Chris Wright: “Today I rise in support of H.R. 2480. I thank all of those who had any part in drafting this important legislation. The…”

“Today I rise in support of H.R. 2480. I thank all of those who had any part in drafting this important legislation. The Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act takes an important step in improving the lives of children in every State. This bill authorizes important programs that will provide essential support for child protective service systems and communities fighting against child abuse and neglect. This legislation before us comes at a time when State child protective services around the country are seeing resources increasingly strained due to the opioid crisis. H.R. 2480 provides the resources and reforms needed for States to combat this crisis and ensure that abused or neglected children are getting the help they deserve. Under this bill, States and local providers can focus on serving children and families by streamlining duplicative and burdensome paperwork requirements. It also ensures community and parent involvement in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of prevention services. I am pleased that the bill before us today includes an amendment that I introduced with my colleague from Maryland (Mr. Trone). The amendment ensures those working in the child welfare system are of the highest professional quality. As has been said before, this work is critical. We want to ensure these people are ready to tackle this challenging work, and States need to know how to recruit the right people for the job.…”