News

Smart Start of Mecklenburg County Supports the Reauthorization of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act

August 2022



We measure success by our positive impact on the families and community we serve. Therefore, Smart Start of Mecklenburg County is proudly one of 63 organizations across the state to sign in support of the reauthorization of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA).

The bipartisan bill takes a public health, trauma-informed approach to improve our child protective services system to keep children safe. The bill focuses on expanding access to community-based prevention services to strengthen families and help prevent and reduce instances of child abuse and neglect--also ensuring that child protective services can rapidly respond to cases where children are at serious risk of harm. The bill will also improve data collection to understand better the nature and scope of child abuse and neglect. It will also better support adoption opportunities for children facing systemic barriers to adoption.

It is important to our organization and the families we serve that CAPTA is reauthorized this year.

This content supports our vision that all children in Mecklenburg County turn five ready to thrive.