Indiana passes new child protection laws

The Indiana House of Representatives passed laws effective July 1 that will provide improved child protection for Indiana's children.\n"There isn't an exact number, but anywhere from 55 to 80 children die in Indiana every year because of child abuse or neglect," said Democrat Dennis Avery of Evansville.\nAvery has been working for 30 years in order to improve child protection. David Orentlicher, D-Indianapolis, Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon, and Avery worked together to create provisions to Public Laws 18 and 70. The provisions will identify weaknesses in the current protective system and provide improved safeguards within the system. Prior to the change, the Child Protection Agency only required a local criminal background check of the new guardian for the abused child in the old system. The new law requires a statewide criminal background check for the new guardian and the guardians' family members or other members who live in the household. \n"Indiana is one of the two states that do not meet the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act standards," Avery said. \nThe state loses federal funding every year for child protection because it does not meet the CAPTA requirements. With these new provisions, Avery said he hopes to meet the CAPTA requirements for the first time.\n"I hope these new child protection laws have a positive impact and change for the state of Indiana," said Avery.\nImproved criminal background checks aren't the only feature of the act as there are new laws about court records and their availability for public viewing. Previous child protection laws would not allow the public to view the records of a child's death by parent abuse. The new provisions now allow anyone to view the court records of a child's death when the death was caused by the guardian.\n"The public will have a new look at the child protection system," said Cindy Collier from Child Social Services. This includes access to the records of any offender who abused or neglected their child to death.\n"We receive about 60,000 calls a year reporting child abuse in the state of Indiana, but only around a third of the calls are substantial cases," Collier said. "With the more knowledge available to the public, the safer a child will be at home. Hopefully, the number of future calls will decrease."\nSophomore Leslie Freeman said she wants stronger laws against parents that neglect their own children. \n"I think the current laws on child protection could do a better job," Freeman said. With new provisions to the law, Freeman said she hopes children's safety in Indiana will be increased. \n"There should be a stronger community involvement with child abuse issues. Parents should get more than a slap on the wrist for committing crimes against their child." \n-- Contact staff writer Nick Pittman at npittman@indiana.edu.