April 29th, 2008

PA has received one of 10 failing grades in a joint report by First Star and Children’s Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego for failing to release information on child abuse and neglect.

According to the AP, “The survey determined that Pennsylvania lacks a public disclosure policy based on an analysis of a section of the state’s domestic-relations law. The law requires the Department of Public Welfare to provide quarterly reports to the governor and Legislature that include summaries of abuse-related deaths and near-deaths, but “does not specifically authorize the release of such reports to the public,” according to the report.

But changes to state law that were signed by Gov. Ed Rendell in late 2006 required the department to incorporate the quarterly reports for the first time in its 2007 child-abuse report, which was released earlier this month, said Cathy Utz of the department’s Office of Children, Youth and Families. The annual report is routinely released to the public and available on the department’s Web site.”