Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act

Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
Long title	An Act to provide financial assistance for a demonstration program for the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect, to establish a National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)	CAPTA
Enacted by	the 93rd United States Congress
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 93–247
Statutes at Large	88 Stat. 4
Codification
Titles amended	42 U.S.C. § 5101 et seq.
Legislative history
	Introduced in the Senate as S. 1191 by Walter F. Mondale (D–MN) on March 13, 1973; Committee consideration by Senate Labor and Public Welfare; House Education and Labor; Passed the Senate on July 14, 1973 (57–7); Passed the House of Representatives on December 3, 1973 (354–36); Agreed to by the Senate on December 20, 1973 (Senate agreed to House amendments with an amendment) ; Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on January 31, 1974;

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (Public Law 93–247) of 1988 provides financial assistance for demonstration programs for the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect and to establish a National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. Additionally, it identifies the federal role in supporting research, evaluation, technical assistance, and data collection activities; it established the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect in the United States Children's Bureau; and mandates the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information. It also sets forth a minimum definition of child abuse and neglect.

The key federal legislation addressing child abuse and neglect is the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), originally enacted in 1974 (Public Law 93-247). It was amended several times and was most recently amended and reauthorized by the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016.