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit star Tamara Tunie will travel to Washington, D.C. to deliver a petition asking Congress to hold hearings on child abuse and neglect deaths. The petition signed by nearly 9,000 people will be delivered specifically to Congressman David Camp of Michigan during a congressional briefing on child abuse deaths in America.
The briefing will be hosted by the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths and the Children’s Advocacy Institute (CAI). Experts from the five organizations comprising the Coalition as well as from CAI will be on-site to present what is known about the estimated 2,500 children that die in the United States every year from abuse and neglect. These experts will go beyond just addressing the startling statistics to discuss suggested national strategies for decreasing and ultimately preventing these tragic deaths.
Kimberly Day, Coordinator for the Coalition, said about the event, “Everyday in America at least 7 children are killed by someone who is supposed to love them. We know what works to keep these children safe from harm. We hope this event on Capitol Hill will spark the beginning of a national call to act on solutions to end child abuse deaths”.
This congressional briefing is timely, as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will soon be releasing (date TBD) a report titled “Child Fatalities in the Child Welfare System.” This report, requested by Congressman Camp, will address concerns regarding the disclosure and classification of child fatalities due to abuse and/or neglect.
Congressional Briefing on Child Abuse Deaths in America DETAILS:
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
11:30am
Rayburn House Building B-318, Washington, D.C. (Southwest of the Capitol on a site bounded by Independence Avenue, South Capitol Street, First Street, and C Street, S.W.)
RSVP to endcad@everychildmatters.org
MEDIA ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND THIS BRIEFING
Ms. Tunie and Coalition Members will be available for interviews immediately following.
For more information about the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths, visit http://www.endchildabusedeaths.org. For more information about the Children’s Advocacy Institute, visit http://www.caichildlaw.org
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About the Members of the Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths:
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world, with 145,000 members and 56 chapters. NASW works to enhance the professional growth and development of its members, to create and maintain professional standards, and to advance sound social policies.
The National Center for Child Death Review (NCCDR) is a resource center for state and local child death review programs. The center provides technical assistance to help teams develop, implement and sustain a prevention-focused CDR process, training, strategic planning and program development for state and local teams, consultation to coordinate with other reviews, including fetal and infant mortality, domestic violence, serious injury, and maternal mortality, support for the network of CDR program leaders.
The National Children’s Alliance (NCA) is a professional membership organization dedicated to helping local communities respond to allegations of child abuse in ways that are effective and efficient – and put the needs of child victims first. National Children’s Alliance provides training, support, technical assistance and leadership on a national level to local children’s and child advocacy centers and communities responding to reports of child abuse and neglect.
The Every Child Matters Education Fund (ECMEF) was founded in 2002 with the mission to make children’s issues a political priority. To that end ECM has promoted the adoption of smart policies for children and youth. These include ensuring that children have access to affordable, comprehensive health care services, expanding early-care and learning opportunities and after-school programs, preventing violence, abuse, maltreatment and fatalities against children in their homes and alleviating child poverty.
The National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), founded in 1950, is the oldest and largest professional organization representing criminal prosecutors in the world. The National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse (NCPCA), a program of the NDAA was established in 1985. The NCPCA is staffed with professionals involved in the investigation and prosecution of child abuse, exploitation and computer facilitated crimes against children.
About the Children’s Advocacy Institute:
The Children’s Advocacy Institute (CAI), of the University of San Diego School of Law, works to improve the health, safety, and well being of children. In addition to its academic component, CAI engages in regulatory and legislative advocacy, impact litigation and public education in order to ensure that children’s interests are represented effectively whenever and wherever government makes policy and budget decisions that will impact them.
