NCA November 2011 Newsletter

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Monday November 28, 2011

Giving Thanks

In the pace of today's world, we don't often stop to take stock of where we are and give thanks. And while it may seem artificial to have mall decorations dictate when we do so, it is nevertheless a good reminder of a useful and important exercise.

When I reflect on all that I am grateful for, my first thought turns to all of you. John F. Kennedy once said "One person can make a difference and every person should try." I am privileged to watch each of you make that effort, day in and day out.

With the events of recent weeks, and the Penn State scandal still fresh in everyone's minds, I am grateful for the courage and the leadership shown by you, as community leaders throughout the country, as you steered the conversation back to a focus on the victims and to protecting children from future harm.

Thank you for all that you do. I wish you and yours all the best this holiday season, and I hope you know how grateful I am for you.

With warmest regards,

Teresa

One With Courage

We are very pleased to announce that the One With Courage public awareness campaign materials are available now on our website in the Members’ Only section. You can access it by following the link to "Public Awareness Campaigns." We are excited to make these available to aid your work in your local communities. This materials about learning the signs of abuse and having the courage to report it are timely in the wake of the Penn State scandal and we encourage you to use them in your communtiy education efforts as a response. Moreover, please alert the media to the availability of the national campaign website OneWithCourage.org .

NCA member centers and Chapters are listed in the directory on the site, so please add a link from your center website to this microsite and add it to your Facebook page.

Our thanks to CACs of TX for both a beautiful campaign and fast-tracking this project so that we could use it as a timely response. We appreciate it. And, a special thank you for updating the two downloadable videos for national use in both English and Spanish. I hope that many of you will share these with local media outlets.

For a preview of the materials available, you can watch the recording below of our introductory webinar or download the presentation located in the Overview tab of the campaign. Watch the webinar here: http://cc.callinfo.com/play?id=ej3xon
The next webinar focusing specifically on 'Media Communications During Your Campaign' will be December 13 at 3pm EST. Save the date!

Children's Advocacy Centers in the News

NCA is proud to be a part of the work of all of its member centers. We encourage you to share your success stories with us, so that others in our network may share in the good news.

Texas: The Crisis Center of Anderson and Cherokee Counties was recently in the news for its innovative programming. Crisis Center educator Brandon Greene gave the program, “It’s My Body” by Safe Child, to kindergarten and first-grade classes in the school library, while Blankets and Bears Fund board chairman Jackson Hanks read the book “The Swimsuit Lesson” throughout the day. Working together, these organizations gave children vital information about safe boundaries and how to respond appropriately to unwanted touches. Organizations unite to teach children about abuse.

Please let us know of your successes! We encourage all of our members to report your news to share with the field. So please take this opportunity to give us your input by following these easy steps:

Simply follow the link to login to the Private Member area of the NCA website. Click on Submit CAC & MDT News to upload your information. That's all it takes. We'll use this information to highlight a center, a chapter or a practice. Thank you for your help in this endeavor!

Other news

Legislative Matters

The House and Senate finished their conference committee work and had full House and Senate votes on the mini-omnibus bill last week. This was linked to a continuing resolution to fund the government through December 16th. The good news is that we now know the level of funding for the Victims of Child Abuse Act for FY12 (calendar year 2013 for grants), which is funded at the $18 million dollar level.

As you know, the House recommended out $15 million and the Senate recommended out $20 million—so in any reconciliation process political compromise is almost inevitable. Obviously, we had hoped for $20 million so that we could increase the dollars to the field. While the $18 million level may not be exactly what we hoped for, I think we should keep in mind that while our funds received a cut of less than half of 1% (.04 to be exact), virtually all other juvenile justice programs were cut a further 17%.

Thank you for all your hard work in mobilizing for FY12 funding. Had you not done so, we would have taken the universal 17% cut levied against virtually everyone else—which would have had a devastating impact on our membership. So, thank you with working with us to preserve this essential funding. I hope you will take a moment next week to thank your Members of Congress for maintaining support for the Victims of Child Abuse Act and your work during these very difficult budget times.

As always, we are grateful for your good work in contacting your elected officials - keep it up! And if you have questions, or need assistance, please tune into our weekly webinars. These sessions are designed to help you understand the competing priorities in Washington, D.C., and are conducted by NCA’s Education and Legislative Consultant, Andi Leopoldus. The webinars are held at 4:30 pm EDT on Fridays and are archived during the following week. Click here to register for the webinars.

Information Resources

In a press release dated October 13, 2011, "Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli today announced the establishment of the Attorney General’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence." Over the course of the year, the Defending Childhood Task Force will conduct four public hearings around the country to learn from practitioners, policymakers, academics and community members about the extent and nature of the problem of children’s exposure to violence in the United States, both as victims and as witnesses. The task force will also identify promising practices, programming and community strategies used to prevent and respond to children’s exposure to violence.

Hearings will take place in Baltimore; Albuquerque, N.M.; Miami; and Detroit. The first hearing of the task force will be held in Baltimore on Nov. 29, and 30, 2011, at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. I would encourage you to attend if one is held in your community to help set Dept. of Justice priorities.

For more information and the full text of the press release, click here.

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