National child abuse and neglect statistics show that nearly 900,000 children in the United States suffer from abuse and neglect annually. This statistic includes almost 7,000 children in Maine.
"One case of child abuse is one too many, and the fact that so many children still experience pain and suffering affirms that we must strengthen our efforts to prevent abuse and neglect," said Senator Collins.
Senator Collins and five of her colleagues on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, introduced the bipartisan CAPTA reauthorization legislation yesterday. The bill would provide much needed grants to states to improve their child protective service systems, would fund important research and demonstration projects for the prevention and treatment of child abuse, and would support community-based efforts to combat the scourge that child abuse inflicts on American families.
CAPTA legislation also would authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study the nature, practice, and scope of voluntary relinquishment of low-income children to foster care so that they may receive health services, including mental health services.
"In Maine and other states, there is some evidence that parents with mentally ill children have placed their children in state custody through the child protective system, in order to secure the help that their troubled children need. Generally, these children are extremely sick and parents are faced with a heart-breaking choice: give up custody to help their children or keep them and deny them much-needed care," said Senator Collins. " I think it is important for the federal government to investigate this issue to determine if there are steps that can be taken to protect families from such a Hobson's choice."