According to the National Children’s Alliance, more than 600,000 children are abused in the U.S. every year. Recent national data also shows that an estimated 1,750 children died from abuse and neglect in 2020 alone.
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt is helping to improve those numbers. As of this week, she has managed to secure a 22% increase in funding for Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) throughout the country, 21 in Alabama. The increase in funding will be provided by the 2024 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, provided it passes the full Senate.
“Child Advocacy Centers perform some of the most important work in a community – protecting children from abuse, harm, and neglect,” said Britt (R-Montgomery). “I worked to ensure that this critical funding increase was included in the Appropriations Committee’s CJS bill because we need to be providing CACs with every resource and tool necessary to keep our next generation safe.
“America will achieve its promise when every single child across our nation can reach their full potential.”
The 22% increase would raise the total funding for CAC programs from $41 million to $50 million and direct the Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to ensure that no less than 90 percent of the grants awarded are used for developing and maintaining CACs.
The first CAC in the United States was established May 1, 1985 in Huntsville by then-Madison County District Attorney and former U.S. Rep. Robert E. “Bud” Cramer.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
