Section 614.1 - Declaration of policyThe General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) State-of-the-art treatment for victims of child sexual abuse and child abuse is provided by children's advocacy centers. These centers bring together doctors, nurses, prosecutors, social workers and police in order to provide a unique and essential program of treatment and healing for child victims.(2) Children's advocacy centers not only treat child victims, but assist in preventing and detecting child abuse and provide, through forensic interviewing and other techniques employed by the multidisciplinary investigative teams, the most effective way to bring perpetrators of child sexual abuse to justice.(3) The Task Force on Child Protection stated in its November 2012 report that the Commonwealth's children are underserved when it comes to access to children's advocacy centers. The Task Force on Child Protection recommended that children's advocacy centers be established in order to allow the maximum number of abused children to be treated. Further, the Task Force on Child Protection recommended that the General Assembly provide a dedicated funding stream to support existing children's advocacy centers and to enable the establishment of additional children's advocacy centers within this Commonwealth.(4) It is in the public interest for this Commonwealth to provide financial assistance to children's advocacy centers, both for their enhancement and establishment, and to multidisciplinary investigative teams.Added by P.L. 383 2014 No. 28, § 2, eff. 7/1/2014.