State Sen. Fontana Discusses Child Abuse Legislation

As I wrote last week, Senate Bill 549 (SB 549), my legislation that would change the requirements and process for reporting and investigating child abuse by school employees has received a great deal of attention in light of the charges against Jerry Sandusky and the two Penn State officials.  There are two questions I am asked continuously asked by the media:  How would SB 549 have changed what happened in Penn State? And, why hasn’t the bill been acted upon?

I can answer the first question – If SB 549 had been law, the incident witnessed by the graduate assistant would have been reported directly to law enforcement and child protective services.  There would have been no need for it to go through a chain of command, no responsibility for anyone else to pass information on to officials and the claims would have received immediate attention.

The answer to the second question is not as easy for me.  As you know, I first introduced a version of this bill in September of 2005, shortly after I was elected. Through each and every version of it, I have worked with stakeholders – both those who are in favor of the proposed changes and those who had concerns. In that process, I have made concessions and changes to the bill. I have met with those groups that my colleagues have asked me to and my staff has spoken with each and every person who has contacted my office on this bill – to hear their story, to determine if we can address their concerns and to continue to improve this bill.  I have done everything that has been asked of me – and the bill is a better piece of legislation because of it. 

The answer must come from the Senate Republican leadership which has ignored multiple requests to move the legislation – and the answers need to be given not to me, but to others in our Commonwealth:

• To the third grader in Chester County, an 8-year-old who was grabbed in an arm lock and then punch in the fact by a school custodian

• To the autistic child in Philadelphia whose teacher was hitting him at school, causing him to regress in his behavior, wet the bed and lose his temper

• To the Scranton-area autistic children who had been tied to chairs with bungee cords and duct tape

• To the Beaver County first-grader who was paddled by a school guard

• To the high school freshman in Allegheny County who was attacked and body slammed by a coach/support staff employee at his high school resulting in a broken wrist

• To the 9-year-old in Dauphin County whose finger had to be surgically reattached after a substitute teacher slammed a door on his hand

Unfortunately, these stories are far too frequent and many more examples can be found in our Commonwealth of instances of abuse.  It’s time that we eliminate laws that provide dual standards for perpetrators depending on what their job is, and that we step up and protect ALL children for ALL abuse.  Won’t you join me?