Family Poverty Is Not Child Neglect Act Is Reintroduced

“Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) has been trying to separate poverty from neglect in federal policy for awhile now.

She is trying again this year: Moore has re-introduced the Family Poverty is Not Child Neglect Act, a bill she first offered up in 2018 to revise the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, or CAPTA.

States can apply for and receive grants under CAPTA for specific purposes related to child protection systems, and Moore’s bill adds caveats to two of those allowable uses: ‘the intake, assessment, screening, and investigation of reports of child abuse or neglect,’ and ‘enhancing the general child protective system by developing, improving, and implementing risk and safety assessment tools and protocols, including the use of differential response.'”