HARRISBURG - State Rep. Julie Harhart (R-Lehigh/Northampton) joined with supporters of the Lehigh County Child Advocacy Center to announce her legislation has been signed into law to create a dedicated funding stream for state grants to support the centers.

"It was over 10 years ago that I first had the privilege of taking a tour of the Lehigh County Children's Advocacy Center and witnessing the great work being done on behalf of abused children," said Harhart. "Since that time I have been relentless in trying to obtain some type of reliable state funding for these centers. Although it took longer than I had anticipated, it was worth every minute in order to secure this needed funding."A CAC is essentially a one-stop-shop treatment program for abused children which brings together doctors, nurses, prosecutors, social workers and law enforcement. This multidisciplinary approach gives abused children the best chance to recover and also provides the most effective way to gather evidence to bring perpetrators to justice.The new law increases the cost of a duplicate birth certificate from $10 to $20 in order to establish a funding stream to support existing CACs, support the development of new CACs, train individuals mandated to report suspected child abuse and other child abuse-related costs. It is estimated the duplicate birth certificate fee increase will raise approximately $2.86 million per year for the centers.Currently, nearly two dozen CACs are spread across Pennsylvania's 67 counties."More CACs are definitely needed; however, to date, the centers have been operating mainly on shoestring budgets pieced together through fundraising efforts, donations and meager federal grants," said Harhart. "Lehigh County is fortunate because it is one of a few counties to have a CAC within its borders. I am hopeful, with this new law, that we will be able to open new CACs to make treatment options available to more Pennsylvania children and their families."Under the new law, an advisory committee comprising 21 members, including the victim advocate and representatives from law enforcement, county children and youth agencies, and victim service providers, will also be created to make recommendations regarding how to administer the funding.Joining Harhart at the press conference were Sen. Bob Mensch (R-Berks/Montgomery/Bucks); Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin; and Drs. Ronald Swinfard and John Van Brakle, with the Lehigh Valley Health Network, as well as other supporters.Signed into law on the same day as Harhart's legislation was a bill that will also dedicate approximately $400,000 to CACs through the use of state grants. The funding will come from the dissolution of the

D.A.R.E. license plate fund.