Underwood Legislation to Strengthen Child Abuse Protections Passes House of Representatives

WASHINGTON—Congresswoman Lauren Underwood's (IL-14) bipartisan legislation to strengthen child abuse protections passed the House of Representatives. Her legislation, which passed as part of the Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (Stronger CAPTA), would help protect children adopted after being in homes with substance abuse issues by requiring research examining the association between parental substance abuse and its impacts on adoption outcomes. Stronger CAPTA responds to increased rates of child abuse and neglect as the opioid epidemic devastates families and communities across the country. The passage comes 10 days after Underwood spoke on the House floor about the need to improve the foster care system and pledged to strengthen the policies that failed 5-year-old Andrew "AJ" Freund from Crystal Lake who was tragically killed in April.

"Rates of child abuse have been rising as the opioid epidemic has devastated communities across the country, and the children who are adopted after being removed from homes with substance abuse issues have special kinds of trauma. My bipartisan legislation looks out for those kids—it would allow us to track their outcomes and ensure we have the information we need to make informed policy decisions to best serve them and set them up for success," said Underwood.

Full video of Underwood's remarks can be found here.

Earlier this month, Underwood voted in support of the Stronger CAPTA, which unanimously passed out of the Committee on Education and Labor.

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