Detailed Information: All the laws in the world won’t protect children if they’re never used. And all of our best intentions to protect children will be wasted if we don’t care enough to take a second look at how we’re doing.
Children enter the great maw of the child protection and justice system every day in America. How well do we protect them? Who is doing the best job… and who is failing children?
PROTECT’s Second Look Sunlight Campaign is pushing states to answer those questions, in ways that make public servants accountable and motivate them to do better.
Sunlight & Accountability Campaigns:
Tennessee Second Look Commission
PROTECT passed legislation in Tennessee creating a Tennessee Second Look Commission. This independent panel of experts, together with lawmakers and citizens, have the legal authority to closely examine cases where children known to the child protection system have been re-abused.
Virginia Child Protection Accountability System
In 2009, PROTECT won a groundbreaking victory for transparency and accountability in Virginia with the passage of the Child Protection and Accountability System. It was originally designed to give citizens a close look at the entire child protection and justice system, from child abuse hotline workers to judges. A scaled-back version passed, creating a public website where citizens can see the performance of their own county social services department and how it compares to others across Virginia. This year, PROTECT returned to build on this initial success with legislation adding the State Police and Circuit Courts to the list of entities required to report information about how they are responding to crimes against children.
Brief Description: Campaigns to open up the child protection and justice system to greater public transparency and accountability.
Family Court in America 