Key Senate Committee Passes Bipartisan Legislation to Prevent Child Abuse that Includes Hassan-Led Priorities

WASHINGTON – The Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on which Senator Maggie Hassan serves, voted on a bipartisan basis today to reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). The package includes bipartisan priorities that Senator Hassan worked to secure to better support grandfamilies and expand efforts to teach child abuse prevention in schools.

“We took an important step forward today to better prevent child abuse and neglect in order to ensure that our children can live up to their fullest potential and thrive,” Senator Hassan said. “As the substance use disorder crisis continues in New Hampshire, I am glad that this package includes my bipartisan bill to support grandparents who are raising their grandchildren, which sadly we’ve seen happen frequently when a child’s parent dies due to an overdose or is struggling with substance use disorder.”

The reauthorization of the bipartisan Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) that the Committee voted on today includes:

• The bipartisan Help Grandfamilies Prevent Child Abuse Act that Senator Hassan introduced with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) to better support kinship caregivers – the vast majority of whom are grandparents – who have taken over as primary caregivers for children exposed to substance misuse or other trauma.
• The bipartisan Jenna Quinn Law, which Senator Hassan introduced with Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), that would allow current grant funds to be used to train and educate students, teachers, caregivers, and other adults who work with children in a professional or volunteer capacity on how to prevent, recognize, and report child sexual abuse.

Senator Hassan is working across party lines to prevent child abuse, and she cosponsored the bipartisan Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act, which was signed into law in 2018. The Help Grandfamilies Prevent Child Abuse Act builds on these efforts. Senator Hassan also helped secure $350 million for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act in the American Rescue Plan that was signed into law.

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