MADISON – Sen. Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) has been selected to serve as the Vice-Chair of the Special Committee on Reporting Child Abuse and Child Neglect. This Special Committee was formed in response to the Penn State abuse scandal and the need to ensure that Wisconsin laws regarding child abuse reporting are in line with best practices. This Special Committee has been directed to study Wisconsin’s child abuse and child neglect reporting requirements, update and modernize state statutes, and carefully examine the reporting requirements at higher educational institutions.
“Every child deserves to be raised in a safe and healthy environment,” said Sen. Shilling. “Unfortunately, statistics show that a new case of child abuse is reported in the United States every ten seconds. While many more cases often go unreported, the Penn State abuse scandal highlighted the need to ensure a clear and immediate reporting system so that when child abuse is discovered it can be properly addressed. Improving the health and well-being of children in our state has always been a focus of mine, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the legislature as well as members of the public on this important topic.”
This committee will be chaired by Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and is directed to complete its report and recommendations by December 2012. Additional legislative and public members for this committee will be selected in the near future. If members of the public are interested in serving on this committee or any of the other Legislative Council Study Committees, they can contact Sen. Shilling’s office via email at
Sen.Shilling@legis.wi.gov or by calling toll-free at 1-800-385-3385. A full list of Legislative Council Study Committees and additional information about the Study Committee process is available online at
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lc/index.htm
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