Friday April 26, 2024
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Today Attorney General Andy Beshear, in partnership with the Child Victims’ Trust Fund, announced nearly $80,000 in grants to cover costs associated with more than 1,000 child sexual abuse forensic exams.
Beshear said the funding will be utilized throughout the upcoming fiscal year and shared among the state’s 15 Children’s Advocacy Centers that serve children in every county in Kentucky.
More than 650 child sexual abuse forensic exams have been funded by Beshear’s office in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
“Before reaching their 18th birthday, one in 10 children experience child sexual abuse and every day my team and I are working to prevent this abuse and seek justice for each victim,” Beshear said. “I encourage those who wish to join our mission of preventing child abuse and supporting survivors to consider a donation to the Child Victims’ Trust Fund.”
In addition to providing reimbursement for the exams, the fund provides support for child sexual abuse prevention programs.
Last year, the board approved $160,000 in statewide grants aimed at teaching parents how to discuss child sexual abuse with children and how to keep children safe on the Internet.
The fund also helped support Beshear’s 2016 partnership to provide the most comprehensive statewide child abuse prevention training ever offered, training over a thousand law enforcement officers, county prosecutors, parents and child advocates on how to recognize the behaviors of sexual predators and intervene to protect a child.
Beshear created the Office of Child Abuse and Exploitation Prevention when he entered office in 2016. The office administers the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention Board, created under Kentucky law as a 170(c)(1) nonprofit organization, which allocates funding from the fund.
Those interested in donating to the Child Victims’ Trust Fund can do so in three ways:
- Through a private donation directly to the fund.
- Purchase of an “I Care About Kids” license plate at your county clerk’s office.
- Donations made through the state income tax refund check-off program.
Beshear reminds Kentuckians that everyone has a moral and legal duty to report any instance of child abuse to local law enforcement or to Kentucky’s Child Abuse hotline at 877-597-2331 or 877-KYSAFE1.
Attorney General Andy Beshear today announced that the Child Victims’ Trust Fund helped pay for nearly 400 child sexual abuse forensic exams in 2016.
Beshear is encouraging Kentuckians to support the Fund through private donations, proceeds from the purchase of “I Care About Kids” license plates or donations made through the state income tax refund check-off program.
“One of the core missions of my office is to prevent and prosecute child abuse,” Beshear said. “We can only hope to end child abuse through the collaborative efforts of advocacy groups, government agencies, community leaders and by engaging families and Kentucky’s business community. The prevention activities and child advocacy programs supported by the Fund are critical to make children safer and to openly discuss abuse and the ways in which we can prevent it. And we must continue to impress upon everyone that it is their legal and moral duty to report abuse.”
Beshear created an Office of Child Abuse and Exploitation Prevention when he entered office in 2016.
The Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention Board, which is administered by the Office of the Attorney General, is responsible for allocating funding from the Child Victims’ Trust Fund. It is statutorily created under Kentucky law as a 170(c)(1) nonprofit organization.
Last year, the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention Board approved $160,000 in statewide grants aimed at teaching parents how to discuss child sexual abuse with children and how to keep children safe on the Internet. The Fund helped support 394 children’s medical exams in 2016.
The Fund also helped support Beshear’s 2016 partnership to provide the most comprehensive statewide child abuse prevention training ever offered, training over a thousand law enforcement officers, county prosecutors, parents and child advocates on how to recognize the signs of sexual predators and intervene to protect a child.
To support victims of child sexual abuse, Kentuckians may visit their county clerk’s office and request an “I Care About Kids” license plate or check the box on their tax returns to designate a portion to the CVTF.
