Subject: Re: Question from Beau Biden/Child Abuse Reporting Standards
From: "Camille Cooper" <[email-masked]>
To: "Rogalsky Joseph E \(DOJ\)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:08:40 -0500

Hi Joe,

Hope you are well. I have been watching Beau's appearance's with great
interest.

Here is a link to a summary of the states mandated reporting laws:
http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/manda.cfm

A link to the Federal mandated reporting law under CAPTA.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/42/13031.html

The problem with emphasis on mandated reporting "alone" is that these
reports will wind up in police departments (if your lucky) with "no bodies"
to prioritize and investigate because of the current state, local and
federal budget cuts. Any effort to standardize reporting would be a
complete waste of time without a stronger emphasis on law enforcement
funding.

Beau should give a one-two punch in the letter in that regard. Mandate
everyone has a duty to report "directly" to law enforcement and funding for
investigators. Beau has a chance to drive that message better than anyone
and make sure that the Penn State story doesn't get squandered.

That said, I appreciate that Beau has joined forces with D2L. One word of
caution about that messaging is it perpetuates one of the greatest
decriminalization efforts of sex abuse in history. Training people to
report to a system that triages the majority of sexual assaults to social
workers, the equivalent of saying we should send substance abuse counselors
out as first responders to meth labs or crack houses, contributes to what
has amounted to the greatest government failure in our lifetime.

Also, focusing on mandated reporting fails to acknowledge that every AG in
this country is sitting on thousands of Sandusky's that sit and wait in the
RoundUp/CPS/Fairplay databases.

Protect is going on the offensive now, we can no longer wait for
Congressional or state "good will" when the ICAC's lost al their funding
this year.

Here is a link to David Keith on MSNBC from the other night, maybe this
will help you as you draft a letter, and please check out Lindakelly.org.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45331833#45331833

Let me know if you need anything else.

Camille

On Fri, Nov 18, 2011 at 6:38 AM, Rogalsky Joseph E (DOJ) <
[email-masked]> wrote:

>  Good morning Camille. I hope you are doing well. Beau has been giving a
> lot of interviews since the Penn State case broke about the importance of
> anyone who sees or suspects child abuse to report that abuse to the
> authorities. Delaware requires anyone who "suspects in good faith" that a
> child is being abused to call the state's Child Abuse Hotline. As you know
> very well, Pennsylvania and most other states do not require all citizens
> to report suspected abuse.
>
> Beau is considering organizing a letter from his colleagues in the other
> 49 states to Congress urging the passage of a federal law that would ensure
> that set a national standard for when abuse must be reported. That standard
> would be similar to Delaware law, which requires any citizen to report
> suspected or witnessed abuse. He wanted me to check in with you to get your
> thoughts on a Congress passing a national standard instead of leaving it to
> the individual states to pass legislation on their own.
>
> Thank you in advance for your help,
> Joe
>
>
> Joe Rogalsky
> Director of Legislative & External Affairs
> Delaware Department of Justice
> (302) 745-9299
>

-- 
Camille Cooper
Director Legislative Affairs
PROTECT
www.protect.org
828-318-6382
www.protect.org/childrescuepetition
www.facebook.com/protectno