Rep. Mac Collins,

Fayette's representative in the House, hailed the

increased funding as a way to "make

criminals pay to fight child abuse."

The Child Abuse

Prevention and Enforcement Act passed 425-2. The

bill allows doubling the amount for child abuse

prevention programs under the Crime Victim's Fund

from $10 million to $20 million, said Collins.

"The Crime

Victim's Fund received $363 million in

1998," Collins said. "This money came

from forfeited bail bonds, forfeited assets, and

fines. If this amount increases above $363

million, half of every dollar, up to $10 million,

goes toward fighting child abuse. That would

provide a total of $20 million against child

abuse."

The bill also

allows existing grants to be used to help states

provide social workers with improved access to

criminal conviction records based on claims of

child or domestic abuse. It also lets states use

federal funds to enforce child abuse and neglect

laws, as well as fund programs to prevent child

abuse.

"This law does

not mandate state enforcement of law, but gives

each state greater flexibility in designing its

response to the problem of child abuse,"

Collins said. "I believe that every time you

provide local communities with resources, as well

as the freedom to solve their problems their own

way, you get better solutions."

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