Child Abuse and Neglect

The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect was established in 1974 to lead the federal effort in combatting child abuse and neglect. In May 1991, GAO testified (see GAO/T-HRD-91-29) that staff shortages kept the Center from fully carrying out its mission and that, if Center programs were not given priority attention within the newly formed Administration for Children and Families, Congress might want to lower its expectations for the Center or seek other ways of achieving the goals of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. Since then, the Center has made some progress in monitoring grant programs, managing the clearinghouse and resource centers on child abuse data, and obtaining more staff and expertise. Despite these encouraging signs, administrative effectiveness may not improve because of the Center's growing workload. The Center continues to fall short in providing timely on-site monitoring, assessing its technical assistance, and submitting required reports to Congress. GAO believes that the Center's limited resources continue to hinder its goal of providing leadership in the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect.