ATLANTA— State Representative Wes Cantrell (R-Woodstock) recently pre-filed House Bill 725, The Child Abuse Records Protection Act, which seeks to protect the confidentiality of records of child abuse cases held by children’s advocacy centers (CAC).
“I consider it a huge honor to be asked to help develop and carry this bill on behalf of Georgia’s children’s advocacy centers,” said Rep. Cantrell. “Over the last eight months, I have met with CAC personnel, attorneys, representatives of the Division of Family and Children Services and our Superior Court Judges. It has been an extremely helpful process, and I have learned so much from listening to some of Georgia’s finest citizens. The Child Abuse Records Protection Act is dedicated to protecting the most vulnerable in our society – children who are the victims of all types of abuse. Please join with me in supporting this bill.”
The purpose of The Child Abuse Records Protection Act is to ensure the confidentiality of these records and legally require that such records are only used appropriately.
“The current statute is remote, unclear, and unknown to many of the very people who have authority over these records and to those who would like to have custody of them,” said Rep. Cantrell. “Consequently, these records can potentially wind up in the hands of the wrong people. If we do not clarify the law, child pornographers and others could develop a black market for these interviews and the damage done to the most vulnerable in our society would be immense.”
The Children’s Advocacy Centers of Georgia began in 1989 with the establishment of five centers. Currently, there are 46 children’s advocacy centers in throughout Georgia. The mission of each CAC is to lessen the trauma suffered by children who have been abused by providing evaluation in a safe, caring place and to encourage collaboration of services for the benefit of the child, family and community. All CACs provide additional child abuse prevention, intervention, and education services.
For more information about HB 725, please click here.
Representative Wes Cantrell represents the citizens of District 22, which includes portions of Cherokee, Forsyth, and Fulton counties. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2014 and currently serves on the Education, Juvenile Justice, and Small Business Development committees.
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