Center for Children's Justice

03/22/2026

Round tables and directly hearing from youth who have been traumatized by AI-generated child sexual abuse materials is important.

But roundtables, by themselves, do not meet the urgency of this moment for Pennsylvania’s children and youth.

The most important metric of Pennsylvania’s commitment to keeping kids safe is action. Preventing harm requires more than statements or press releases; it requires intentional and timely actions.

One such action has been the strong bipartisan leadership from PA senators (Senator Tracy Pennycuick, Sen. James Malone and Senator Scott Martin). These Senators listened to youth and families and district attorneys who identified a gap in current child safety laws. Currently, adults – mandatory reporters – who become aware of minors creating child sexual abuse material of other minors do not have a legal duty to file a report with ChildLine or some investigative agency.

That gap is not inconsequential. Reporting is not about punishment – it is about stopping harm and advancing trauma-informed interventions, both for the minors harmed and those responsible.

In October 2025, every Pennsylvania senator supported Senate Bill 1050 to address this gap.

In the months since the bill has been before the House Judiciary Committee (Rep. Tim Briggs), there have been mixed messages from PA House leaders and from the Office of the Governor of Pennsylvania about whether a gap exists and if it does how it should be addressed.

Thoughtful discussions and writing the best law is critical, but so too is urgency.

Too many youth – in and beyond Bucks, Lancaster and Montgomery Counties – are working to heal while also pointing to practical solutions. They recognize a clear path forward requires closing the reporting gap, acting with urgency, and pairing accountability with trauma-informed interventions.

Youth and their families require policymakers to work together to deliver prevention-focused solutions balancing the opportunity and complexity of AI in young people’s lives.

There can be no further delay in establishing clear and enforceable guardrails surrounding AI, including when it is used to inflict harm.

03/11/2026

Keeping PA Kids Safe = Community Voices, Transparency and Accountability. Join us if you can - in Harrisburg or get the conversation going in your own county. Have questions, ideas send them to [email protected]

03/06/2026

Budget hearings can be mundane and then something grabs your attention like a state representative talking about protecting children and declaring "the fox cannot guard the hen house".

At a Pennsylvania budget hearing, a lawmaker pressed for an independent child welfare watchdog—revealing how unresolved the issue remains.

02/09/2026

What are (and should) states do to prevent and prosecute grooming of children?
High-profile cases, frustrated families, and the slow, growing state-by-state effort to criminalize the trust-building behaviors that precede child sexual abuse
C4CJ-CHILD PROTECTION CHECK UP
FEB 09, 2026
https://c4cjcpcheckup.substack.com/p/preventingand-prosecutinggrooming

Grooming is not a single bad act; it is a deliberate strategy that exploits trust, authority, and access over time. When statutes collapse grooming into corruption, they weaken prevention, obscure warning signs, and reward predators who know how to stay just inside legal blind spots. Naming grooming as a criminal offense recognizes a hard truth: by the time corruption is provable beyond a reasonable doubt, the grooming has already worked. Pennsylvania’s recent cases show the cost of continuing to pretend otherwise.

High-profile cases, frustrated families, and the slow, growing state-by-state effort to criminalize the trust-building behaviors that precede child sexual abuse

02/07/2026

Curious about the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services 2026–2027 Budget Ask?

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Valerie Arkoosh, MD, MPH provided some initial insight today.

Secretary Val Arkoosh’s briefing, in her own words

01/09/2026

Who's defining child protection in Pennsylvania?

What is it costing to explore "reform" strategies for child welfare?

Answering the questions hasn't been easy (or linear). Along the way, boy have we had a baptism by fire in how to file Right to Know requests and appeals with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records.

"The tension rests more in the refusal to clearly disclose who is doing the work, with what authority, informed by what data and research, who beyond government staff or consultants are influencing the work product, and at what cost.

Families, stakeholders, and the public have been largely left in the dark.

Transparency is not optional; it is how trust is built or restored. In child welfare, that trust underpins decisions about child safety, family separation, and whether a family receives support well before crisis erupts."

Consultants, closed working groups, and the public’s struggle to see how child welfare policy is being reshaped

01/07/2026

Are you a community-based organization in Pennsylvania working (collaboratively and intentionally) to prevent child abuse and neglect? The Children's Trust Fund announced a request for applications this week - the turn around is fast (by 2/5/2025) so check it out. Good luck if you make the effort.

Pressure on Children and Families Is Rising—Urgency Outpaces Clarity on Prevention
Board vacancies, procurement barriers, and shifting revenue streams influence Pennsylvania’s Children’s Trust Fund
C4CJ-CHILD PROTECTION CHECK UP

Board vacancies, procurement barriers, and shifting revenue streams influence Pennsylvania’s Children’s Trust Fund

12/19/2025

We are in the season of hope, but also a time that many still doubt things can change (for the better).

Recent words and actions by Alex Adams (in service at the Administration for Children and Families - ACF), along with the Bipartisan Policy Center recent blueprint, add to the body of evidence that child welfare and earlier attempts at "reform" are in the words of Adams akin to painting sombreros on pandas.

The problems have been named. The diagnosis is clear. What remains to be seen is whether there is sustained leadership willing to act boldly—especially in ways that meet children and families at the first signal of need, rather than after crisis has taken hold.

Lots of striking points made at the 12/11 BPC briefing on child welfare financing and accountability, but this keeps resonating:

“When child protection operates under a veil of secrecy even the smartest among us is going to misdiagnose problems and push solutions that may not be relevant or effective and are based on anecdotes, partial information, and outdated assumptions.”

A bipartisan effort to reform child welfare financing, measured outcomes and accountability

12/05/2025

Every time Couloumbis writes a story for pa about the abuse and neglect experienced by older Pennsylvanians it's troubling. Still, we are grateful she is making sure the stories get told. It also has us wanting the same spotlight Angela brings to older PAs brought to the population at the other end of the life cycle - this Commonwealth's children and youth.

2026 will be a pivotal election year in PA - Josh Shapiro PA Treasurer Stacy Garrity, 1/2 the Pennsylvania State Senate, all seats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. It will be essential to dig deep on records, on promises made and kept and to listen for those who have concrete ideas about what works well and what doesn't work well at all when it comes to safeguarding this Commonwealth's children and older PAs.

Persistent cracks in older adult and child protective services invite a question of whether state leaders are ready to address both or just one (those eligible to vote).

11/26/2025

Pennsylvania took steps to create a pediatric recovery center like Brigid's Path but then the Commonwealth retreated. It's time to revisit that and other decisions. For now let's celebrate the states that are striving to be innovative and proactive for babies and moms.

11/18/2025

Should children in foster care have an ombudsman/advocate available to them to independently: 1) Identify, investigate, and resolve resident complaints, 2) Provide information and support, 3) Conduct systems advocacy similar to what federal statute and funding promotes for older Americans?

C4CJ was grateful to have a brief, yet quite refreshing, exchange with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Alex Adams about this last week. We noted (ok maybe lamented) the 20+ year effort to secure a Child Advocate/Ombuds here in Pennsylvania and how one hurdle is how state policy leaders cite there is no federal lever/expectation for children and youth.

All of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary's response was promising but this so resonated:

"There is individual advocacy that ombudsman take on, there is systemic advocacy and the role that they can play for system advocacy that was much different than I could play in running the agency itself. From time-to-time there is going to be a high pressure, highly visible media driven child welfare case where the child welfare agency is bound to confidentiality to not discuss it or provide certain details. Having an ombudsman is that neutral third-party intermediary who can review the case details and render judgement about whether the department made good decisions."

Looking forward to ongoing dialogue with Adams and PA leaders who have championed a Child Advocate/Ombuds - Senator Michele Brooks Senator Judy Schwank Senator Maria Collett Senator John Kane
Rep. Christina Sappey PA State Rep. Natalie Mihalek and PA State Rep. Charity Grimm Krupa

Pennsylvania's Child Advocate found herself powerless to investigate complaints or affect policy change. She stepped down, and the post has not been filled.

11/14/2025

Can America come together to meaningfully support families at the earliest signal of need and also improve outcomes for young people exiting foster care who continue to face some of the steepest odds of any Americans?

A first look at Donald J. Trump Fostering the Future for America's Children and Families Executive Order.

As the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services begins its six-month sprint to deliver on the EO’s directives, we have to find common and compassionate points of engagement and action.

An EO aiming to modernize child welfare systems, framed in language that risks complicating engagement, partnerships and the pursuit of shared goals.