Tagged with: Public Policy

It’s not often we make public statements about news events not directly related to our work of serving child victims of abuse. Yet what took place here in Washington, D.C., last week was no ordinary event. Just blocks from my house and to National Children’s Alliance headquarters here on Capitol Hill, a violent mob stormed… Continue Reading

In some ways, legislative advocacy is like toilet paper: You don’t really think about it until it’s absolutely necessary. You usually forget to include it in your budget, it feels a little funny to talk about in public, and, frankly, you can never have enough of it. This wasn’t how I always felt. When I… Continue Reading

On February 9, 2018, President Trump signed into law the historic and bipartisan Family First Prevention Services Act as a part of the bipartisan budget agreement. This landmark piece of legislation aims to help keep children safely with their families when they come to the attention of the child welfare system, and when placement in… Continue Reading

A man in my home state of Illinois will spend the next 40 years behind bars as the consequence of sexually abusing his girlfriend’s daughter. The abuse started when she was just three. Sadly, this sort of tragic story is unremarkable in America. But what is remarkable is how the abuse stopped at age seven…. Continue Reading

The first time I walked into a Children’s Advocacy Center, I was a teenager dealing with the aftermath of years of sexual abuse. The CAC helped my family and I understand what happened to me and gave us hope to get through the process of both my healing and the prosecution of my perpetrator and… Continue Reading

“A guy called Officer Friendly comes to school and teaches us not to answer the door when your parents are not home and don’t talk to strangers. They don’t teach us about people like my cousin Brian. I thought people like Brian jumped out of bushes and attacked you at night.” Those are the words… Continue Reading