Political Quotes

“I rise to offer a bill that I believe represents an important step forward in the fight against child abuse and crime. This legislation will make healthy families programs eligible for funding under the local crime prevention block grant, in the 1994 crime law. Essentially, this bill would add the healthy families program to the list of prevention programs eligible for funding under the block grant. The link between child abuse and later involvement in violence and crime is becoming ever more clear. According to a 1992 Justice Department report, 68 percent of youths arrested had a prior history of abuse and neglect, and abused girls were 77 percent more likely than nonabused girls to be arrested as juveniles. The healthy families initiative has proven to be very successful in combating this cycle of violence. The program was pioneered in Hawaii in the 1980's. According to the Hawaii Department of Health, 2,254 at-risk families received healthy families services over a 5-year period. Out of that total, abuse was reported in only 16 families. This success shows that the program was able to prevent abuse in 99.3 percent of at-risk families in Hawaii. The success of this program is based on the voluntary, comprehensive, and culturally appropriate home visitor systems.”