Advocating for Child Protection | By: Jordan Posamentier For more than 40 years, our mission at Committee for Children has been to foster the safety and well-being of children. That’s why we provide families with free, research-based child protection resources at HotChocolateTalk.org. That’s also why we advocate at both the state and federal level for policies that support social-emotional learning in schools, prevent bullying, and protect children from sexual abuse and violence. In the past years, our Policy and Advocacy team has stepped up our efforts to elevate the voices of those who share our commitment to protecting kids. See what they’ve been up to. Partnering with Policymakers The Policy and Advocacy team works with policymakers across the country and supports laws and policies that help to prevent child sexual abuse, as well as for social-emotional learning (SEL) and bullying prevention. See what child protection bills we’re tracking in your state. Connecting Constituents to Lawmakers Our action alert system helps you raise your voice in support of the well-being of children. When a bill we’re tracking is moving through your state legislature (or the US Congress) and reaches a critical point, we can email you an action alert, so it’s easy for you to make your voice heard with a few simple steps. Sign up and stay connected. Thought Leadership & Joint Advocacy We have served as key advisors to and participants with myriad organizations. To name just a few: Centers for Disease Control & PreventionUS Center for SafeSportDepartment of JusticeNational Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse & ExploitationNational Child Abuse CoalitionCampaign for Trauma-informed Policy & PracticeThe King County Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Task Force (King County, Washington) To highlight just one of the above, our director of policy & advocacy recently served as vice president (2019) and then president (2020) of the National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse & Exploitation, increasing a multi-organizational focus and influence on federal child sexual abuse prevention policy. We wrote to President Biden’s transition teams to keep child sexual abuse prevention as a top priority going into 2021. We successfully helped send federal dollars to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention for child sexual abuse prevention research, and we’ve been working hard to get Congress to reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) to focus more on prevention and to receive more funding. The 2021 work for reauthorization has already begun. On-the-Ground Work When our Policy and Advocacy team isn’t on the front lines advocating the well-being of children, they’re collaborating with proponents to help them be prepared for success when testifying to policymakers. By following legislation that pertains to our mission, the team stays up to date on where and when they can help. By elevating the voice of proponents, they’re better prepared to help move bills forward. Our Policy Matrix Committee for Children’s policy matrix lays out our policy goals and pathways for achieving those goals. It’s a living document that receives feedback from multiple experts and organizations. Get to know what our goals are and how we’re achieving them. Sign Up to Stay Connected To stay connected to our policy and advocacy work, sign up using the form below. By doing so, you’ll get an email message about action alerts in your state and at the federal level. If you have questions, need guidance in the area of policy and advocacy, or want to collaborate with us, please feel free to write to advocacy@cfchildren.org.