HARRISBURG - The governor's proposed budget provides $2 million in state aid for the first time to help children's advocacy centers do their work, a key recommendation of a special task force that called for an overhaul of the child protection system following the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
The report of the Task Force on Child Protection, issued in 2012, calls the centers the "single most important tool in the investigation of child abuse" and recommends that every child in Pennsylvania be within a two-hour drive of one.
The $2 million would go to set up advocacy centers in areas of Pennsylvania that lack them and support existing centers if lawmakers approve.
"This is something we've worked hard for," said Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler, the task force chairman, on Friday. "I'm delighted the governor has put this in."
These centers provide a place where a suspected victim of child abuse can be interviewed in a non-intimidating environment by a trained forensic interviewer while a multidisciplinary team of professionals listen in another room. The interview is videotaped so the child doesn't have to undergo numerous interviews and potentially experience further trauma.
The centers provide medical treatment, counseling and court and mental health services based on a child's individual needs.
This is the most effective way for children to get the treatment and counseling they need because of their victimization, Heckler said.
There are 23 centers in Pennsylvania. Many of them rely on federal grants, county funding, donations and fundraising for revenue.
The state aid will be welcome, said Mary Ann LaPorta, executive director of the Scranton-based Children's Advocacy Center of Northeast Pennsylvania.
The center has handled cases referred from surrounding counties.
The proposed budget includes nearly $10 million to set up a central database to keep reports of child abuse and neglect cases and have them accessible round the clock to investigators and law enforcement personnel, another task force recommendation.
The database will help make sure that child abuse cases do not fall through the cracks, especially when the individuals involved move across county lines, said Jay Pagni, spokesman for Gov. Tom Corbett.