industry. what we have as americans are people in a position where they want something from somebody else. i hear people saying, " i cannot afford health care, prescription." would you expect to pay for this? your neighbor, your family? somebody has to pay for these things. somebody saying if someone makes 200 to $2,000, we should tax them. -- 200 to $2,000, we should tax them. -- $250,000. we've got to get back to self- reliance, and nothing is more important than health care, that means you are going to pay for things that are of value to you. if your help is of value, he will pay for that help -- you pay for that held.

host: another program coming your way tomorrow morning. we will see you then. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> in about half an hour, american university campaign management continues with a segment on absentee and early voting. students -- all this week at 8:00 eastern, a rare glimpse

into the nation's highest court. we will speak with clarence thomas and justice breyer. justice thomas discusses how his approach to oral arguments differs from his college. interviews with supreme court justices this week on c-span. you'll find a virtual tour of the building online as well as this week's intereinterviews. notable books of 2009. we look at the best books of the year. tonight, authors david plouff and david finkel. you can see the various lists at booktv.org. ko>> a look back at the dalai lama, ronald reagan, colin

powell, and robert byrd. then a look at what is ahead for the new year. vladimir putin discusses his future. presidential advisor on the global economy. the creator of the suegway, plus the art of political cartooning. today on c-span, a day of tributes to u.s. and world leaders, including ted kennedy, ronald reagan, walter cronkite, and robert byrd. and then a look at what is ahead for the new year. fatah mayor putin discusses his future. presidential adviser of the global economy. the co-founder of guitar hero on entrepreneurship. plus the art of political cartooning. now available, c-span is book,

abraham lincoln. a great read for any history buff. it is a unique perspective on lincoln from 56 scholars. from his early years to his wife in the white house. abraham lincoln, in hard cover, and now in digital audio to listen to any time. learn more at c-ç span.org/lincolnbook. >>, escaped the violence against women office in the justice department $418 million. about $200 million less than the previous year. some of those funds were part of a stimulus package. this was turbot patrick leahy and there was a hearing looking into the hearing last summer. qi]cracks this has been the

centerpiece going against domestic violence against women. it passes the single achievement and i am glad to say senator kaufman from delaware because his predecessor who now has another job in government, joe biden, was of course instrumental in passing of vawa. the landmark walk filled a void. to many victims -- too many victims. it had strong bipartisan support. i would compliment senator biden and senator orrin hatch, who

were chairman and ranking member respectively who works so hard to get this passed. of a fort to working with members of the committee and -- i look forward to working with members of the committee. the victim of service providers. most importantly,ht the women ad families who were threatened with violence. we have an extraordinary panel with us. first will be catherine pierce. see is the acting director at the justice department. of course karen tronsgrard- scott, who i've known for many years. she is the leader in for montan vermont. i mention karen because people think of for mvermont with low e

rate and everything else. we have domestic violence in every state. every state, every situation. ççsometimes in more ruralt( a, it is more hidden because it is something people do not want to talk about. t(i know that. the witnesses will beç sharing the personal stories with the committeeç. one has gone on to become a successful actor. what has become a passionate advocate for victims in california -- one has become a passionate advocate for victims in california. i know that violence and abuse reaches homes of people of all walks of life, regardless of race or gender or age, sexually,

or economic status. domestic violence is a crime. we should never forget that. domestic violence is a crime. i]now everybody knows you have o prosecute. it does not make a difference whether it is a family member, spouse, or a stranger. it is a crime. it is a crime. we have made some remarkable progress in recognizing domestic problems. since the enactment of vawa, the rates have come down. the state has passed more than 600 laws to help us and to fight this kind of crime. we still have millions of women and men and children in families that are traumatized by abuse.

one in seve3333 are victims of sexual assault. we have to keep on with these programs. 2008 census to end domestic problems found one day, more than 60,500 adults and children were served by violence programs. almost 9000 requests were um met. i have advocated for increased funding in vawa programs. the inclusion of 107 $5 million is going to give resources of law enforcement -- the inclusion of $175 million is going to

give resources to law enforcement. the often provide safe havens. there is a lot more in the spirit of want to get on to the witnesses. i will put my statement in the record. the bill we have before us makes improvements. the law can continue to serve as a powerful tool to combat violence perpetuated against women and families. we're able to pass this through committee. i want to get this to the senate. it has bipartisan support. every victim in this country will tell us how important this is. i yield to another former and distinguished prosecutor, senator sessions of alabama. >> thank you. we're delighted to have you here.

i will not delight with remarks. i look forward to hearing your testimony we do spend a considerable sum of money. it is an important eirsion. every dollar needs to be wisely spent. we want to discuss that. sometimes age becomes less vibrant when they initially started. i would like to talk about that. there has been tremendous progress. when i started in 1981, i guess, it was since then that local police departments and even small police departments were becoming far more attuned to the dangers of a come from ignoring domestic violence. training programs have increased dramatically. there are far more sophisticated

today than when this program originally passed. that is all to the good. let's talk about what good things have happened and what challenges we face and how to make sure these programs are the most productive programs to reduce violence in america. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. >> i can remember in 1990 when senator biden first started working on the violence againstç women act. i know what the lonely job it was in getting started. çit was incredible. it was a great example of what you can do if you put your mind to it. he picked up people as it went along. i want to thank the tournament for picking this up and moving it even furtherççóçç. ñooa lot of things have happened

since the act was passed. domestic violence has dropped by 50%. the number of women killed by abusive husband or boyfriend is down. more than half of all rape victims are stepping forward to report their crimes. çwe still have a long way to g. pet is why we're here today. we cannot afford -- that is whyç we are here today. we cannot afford to turn our backs. koiç just want to thank you for what you're doing. it is the most incredibly important thing that i see every day in the job i do. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. >>ç another former prosecutor. ç>> hawaiiç no some more peope

are looking down -- i know some more people are looking down on us and smiling. they did not get the best luck in life. they took the song. i still remember her arriving in washington. -- they took this on. she was an amazing advocate. part of that came at of the work in minnesota. i was ahead of the county prosecutor for eight years and the domestic abuse center was a model for the country. the was a place for police and prosecutors and restraining orders andi]xd; everything, insd of having to go through a bureaucratici] maze of red tape. this is something near and dear to my heart. i am proud of the work that has been done and i look forward to working on the reauthorization.

>> thank you. our first witness, catherine pierce. she was a deputy director in outreach of communications for responsible for launching a sexual assault services program. she originally joined as one of the staff members when the office opened in 1995. she worked with the state department on human trafficking issues. another matter of enormous seriousness. she served as deputy of the state justice institute where she oversaw judicial education and training initiatives. please go ahead, miss pierce.

>> thank you. thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. -kathryn -- my name is catherine pierce. i'm here to discuss the progress made since the violence against women act was enacted nearly 15 years ago. i want to thank the committee for working so closely and on improving the assistance to violence victims. this bill contains some much needed amendments to improve the programs. every day, vawa makes a difference and how communities can assist and protect victims. the grant programs provide funding to states, and nonprofit organizations to assist communities, encouraging them to develop innovative strategies to

respond to violence against women. we're grateful to congress to expand our ability to respond to all victims, including the victims of sexual assault. we will make awards under the new services program to support the essential services by rape crisis centers. obw has increased efforts. the department has released a special report which confirms that stopping is pervasive. women are at higher risk of being stalked, and there is a dangerous intersection of stalking and more violent crime. our awareness has increased that these forms of violence affect all age groups.

it often tragically begins during adolescence. with the reauthorization, congress directed obw to take new steps against indian women. there was a deputy director appointed and established a federal advisory committee to provide recommendations and a program of research, and instituted to learn how we can improve response to these crimes. we have learned law enforcement officers and prosecutors work with victim advocates to use their distinct works against violence against women. we recognize we cannot rely solely on the criminal justice

system to end violence against women. local responses must be informed by the experiences of survivors. and also representatives of the community. vawa has made a tremendous difference in the lives ofç ma. in the months to come, will engage in efforts to place accountability on the community as a whole. i am constantly inspired by the extraordinary commitment of the women and men who have devoted their lives to ending violence against women. çwomen like gabrielle union and ann burke, who have the courage to tell their stories. i was compelled to commit my life to this work over 15 years ago.

kristin was an art student with her entire life ahead of her. she was dating a man who became abusive. she tried to help get counseling. her response was to threatened and stalked h her. he came to her work place and insisted she continued to see him. he shot her in the head returned a few minutes later to shoot her twice more. he went back to was apartment and committed suicide. he had a three-page arrest record. he was the subject of multiple restrain efforts. at the time of her murder, he had violated the terms of his probation and should have been in jail. her father investigated his own daughter's death and wrote a

series of articles which won him the pulitzer prize. this story changed my life, but it did not bring kristin back. every day, stories about similar homicides and stalking remain in our headlines. this is not acceptable. we have much, much more to do. thank you for your commitment, your ongoing commitment to this issue and your time this morning. i would be very happy to answer your questions. >> thank you. thank you for answering george's riding on up. i remember being ripped by that. he wrote it. i can only imagine how difficult that must be for a parent to write something like that. i have three children of my own

and now grandchildren. i can only imagine how that must tear one apart. we have a serious economic crisis in this country. has that affected or increased or decreased or any way affected the need for the services that we have in vawa? >> i think it has. unemployment is one of many factors that in combination can lead to an escalation in violence. from the research jacqueline campbell has done, there are other things that happened with abusers threat to kill a woman and her children. threats to commit suicide, forced sex, and the presence of a gun. these are additional factors we need to look for. unemployment alone is not the

cause. we know that shelters help women avoid that kind of abuse during situations where their partner may be unemployed. what is helpful is when judges know that they should issue a protection order and when guns should be removed from the home. >> we put extra money in the recovery act. has that money started going out yet? >> i am glad you asked that question. we have announced 46 formula awards totaling more than $20 million. those boards have been made. 29 states will issue awards totaling $2.5 million. we are also before the middle of july, we will have made awards

through our traditional housing programs. we received many applications and we will be able to release support only about 20% of those. ççthere is a tremendous need. we received 91 applications from travel governments and will be able to find 1/3 of those. >> times change. i was a prosecutor and we did we had to make them up as we went along. many dedicated people contributed everything from xdhousing and on occasion my wie and i would provide that. but we have done a lot more than we did decades ago. or the needs currently unmet or

victims of domestic violence and sexual of assault, stalking, are there things we should be doing at the federal government backs the state government have their own programs. >> i think we do you neeneed toe that. çxdwe will be looking at the nd for enhanced sexual assault services in rural america. we are concerned about custody issues in domestic violence cases. we will be looking closely at why women are losing custody of their children either to the court or through the states through the shop protection system. we're also going to be looking closely at the problem of children exposed to violence. we know thatç when children are safer when their mothers are safer. the other thing that i alluded

to in my testimony is of great w3concern is that we begin to focus our efforts on homicide protection more so than ever have before and that we use research to inform our practice and we use practice to inform our research. >> i do not mean this as an either or thing. thank you for mentioning rural areas. v:again, sometimes there are neglected. you also mentioned tribal issues. there has been a concern about the lack of communication between u.s. attorney's offices and indian tribes. they decided not to bring charges. can anything be done about that? we do not have that situation in

my state of vermont. both parties are concerned about it. can we get more timely information to tribal officials when they declined? >> our office is responsible for providing direct funding to tribal governments into trouble coalitions. our mission is to make sure we're providing victim services to alaska native villages and two different tribes and indiana countries. so i would have to save zepa the mission of our office -- so i would have to say that the mission is not related to those crimes with the u.s. attorney's. >> what would you suggest. some way to get better? do we need better communication? >> there is always room for better communication and better

coordination within the department and across federal agencies. >> may make a few suggestions to the attorney general's and others to make sure that is done. senator sessions. >> thank you. you began a discussion about what our new challenges are. our studies are showing and how we can get that information out to local law enforcement. i remember fred thompson used to say it the most valuable thing the department of justice can do is to do the good research that helps individual police departments and offices make the right decision. you mentioned some of these studies that you have ongoing. are you satisfied that the vawa office and department of justice programs are identifying in a

practical way the kind of protocols and procedures that would be most effective for law- enforcement agencies for a mid- sized city, that they're getting the kind of guidance the helps them to establish the very best protocols for success? >> thank you for asking. the answer is yes, with the help of some national law enforcement agencies. we have been able to develop what are clear protocol and practices. you should be aware that we're also going to be updating what we are -- will recall are practicing practices. the thing for us to remember -- since vawa was passed, there is a whole new generation of police officers and prosecutors who need to be educated on those

practices and protocols. we do not need to go back and reinvent the wheel. we've done some significant work in that area. we need is to continue to educate. >> there is a story about kristen and that is a powerful story. my question is, could that stalker have been identified earlier? could we have -- do we have any kind of identifying characteristics that say this is an abusive person who could become homicidal and a dangerous? does the average prosecutor and judge and police department, do they know what these are, and are they making the right identifications of the most dangerous people?

>> again, thank you for raising them. i think we do have those indicators. i mentioned some of what those indicators work in the case of kristin. a lot of those indicators were present. she did everything right. in her case, she went and got the protection order. the problem is she going to protection order in boston. he had been arrested in other jurisdictions and across state lines, in new york. so we need databases that speak to one another. it would be great if every judge were able to pick up -- to pull up that information while on the bench. in lieu of that, there are a judicial institutes that will support. the leadership institute that we support. the pros -- the prosecutors resource center are ways of

getting that information out. we have the information and we need to get it in the hands of local practitioners. >> are really think that is true. just because you do a study an issue in report does not mean that it is a prosecutor or a busy judge has the opportunity to study it. i do not know how -- i assume there are some disputes about what the best protocols are on various circumstances. i would assume there are some areas there is virtual uniformity of agreement under these circumstances and this represents a real danger and strong action should be taken. >> i entirely agree. >> have you thought about how to make sure that information is more widely spread? to have effective enough

programs? >> i think we do. we need to reach out to prosecutor coordinators' and to national associations that can provide us with lists of prosecutors who we can go to and say, police, we have the training, we're making it available -- and say, policlease have the training. we're making it available. i have to say we have created as their result of those educational programs dedicated units like and minneapolis and st. paul and other parts of the country. >> virtually every community has a more specialized unit. protective houses for women and children who have been abused.

i'm real pleased by that. continue the good research. continue to get the information out so that they can be utilized and we will have fewer of these cases like kristen. it is my personal view that a lot of individuals unfortunately are very dangerous. the number of people who would kill or stalke somebody is not that large in this country. if they are properly identified, some need to be detained and walked up for the offenses they commit. that will providperhaps prevent offenses in the future. >> thank you. >> i have always thought one of the real beauties of power is how we have tried to encourage community-based responses.

the way i see this, we got our hospital involved. we had victim witness advocates accessible to people. there were part of the community response. we started a review process for cases where something might have gone bad, kind of like they do in surgery after a hospital looks at all the errors to figure out what went wrong. we got all of the partners together. sometimes it was a police department not entering a phone. we were able to do a better job because we did those reviews. talked a little bit about the coordinated community response. how it could be improved. >> definitely. i did visit your office and saw what an extraordinary job you

all were doing several years ago and continued to do. as i alluded to, i think that coordinated community response will only be strengthened when we begin to turn to the diverse communities who we are charged with responding to. i think that we have not done a good enough job of listening to voices of survivors. you alluded to something which i think has been an excellent tool which is the safety audits. it is a tool which can be pulleooled to see where women fl through the cracks and who could've done a better job without blemish. that is a useful tool. -- could have done a better job without blaming. we work with advocates in

balance and listen to advocates and the survivors. i cannot underscore enough. >> one of the things that is frustrating is the enforcement of protection orders across the jurisdictional boundaries. i know you cut and looking into that. could you talk about what we could do better with that? >> as i said earlier, we could begin to develop databases that were more reliable for prosecutors, for judges. i think that would make an enormous difference. >> another thing on my list of things is the rapist gete kits. i believe you cannot charge

victims of the cost and collecting of the rape getkits. but sometimes the victim has to pay the price and have states reimburse them after the fact. should we be taking more steps up front to ensure no one has to pay for the rape kit? >> absolutely and unequivocally. >> i would have been upset if you get answered another way. >> i am not making this up. it happens all the time. i think people would be surprised if they knew the facts. >> los angeles county has the largest backlog of intestine rate kits. even if they are the worst offender, it is a national problem.

there were approximately 400,000 untested kits nationwide. is this something we should be looking at? >> yes. wish to be looking at ways our office can coordinate -- we should be looking at ways our office can coordinate this service backlog gets addressed across the country. >> thank you very much. we appreciate your work. >> did you have a follow-up question? >> one, if i could. what do you think about the requirement that congress created cost states to test the perpetrators of four hiv within 48 hours after arrest? is that being effectively done? is that a good policy that every state should test sexual perpetrators for hiv? >> we believe women who have

been exposed to hiv certainly have the right to request the offender be tested. as we all know, it is not always so that the offender is apprehended within 48 hours or so. so what we're focused on is being able to provide to the victim -- to provide an alternative to receive counseling about prophylactics herself. our focus is on her. we have learned about 84% of state and local governments who receive funding through the grant programs you are referring to, are unable to meet that requirement. what we want to do -- >> where they unable -- why are they unable? >> the offender is not always available.

>> that is obvious. for those who are arrested, i do not know what that would just not be a standard protocol. >> it is about giving the victim and alternative. we need to have -- yes, we need to test -- >> what you know about every department should test a rapist for hiv? >> i do not. " we have a law that says it. you're changing the subject on the. i do not understand why you hesitate. >> victims are aware that -- when they are not available, we need to put our focus on the victim and provide an alternative for her. >> thank you. >> do you have a follow? >> thank you very much, miss

pierce. thank you for the emphasis you put on this. >> thank you for all of your work. >> we are in this one together. we will call up the other --

>> thank you all for being here. we're going to start with gabrielle union, an accomplished actress. she made more than 20 films. she is not acting. she serves as ambassador for the susan g. komen for the cure on breast cancer research. my wife and i have been on the past walk. not the run. she is an advocate for victims of sexual assault. she is a graduate of ucla. please go ahead.

but the words "sexual assault." it is crazy but sometimes we cannot say the words. a brief back story. at 19 years old, i had a summertime job. a man came into the store one night, robbed the store, and decided to rape me. he very calmly put the gun down that he was holding to my head. he said, do you mind handing me the gun? i fell on my back and tried to kill them. i missed. we began to tussle. he beat me beyond recognition. luckily enough, i have the privilege of being raped in a wealthy community. the police arrived within minutes. the police department was

adequately funded and staffed. they took my statement. they were well trained. we went to the rape crisis center. i was able to start the path from rape victim to rape survivor. i cannot say enough about the difference it made that i was raped in a wealthy community with an adequately funded and staffed rape crisis center. i began to get the treatment that i needed. within days, but my rape kit was tested and analyzed. my rapist was apprehended and within a few months he took a plea and i have my justice. it is rare. i cannot say enough about the need for adequately funded rape crisis centers. a work closely with law enforcement. they say, we do not have the

time and resources to help get a rape victim between the victim and survivor. ripped so visors are effective to help us get rapists off the street. having fun did rape crisis centers, help get purpose off the streets. rapist's don't go away at the ed of the day. they are ripping our mothers, our sisters. they do not magically disappear. -- they are scrapinraping our m, our sisters, and our grandmothers. it starts with adequate funding. i was in africa and sitting at a barv: and there was an image of

parisko hilton on tv. the start telling these jokes. a man said, silly americans. you care more about your pets them your people. there will spend tons of money for a man to abuse a dog but they do not care if you beat your wife. so when in america, be your wife, not your dog. we have to make human beings a priority. we have to make our women and our children a priority. it starts with funding these programs, domestic violence programs and sexual assault programs. it has become a sad reality. when i go to third world countries, i have to give the same speech to women in america. in third world countries, there is no expectation of criminal

justice. there is no chance for therapy and hand holding. i have to give the same exact speech to women in america. we have to do better. thank you. >> thank you. karen tronsgrard-scott is the director of the vermont center since 2007. i have worked with her a lot during that time. before she came to vermont, she lived in ohio for 15 years. she received a bachelor's degree from bowling green state university, her master's degree from ohio university. crowing lives in vermont -- currently lives in vermont. the vermont network -- i would

like to thank president selling well as a member of the board who work tirelessly -- i like to thank president sally wells. i think it would be fair to give ourselves thanks, too. go ahead. >> chairman leahy, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the success of a violence against women act. the vermont network is a statewide coalition. there are networks throughout the state. vawa-funded programs are a critical part. i am here today to discuss this

success of our programs and the need to strengthen vawa with the reauthorization in 2011. the crime of domestic violence is pervasive. one in four women will experience violence in their lifetime. the most heinous of these cases is murder. even in one of the safest states, there were seven domestic violence and an additional three violence- related suicides in just one week in 2007. the cycle is perpetuated as children witnessed violence. 15.5 million kids are exposed to domestic violence every year. in addition to the cost, these

crimes cost taxpayers and communities. vawa saved taxpayers $14.8 billion in the first six years alone. vawa is a fiscally sound legislation. vawa has improved the national response since it was passed in 1994. states have passed more than 660 loss to combat raped and stocking. violence against women has decreased by 60%. the number of women killed has decreased 24%. my testimony detailed the impact of vawa grants. each of the grants the rich adults and children can find safer lives.

in my years, working to end violence against women, i've had vawa a firsthand look at vawa. grants have helped government to strengthen effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies in cases involving violent crime against women. it insures victims are safer and treated more uniformly. the grants all-out jurisdictions that allow specific barriers faced by victims in rural areas. in vermont, it has created specialized domestic violence unit which now reviews 100% of

child abuse and neglect cases. this insures children get the support they need. the sexual assaults services program was staffed. it allows states to provide much-needed direct services to victims and to various organizations including law enforcement and social services. rape crisis centers will be able to provide expanded medical support to victims of sexual assault. the continuation of these funds is important and will result in safer communities. more and more victims are coming forward each year. they're rising demand for services means that many desperate victims are turned

away. you noted that in just one day nearly 9000 request for services because of a lack of services. services are even more scarce with only 1315 rape crisis nationwide. people are on waiting lists. the violence against women act is working but the job is not done. so much more is needed. it's a work for all victims, whether they live in rural or urban areas, whether they are children or elderly victims. every victim deserves the chance to live a peaceful life. congress has a unique opportunity to make a big difference. thank you, chairman lee and the distinguished member -- thank

you, chairman leahy and the distinguished members for all that you will do. >> thank you very much. ann burke is our next witness. you have been married to a registered nurse. i am sorry for the reason you're here. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i wanted to welcome miss burke here. rhode island is a small state. i'm not sure there is a person who is not aware of her situation when lindsay was murdered by an ex-boyfriend at the age of 23. we have been expired bike and who was been a teacher and a nurse and has take it -- and has

taken a disabling calamity and has turned into as much good as one can be achieved out of one tragedy. she has fought for all along with her husband and obtained passage of the linndsay ann burke act. it supports the awareness of teen dating violence and support in the schools for those programs. to start the day memorial fund to provide support for those efforts. she has co-founded a group called moms and dads for education to stop teen dating abuse, which is a parent support network for parents across the country to support healthy teen dating relationships and cope with other tragedies that still take place. she is someone rhode island is very proud of. we have shared with her as much

as the public can. such a deeply private tragedy. we have seen what success she has drawn from that tragedy. she is an inspiration and a welcome heard today. >> thank you. please go ahead. >> distinguished members of the committee. thank you for the committee to testify today on the importance of dating abuse. i appreciate the opportunity to share my daughter's story and the positive legacy that has come from her loss. my husband is here today. we are members of moms and dads for stop dating abuse. we advocate nationally all middle and high schools teach dating in their curriculum. i like to tell you the story about what lovely daughter, lindsay. she groped in the suburbs.

she had plenty of friends. she taught dance lessons and piano lessons. she graduated from st. mary's academy. her many friends would often describe her as having a sweet and compassionate nature. my daughter met her killer by chance at a wedding. things did not seem right. there was a change in her personality. it was a classic case of abuse, purell, emotional, and sexual. let's not overlook the strong correlation. until after her death, i did not know 76% of women murdered have been stalked by that intimate partner, but only about half of stalking victims recognize the crime for what it was. linzidsay was no exception.

she received constant calls from him. she was fearful and anxious. he had threatened to kill her. she have the support of friends and family. pro-life ended almost three and a half -- almost four years ago, when she was only 23 years old. she was brutally tortured and murdered by her ex-boyfriend. i'm hopeful others can be prevented from being victims of violence. i spent many painful months researching this topic. i began to wonder, why don't we require educators to teach our children about the importance of dating and domestic violence? i asked myself, if she was

properly educated, which she still be alive today? i believe she would. i never learned about it while pursuing my degrees. as their results -- as a result, i never addressed it with my students. i've since learned my lack of education was more the norm in this country rather than the exception. .

>> knowing my daughter, i believe she would have been prepared. we will never know for sure. how many more daughters have to lose their lives at the hands and abusive partner? how many more teens have to suffer in an abusive relationship afraid to tell anyone. the teen violence statistic is alarming. it leads to other health problems. substance abuse, eating disorders, depression, suicide researchers found a strong connection between violence among young people and poor reproductive health outcomes. a study published found that one in three u.s. high-school girls who had been abused by a boyfriend has become pregnant.

by reducing dating violence, we can reduce unintended teenage pregnancy. the psychological effects on its victims are also devastating. that is devastation i know all too well. dating violence like domestic violence, the stores and kills people. how can we ignore this major health problem any longer? in 2006, my family founded the lindsey ann burke foundation. we have trained 224 help teachers from 89 schools in rhode island for it will donated over $40,000 worth of curriculum to these schools and their workshops we have trained over 1000 teachers so far. more recently, rhode island legislators show foresight and took a step by passing the lindsey ann burke act. rhode island mandates annual dating violence education for students in grade 7-12.

they have training for school staff. the have a school district policy to address episodes of dating violence at school and school events and the law strongly death -- recommends parent education. this will no longer be ignored. many will get the education they rightly deserve an interesting thing happens when you educate teens, the school staff and parents of the same time for everyone begins to talk openly about the topic, removing the shame and stigma attached. this helps teen victims to come court and seek help and gives the team's knowledge and it helps each other. it helps parents to reinforce the information at home with their teens and watch for signs of unhealthy relationships. abusers may think twice about their own behavior and seek ways to change since passage of the lindsay ann bar beckham rhode island, we have gotten support from the attorneys general and

the national foundation for women legislators. they apartment with us in our effort to support this law and past dating violence education. as a result of their efforts, several states have passed laws which bills pending in other states. however, i want to point out that some have been watered down due to lack of funding for implementation funding and leadership from the federal level is needed for comprehensive dating violence education for all teams. the last vawa created a program to educate teens for the protection act that would support training in school but is it has never received funding. this funding is exactly what states and school districts need to implement education laws permi. american teams are experiencing alarmingly high levels of abuse in their dating relationships. the survey found the parents are out of touch with the level of teen dating violence and abuse among their teens.

teens are not informing their parents and when they do, most stay in abusive relationships. this highlight the need to start funding. to do anything less is selling our children short. we should not delay. >> thank you very much. the next witness is colin campbell -- colleen campbell. she formally served as mayor of the city of san juan capistrano, california. she has endured tragedy several times in her life. the murder of her son, the murder of her brother, her experiences have made her a widely respected victim's advocate rights. i know this is not an easy thing but i appreciate you being here. >> thank you, thank you so much mr. chairman, and senators,

thank you for the opportunity to allow me to address you today. you are right. it is not easy but it is worth it if it helps. the violence against women act has been very -- a very important addition to help strengthen our nation's ability to assist women, victims of terrible sexual acts, and physical violence however, that act stand alone does not provide enough necessary means to address the crime and their victims. facing reality, our criminal justice system lacks to process and basic common sense. we acknowledge resources alone are not sufficient to bring to justice. they help. there are few issues in our justice system that have and will continue to affect hundreds of thousands of families. , just like mine.

the sad truth is, my family members -- and many others who would be alive today if our justice system worked like we intended to, like it should. instead, sadly and our home, our only son, brother, and sister- in-law, are all dead. all murder. ed. >> take your time. >> to adequately judge, it is important for our nation's decision makers -- this makes me so mad because i am a tough old broad. i want to be really tough and i am not and i know my husband is watching and that really ticks me off. [laughter] >> you are being as effective a witness as i have seen in 35 years. do not let it bother you a bit.

>> god bless you, sir. to adequately judge was going on, it is important for you, our national decision makers, to try and personally identified with the tragedy of crime and the truth in reality of what victims are forced to endure. it really sticks. you have taken on the huge responsibility of the most important job in our nation, the safety of our citizens. it is critical to the american people that you fully understand the truth in what is going on. we must have predictable sentencing and keep dangerous criminals behind bars. it is critical to have rapid access to dna to save life and say precious time for law enforcement and our crowded courts. it is also important to have a victim's present and heard at all proceedings for they know too much to keep them out of the court room.

i realize that it is more than important and it is impossible in a few moments to bring to you the real world of being a victim of crime. it is not a great thing and, by gosh, we have to stop it. for a quarter of a century without a break, my family has been for a living hell. the hell was furnished first 10 by the killers, the criminals who should have remained in prison. more hell was distributed by the justice system. if our justice system had worked properly along with many others, murdered family would be alive today. in 1982, our only son scott, disappeared from the face of the earth. we look for him for 11 months. two parolees had stolen his car and decided that if the car and

the summer missing, they would never get caught. the killers statement to the undercover agent was "we took him for an airplane ride, strangled him and thrown into the abyss of the goshen where the sharks would eat him and he would not be found." senators, what the killers have been given three indeterminate life sentences and was released only four years. the other killer was out of work furlough after killing somebody else. you see, both of these criminals have been given another chance. they were given their chance. we never have another chance to see our son. we are still going through the eight years of our son's murder trial. we were excluded from the court

room. my only sibling, although racing legend mickey thompson and his wife trudy were also murdered. it took another 19 years to get those killers convicted. from the very beginning, i was certain who killed them. naturally, their attempts on my life so they would not be brought to justice however, let me tell you, i am the proud daughter -- of a wonderful man who is captain and chief of detectives on the alhambra california police department. at a young age, he told my brother and me how to have courage and always do the right thing. i like hell of a good shot, by the way.

not too many victims have self- defense training to survive a quarter of a century of murderers wanted to take them up because they are trying to bring justice. i respectfully ask you to please place your cellselves in the pon we have been in and only then will you know the best steps to take to provide better safety for our citizens. i thank you for allowing me to set up here and slobber all over myself. [laughter] i guess it is because i've lived most of the night and i am tired but want to be here because i never want other people to endure what the rest of us have gone through. thank you, senators. >> ms. campbell, i am glad you took that flight. i'm sorry for what to endure before that. you have four former prosecutors here.

the things you have described should never happen to any victim. a crime should not have happened in the first place. delays and everything else after that should not have happened. we try in every way possible to get the resources, the training , the lot in rhode island -- -- the law in rhode island -- these are -- i think the murder cases that i've prosecuted, 75%-80% of them had tsteps been taken earlier, the way been avoided. there's nothing more tragic than being in a murder scene at 3:00 in the morning with blue lights flashing and people sobbing and

to have the "what if." thank you for what you said. you put a human face on what so many of us have seen in the past, thank you. sally wells is the chief assistant. it is a mob was of more than 600 attorneys. she has been an attorney for more than 20 years. she has a degree from university of virginia and a law degree from arizona state university. please go ahead. >> thank you, mr. chairman and members of the committee. bank you very much for allowing me the opportunity to present the views of the county office concerning the continued importance of the violence against women act and more

specifically, about the value of mandatory minimum sentencing for sexual assault and sexual abuse as well@q as prompted dna and hiv testing in cases of sexual assault and sexual abuse. we're located in phoenix, ariz., and we process -- we have more than 350 lawyers who prosecute more than 350 gallons per year. as chief assistant, i have prosecuted domestic violence cases, sexual abuse cases, and i currently oversee the specialized bureaus who focus on prosecuting those crimes. sexual violence causes lasting trauma to victims beyond physical injury. in many cases, these crimes go unreported due to the pier and trauma associated with sexual or violent person fear of

retaliation from the offender and fear of public scrutiny in our experience, it is not uncommon for a sexual offender who is finally caught to admit to other sexual assaults that were never reported. in 2004 statewide study of arizona, it was estimated that only 16% of all sexual assault ever came to the attention of law enforcement. with respect to the fear of public scrutiny, the value of education cannot be underestimated. the dissemination of accurate information about sexual offenders and their victims is essential to change public attitudes about these crimes so that victims do not suffer embarrassment or humiliation when they report sexual abuse. one message that should be clear in any statutory scheme and that should be part of any educational effort is that

sexual violence is one of the most serious of crimes. the punishment associate with sexual violence should be commensurate with the damage it inflicted. a mandatory minimum sentence of incarceration does send a bad message. with respect to the fear of retaliation, victims' suffering the physical and emotional trauma of sexual abuse and sexual assault need to know that they need a time to heal. victims need to know that the zero offender cannot return to inflict more pain or punish them for reporting a decline -- crime to authorities. a mandatory minimum sentence of incarceration sends that message and. . our statutory scheme in hours

and a sense that message. it is a class to felony, sexual assault. a person convicted of this is not eligible for probation. a person convicted of sexual assault is exposed to a presumptive sentence of seven years in prison. it mitigating factors exist, the sentence may be reduced to 5.2 years and about ridding factors are found, it may be increased. in every case, a victim may expect the offender to be in prison for at least five years. that five-year window of safety not only encourages reported and participation in court proceedings, it also gives the victim time to heal without fear of retaliation. in 2005, ours are not moved away

from classifying sexual assault of the spouse as a lesser crime and sexual assault. as part of that debate, i was asked by the legislature to provide some information about the effects such a change might have been reporting. some of our legislators were concerned that the higher penalties associated with sexual assault might discourage reporting. in looking at the past reported cases, the crime of sexual assault of a spouse was often accompanied by more serious offenses like kidnapping, which is a class to felony, or aggravated assault, a class 3 felony. the belief that a lower penalty would encourage reporting for sexual assault of a spouse or, if you want, that a higher penalty would discourage reporting was not supported by the evidence.

another important component in dealing with sexual abuse and assault is biological testing. along with the need to know they are safe from many diseases that offenders may have transmitted to them, they need the assurance that they are safe from those diseases. there are several arguments for early biological testing of suspects. although i am not a medical expert, prosecutors generally accept that if a victim reports significant exposure during a sexual assault within 72 hours of the assault, doctors can prescribe a 28 date measurement that will help the victim and prevent the contradiction -- the contraction of a chevy. the sooner this regiment is begun, the more effective it is. and the medication to present --

prevent hiv infection is expensive and because serious side effects. victims who do not know whether the attacker had a tidy are forced to choose between the risk of hiv infection or the risk of the side effects associated with the prophylactic treatment side effects could include liver enlargement or bone marrow suppression. information from prompt of vendor testing would alleviate the uncertainty in making that choice in. affirmation that the offender did not have hiv would allow the victim to feel safe. and begin to heal. in addition to biological testing, to insure the safety of the victim, another kind of testing plays a vital role in the investigation and prosecution of these crimes. dna testing of the suspect

insures the suspects are identified as early as possible. as i mentioned before, many sexual assaults by the same suspect go unreported. others are reported but the suspects are unknown. sexual offenses are often repetitive crimes. the ability to link these crimes to specific individuals early and to specific geographic areas helps law enforcement put an end to serial offenses sooner. sexual offenders are often linked to other types of crimes like burglary, criminal trespass or other types of felonies. dna evidence is important to create an accurate criminal history for suspects. it also eliminates suspects so that law enforcement resources are not wasted. dna sampling and testing also brings relief to victims who have lived for years -- a >> i am sorry to interrupt. we will put the rest of your statement in the record.

there will be a roll call votes and and i am trying to make sure we all have a chance for questions. centre sessions and i whispered to each other that the hiv testing is something that we strongly believe in. not only for being able to go on the medication you talked about but be able to avoid it if it is unnecessary and for the peace of mind, lord knows, there are enough things going to rape victim's mind to begin with. that is one that might be eliminated. ms. union, your story -- i am sure it is payable to tell but it has the effect and should be heard. go into more about what you said your statement that fortunately you were in a community could

afford to do the right things. heliport and is that -- how important is that? not only in catching the perpetrator but think you're referring to the counseling that goes along with that. can you elaborate on that please? >> the main difference and a wealthy community like the one i was raised in is that the system kicks in immediately for the rape crisis system is well- staffed. whether it was someone who speaks spanish or other languages, there would have been some of their to translate which is different if you are in an ethnic enclave community where the mind of every traveler. rural communities suffer for the same sort of thing. crimes that happen on the american reservations and urban communities do not have the same access to translators, to therapists, to counselors, too

-- a lot of states don't offer free hiv and st status -- testing. -- m s t d testing. i am more concerned about the victims. i would rather prioritize that money and offer free testing for hiv and aristide's victims -- andstd's immediately. it is those kinds of differences that took me from rape victim to rape survivor and i was able to be an active participant in the criminal justice system that allowed me to help apprehend a suspect in a timely fashion. it helped him get off the street. without the funding for rape crisis centers in all communities, we create a parallel universe of yet justice were only a few who are

raped in wealthier communities get the justice and the treatment. if you cannot get on the path of recovery and reclaim your dignity and integrity and get your melt and -- mental health issues in check, you have the left as a shell of a person. it is incredibly important to have those great crisis centers well stocked and well funded and properly trained. >> let me follow that up. i live in a town of 1500 people i live on a dirt road. my neighbor is half a mile away. that is not unusual in parts of vermont or california. rural california to make rural vermont look like an urban area. what about those areas? something happens in a very small town in vermont for california, what is available?

i would assume not what his union had available to her? >> that is an accurate description in rural areas throughout the country. the reality of being a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault in a rural area is that help is sometimes miles and miles away. there are barriers to finding transportation. in vermont, rural communities are small and one thing we likely aboke about living in a l community, it is nice but victims can i come forward because their relationships with people living around them. i have talked to many victims who have been living in rural communities in vermont and ohio where the law enforcement person in their town was actually the brother of the perpetrator. there are real problems for victims living in rural areas.

it is because of the nature and the towns and outlying areas where they live. the other factor is that in domestic violence of its secular, victims are isolated by their perpetrators in many ways. they are isolated socially from their families and friends and isolated economically from jobs and access to family assets. in rural areas, they are isolated geographically. they may live in very rural circumstances. i certainly have the experience ofnb visiting victims of domestc violence and have driven through creeks to get to the place where i was getting them. rural conditions are incredibly difficult for victims and offer -- the challenges are huge. >> thank you. my time is up but i would say that the lindsey ann burke, i

agree with senator white helps -- white house that education is appreciated. it would have been very easy to for you and your husband to say that you are shutting off the rest of the world. instead, you are helping people. ms. campbell, you're married in 1951, i was married in 1962 so it does not seem that long ago and more. i want to applaud the bravery of both you and your husband. these are things where it would be so easy to just run away and not participate. you have been very helpful to this committee. that is extremely important request senator, i appreciate your thoughtfulness and

kindness. it means a lot. you are very special and always have been buried >> thank you very much ms. wells, thank you very much. i will turn over the questioning to senator sessions and the gavel over to senator klobuchar. >> ms. wells, ms. campbell had described individuals, murderers, who had previous records that she readily believed should have been in jail and not able to commit these kind of crimes again. you are a professional and have been at this along time. i have come to believe that mathematics is a factor in all of desperate. there is not just that many

people who sexually assault women. there are a certain number of those repeat offenders who are exceedingly dangerous. from a purely public safety point of view, is important we identify those persons early and that they be incarcerated in order to protect the people of this country from this kind of violence? >> senator, you said it as well as i could say it, yes, that is critical. there are many studies already battered helping us to identify those persons. as soon as we can identify them, our goal should be to incarcerate them for as long as possible >> you represent a very sophisticated department. you have been at this a long time. you have personally tried these kind of cases. do you think there are other departments, district attorney

officers, a young prosecutors, may be young police officers, to deal with these cases and are not aware sufficiently to identify a person who may be a highly dangerous offender that needs to be given a longer sentence of as appropriate under the law? do you think we're missing some people? and damage because additional crimes that could be avoided? >> i do and i agree with one of my colleagues that said there is a new generation of police officers and prosecutors coming who have not had the education that i have. it is important to keep the continuity of that education and to keep doing the studies that help us identify those offenders. i believe that dna testing is one of the tools we have to identify people early. >> tell me about the dna out, in a sexual assault case, is important that the nab

determined and maintained -- that the dna be determined and maintained for future use? how does that work to solve crimes? and prevent crimes? >> anyone who watches television knows that dna has been vera vey useful tool in identify suspects and it can be preserved for a long time. hours on a passed legislation grizzly that requires dna evidence to be held for at least 35 years. that legislation was introduced by victims' groups because as we heard today, many sexual assaults are not reported or they are reported much later than they have heard. the offenders may not be identified for many, many years but the closure, the ability to find out who the culprit was, the offender was, and to find out maybe that they are in prison somewhere else because they have been doing this over

the course of their offender career, if you can call at that, is very important to victims. >> ms. union, the person that assaulted you, sexually assaulted a personal letter that same day, is that correct? >> it was a couple of days later. >> if you did not identify that person, the dna that was ÷=obtained immediately, investigators would know it is the same rapist, is that correct? if they had had a previous arrest for rape and they have that on record, you would know exactly who the person was. >> that is correct. as we heard today, to support you have databases so that law enforcement agencies in different jurisdictions can identify a single vendor. >> what is your opinion, ms. wells, on what other departments are doing with regard to maintaining dna around the country? you have any idea how well other departments are maintaining dna

in these sexual assault cases? >> i think more and more states are passing legislation to make sure dna is collected early. it is corrected from a broader range of suspects, not just suspects who commit sexual crimes. there are a number of crimes that seem to be precursors or associate with sexual crimes like blurry, petty theft, other kinds of felonies like that. many states are spending their dna testing to those offenders as well. so that if we can identify them early and stop it in one sexual assault, it is worth it. >> i couldn't agree more. ms. campbell, thank you for your testimony. ms. burke, that you for your work. i wish you had more time to talk about it. i'd think you're touching on an extremely important societal problem that we face and i am glad that you are showing that leadership. all of you, thank you for speaking up and being effective

on these issues. we have had, ms. campbell, you're part of the movement of the victims' rights and it has really changed the law enforcement mechanism. i think that is one reason that murderers are down substantially from what they were a 1980 when you lost your family members. i warn, however, about a movement as going soft on the lessons we have learned. certain people are dangerous. the fact that they attacked one person is indicative that they may attack another. we have to maintain tough sentences. i wish it wasn't so but we have to force certain dangerous offenders. thank you, madam chairman, and it is a pleasure to work with you. >> thank you very much. >> i have enjoyed your leadership on our delegation to canada.

it was a fabulous group and you did a great job. >> if you did pretty well, singing with the fiddler. [laughter] i won't reveal more. there was a lot of negotiations in canada. senator white house -- >> thank you. ms. burke, you have done such good work in this area. as we look to rhode island as a potential national model here, what further feedback would you give us on what elements of the lindsay ann burke program has been received, have been most effective, what are the lessons learned from what you have done that you think congress should focus on? >> i think the lessons learned have been the need for funding. the implementation of bill lot is working in rhode island because the association's

stepped up to the plate and said we would be willing to provide free training for school staff. 7rthere was no funding attachedo the bill when it was passed in rhode island. however, the drawback in other states is that many states have been tensions but they're very concerned, especially in these hard economic times, about the cost of training school personnel. i have gotten calls even this week from the state of ohio, from the mexico asking how we implemented lindsey calls law and what was the cost involved. for it to be successful in the amount of other states, we have to have funding. i also believe very strongly as an educator that we need to pass

lindsay's lot maintaining all the components of law. it would be a severe drop back to educate the students and not have the staff educated at the same time also, i think we would not want to leave their parents out of that equation. you need to educate all three at the same time i do not think it takes a great deal of funding not as much as some people would imagine because once your staff is educated and your help teachers are designated in other states, not all states require health education but what other teachers are designated to be the primary teacher of the student, once you have that training done, it only has to done -- be done sporadically for new hires. that could be in college education programs for student teachers. >> you want funding for the

program to be persistent every year? >> correct. initially, you probably need a substantial amount of funding and after that, in time, that number should drop down. it would be just for maintenance after that. i have seen firsthand the success. two of my former students have come back to me at difference times, won when to deprive a high-school and one that went where public bicycle and after learning about it in middle school, they found themselves in those types of situations do didn't to the nature of an abusive relationship. there were not aware at the beginning. in one case, the student recognize the warning signs and was able to get herself out. in the other case, it was the friends who had the education in a grade and recognize the signs and work with them to get

them out of the relationship. i know the education works. there's no doubt in my mind free radical students have a right to get that education. to deprive them of that education is simply wrong. we can save lives i was talking to katherine pearson last evening and i figure will be difficult to measure how many lives we are saving. many people will not come forward and tell us. long after they graduate, when we teach is education, we are teaching them life skills. it is no different than anything else that we teach in health class. we teach them about heart disease prevention, the chances of becoming involved in abusive relationships in high school are for > them developing heart disease in high school. >> i recall in 1999 when i was attorney-general, we did a film and high school and distributed khthat program e

test of persisted. i will take that lesson from you today. >> i was trying to find that tape to see if we could duplicated and handed out to our schools >> in my last seconds, for maxwell's, -- four of ms. wells, suspected perpetrators of sexual assault and obtaining dna samples, what level of suspicion do you recommend be reached before the testing can take place? do you require full probable cause or a more clearly articulated suspicion? at what point would be appropriate to require dna testing in the spectrum of suspicion from you have no idea

to we have a victim who has identified who the perpetrator is and we know there is. there is a wide band of suspicion. at what point should this kick in? >> in our state, and i agree, the standard is probable cause. that is the same standard that police used when they make an arrest. we also have a statute that allows a dna testing for certain crimes, not every crime, upon arrest or charging by a prosecutor. >> again, do probable cause. >> there is at least probable cause that the offender did commit the offense. >> that is adequate for your purposes? >> i think that is it fair balance. >> the very good. thank you, chairman. this is a wonderful panel of witnesses, i have to separate >> thank you and i want to also give my thanks to the courage for you ms. union and were you told that story. it is clear you are a survivor

and have you told us. ms. burke for the great work you are doing and ms. campbell, i know your husband was proud of you. you just showed him. i would not worry about that. thank you for your work. i want to follow but a few things that the other senators asked. senator sessions was asking about the dna which is incredibly important right now, one thing that i found recently in the last 10 years, we call at the csi effect, that juries are expecting to have dna and you might have a sexual assault that does not have dna or it might have a domestic abuse case that most likely will not have dna. we have lost a case or to, some smaller cases, because the jurors said later why there wasn't dna. our state was the last one or the prosecutors at the last word. we get that changed. do you want to comment on the evidentiary changes that have allowed -- one big issue was

allowing us to go forward with domestic abuse cases when the victim would not testify because we have other evidence from the scene. and what you have seen in the development of laws or evidence year techniques and technology to help with those cases where you don't have dna. >> you are absolutely correct. juries expect some kind of forensic evidence and especially dna in cases of sexual assault. that is probably the crime or this csi-the fact -- >> tourists expect this and if they don't have that than the person -- than they might think -- juries expect this and if they don't have that evidence, they might declare the suspect not guilty. >> there is a case where there was no dna and we could obtain a conviction for sexual assault. > we get pages of questions, was

the dna done? why wasn't it done? sometimes, because dna is a complex technical analysis, the questions get very detailed. some jurors have asked a very complex medical questions during the trial of a sexual assault case. it is very important not to lose sight of the fact that if you do not have dna, you still have to fall back on all the things we learned when we prosecuted sexual assaults before. interviews -- it to do as many people as possible. it is useful to tape record interviews. it is useful to get other kinds of evidence that corroborates what the victim has to say. even if you get dna, you should not stop there. you should continue to get all of that evidence because you do not know, maybe the dna will not

be admissible later on. it is still critical to investigate these crimes as early as possible. >> thank you. one thing you talked about with kids at the scene and his london home, the statistic i used was that a kid growing up to buy a home -- in a violent home was 76% more likely to commit violent crime. we had a picture of a woman with a band-aid on her nose and a baby in her arms. do you want to talk any advances that have been made. there has been more interaction with child protection in bringing them and so kids get help when they live in a home and kids can be witnesses to violence and what is happening with that. should we be looking at this aspect of it, as well?

>> beckham for the opportunity to talk about children live in violent homes. kids are at particular risk for the statistics i used as a kid living in a pile of homes are 300% more likely to be abused themselves. that is incredibly distressing. not only what are they more likely to commit violent crimes as adults but they are likely to suffer from abuse. a child is witnessing domestic violence is suffering from abuse. there have been great strides made for it i can talk about vermont. we are proud of the work we have done working with children. our world grant in vermont has greeted the opportunity for us to create a unique and innovative relationship with our children's protective services division of our state government. we were able to provide intensive training for child abuse investigators in that unit.

they are now experts. the work with victims of domestic violence and their kid spread in many cases, the victims of domestic violence are almost held accountable for the abuse their children are suffering at the hands of their abusers. in vermont, this innovative program allows go in and do an investigation and instead of blaming the victim for the abuse that the kids are suffering, they work with the victim to be able to bribe -- provide them with the support they need and make choices about living in a safe and peaceful home. >> very good. you did such a good job of talking about the fact that you had been raped in an area that had the resources that very much resonated with me. i have seen that in smaller counties that do not have the resources you may have a rape crisis center that does not have the resources. i want to bring up the issue of

the rape kits. we have been hearing there have been efforts to make a victim's pay for them. -- to make victims pay for them. >> we have had this discussion for the last few years. i live in california and there is a backlog. as a rape survivor myself, when your dna is collected, it is stuck in a brown bag. it sits on the counter. i see the line brown bags that children, women, men have. you become as brown bag. >> this is dna that could connect people to a crime and identify a perpetrator? >> 0 yes, and you know after working in this business, everyone who deals with rape and domestic violence, you realize there is a priority on certain brown bags.

they call them sexy victims. the victim's -- sexy victims are a white woman who is attractive and has money. if you're not a sexy victim, that includes african-americans, latinos, anybody who is not a young, white, educated attractive woman is not deemed a 60 victim. those cases are the ones that make up the bulk of the backlog cases. it is so transparent. when you sit there and see the row of these brown bags, it breaks your heart. when i talked to rape victims in the united states, i have to give them the same information because the likelihood of justice that you think you will get because you watch csi - they

took id and i and i wa -- they took might dna and i thought the rapist would be apprehended and i can get on the path of recovery and it does not work like that for the majority of people. when we start to prioritize certain people, we create a parallel universe of justice. that has to stop. >> all right, thank you for that point and that -- and as we look at this re-authorization, sometimes laws and funding is set back into a time when we did not have the technology and state laws that we have now. this is an opportunity to look at what we should be doing differently and better. to end on a positive note, you said this save taxpayers $14.8 billion in the first six years alone. can you comment about that and where you see those savings?

>> back in 1984, when i was a young person living in cleveland, ohio, i live next door to a family where the husband was violent but we have to tell the police officers there was a burglar outside our house to get them to respond. they would not come to that house if we call the police. that family -- the victim was left, there was no support for their no prosecution, there is nothing. that family went on and there were a family that was poor and used social services. it was fairly hopeless. today, that same family would be embraced with a social services net that would, in many ways, especially with the new economic justice work and our movement, it would not only help them maintain safety but help them move forward in their

economic goals. for me, it is money well spent. >> thank you. part of the successes we have had is a tribute to all of you and the way this movement has developed on the grass-roots level with victims saying they will not take it anymore and be willing to come forward and speak. i want to buy fuel for that. we're looking forward as a committed to working on this bridge is a bipartisan effort. it is strongly supported by both sides of the aisle. i want to thank you and wish you well. your courage is unbelievable and it will make a difference. thank you very much. this hearing is adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009]

[no audio] >> right now on c-span 2, american univ.'s campaign management institute continues with a session on absentee an early voting for instance are hearing from sarah simmons, strategy director for the john mccain presidential campaign. the course continues at 1:50 eastern with a look at campaign finance planning and major donors with the vice-president of the gay and lesbian leadership group. live coverage is on c-span 2. >> all this week, get a rare glimpse into america's highest court threw unprecedented, on the record conversations with 10 supreme court justices. >> once we hear the oral argument, we go the conference room and we sat around a table

and we talk about it. no one else leaves the room and then we vote on it. >> tonight, our interviews with clarence thomas. interviews with supreme court justices, 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span and get your own copy of our original documentary on the supreme court and dvd. it is part of the american icons collection, a three-disc set including programs on the white house and the capital. it is available at c- span.org/store. >> tonight on c-span 2, notable books, 2009. but tv looks of the best books of the year as listed by number of publications for the year.

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50 -- >> $50,000 available for the studentscam contest. created video and one of our country's greatest strengths or a challenge to the country. it must incorporate cspan programming and show varying points of view. enter before midnight, january 20. so far, in 2001, there have been 57 disaster declaration throughout the u.s., less than the 75 declared the previous year. however, several states are looking into requests after the winter storms over the holidays. now, a look at the needs of children during and after a disaster the fema director will testify before the subcommittee. this is about an hour-and-a- half. >> this is the subcommittee on disaster recovery which i am

proud and happy to chair. i thank the staff for helping prepare the meeting this morning today's hearing is entitled," focusing on children in disasters." the committee's objective today is to evaluate the various special needs of children during the preparedness, response, and recovery phase is a disaster and the extent to which our current planning and programs either meats or fails to meet these special needs. we are focusing on children and their needs for several reasons. first, children and most families are the focal point. parents who cannot find an available school or a day care center or access health care for the children may be forced to relocate after a disaster or worse, be forced to stay out of the work force when they are actually badly needed to help rebuild their community starting with their own home, churches,

and places of worship. according to the bureau of labour does tactics, about half the nation's families include children and 90% of those families include a parent that is a member of the work force. getting your work force back to work after a disaster is one of our primary goals. it seems to be very difficult if we are not doing our best to provide them help and support with proper placement during those daylight hours for their children, either in school or day care. we need to provide the mental health counseling that children need and families need to sustain themselves. we must be mindful of the fact that people can return to work or begin rebuilding until they locate a safe and productive environment. these parents are the nurses, the doctors, the first responders, the police officers, the gross restore owners, the gas station operators, the electric line repairman or other

citizens who play an important role in the communities of return. that means the provision of child care and reopening of schools must be a top priority. i would like to show a chart of the number of day care centers that were operating. .

every bit as important as the restoration of infrastructure, housing, and the return of the economic tax base. i would like to take a moment to commend ""washington times" for their particularly insightful articles. the last couple of days it was a coincidence they were running these in mind -- line with our hearing. i want to quote from one of the articles. almost four years after the massive hurricanes killed about 1800 people, millions of words have been written about the devastating physical damage to the city and hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on fitful efforts at reconstruction. but almost nothing is said and relatively little has been spent on the more silent wreckage --

the health of new orleans residents who were pushed over the age through the terror and turmoil and have not been able to recover emotionally or mentally. when i say no orleans, i mean the greater new orleans area, and in large measure you could almost substitute the gulf coast. local response plans must be provided for evacuation, shelter, continued care of children at facilities that are likely to be clustered at the time for disaster or call for evacuation either at day care centers, schools, hospitals, including neonatal wards and maternity wards. katrina showed us the impact of failing to include nursing home sector in our evacuation plans and we must ensure in the future that facilities that house other vulnerable members of our society are included fully in these planning processes. save the children issued a report last month called the

disaster decade, indicating shockingly that only seven states currently require schools and day care centers to develop a comprehensive evacuation and reunification plans. those states are alabama, arkansas, hawaii, the venture, maryland, massachusetts, and vermont. -- new hampshire, maryland. facility owners can be more to expand planning efforts. states may consider requiring these facilities to develop plans as some have already done. and obviously the federal government has a role to play. another concern raised is that child care is not eligible for funding under the stafford act as an essentials service. i plan to ask our fema director, creaaig fugate to address this.

we will also consider newborn infants and mothers who may be in hospital wards when disasters strike. according to hhs an average of 36 babies are born each day in new york city and in los angeles, 416. if an evacuation was called in any of those cities you could understand the difficulties of moving that kind of population if necessary. the senate version of homeland security bill for fiscal year 2010 includes an amendment i offered encouraging dhs to conduct a massive evacuation planning with the state and local governments and nonprofit, including monitoring, tracking, and continued care for neonatal and obstetric patients. women's hospital will testify in the second panel. they executed this function for the state during the response to the hurricanes katrina and rita and gustav and have a great deal

to share. my statement is much longer and i will summarize it for the record. but let me just say a few more things. after the hurricanes the demand for mental-health services spike due to increased trauma, depression, and substance abuse. that was combined with a loss of inpatient beds and workforce capable it that created a severe gap and strain medical workers and facilities, most communities and first responders. it is startling to know the lsu satire to department screens 12,000 children in schools and louisiana during the 2005-2006 year -- psychology department. 18 of them had a family member killed in the hurricane. 49% at the threshold for mental health referral. one year later the rate was lower but it was still 30%. 28% of displaced children in louisiana are still suffering from depression or anxiety. the suicide and attempted

suicide rates for adults are startling. i am going to include those in the record but some are reporting the suicide rates are three times higher than the national average. what struck me was not just the height of the suicide rates, but the number of people who had attempted suicide but failed was startling. it was something like, if i remember, 160 people committed suicide in one year but 750 attempted suicide. the crisis counselling assistance and training program is jointly and administered by fema and samsa to counsel survivors. we obviously need to do a great deal more. there is a chart that shows, if you will put up the confusing overlap of the number of federal programs that are available but they are very stove piped --

there is the other one. the chart. the number of programs that are available, this graph shows it in little bit better -- it shows it's a little bit better. some had eligibility requirements and some don't. i know this print is small but basically it is a list of different programs offered through federal government grant programs, etc., but there is no comprehensive community delivery system in my view in place right now to cover the extraordinary needs after a catastrophic disaster that affects a community the way it did to the greater new orleans area and in large swaths of the gulf coast. in conclusion of this statement i would just like to -- i am sorry, there are 21 different federal programs, as i indicated, and three of the 22 -- medicaid, schip, and head

start -- had income eligibility requirements. the consolidated appropriations act of 2008 established the national commission on children in disasters to conduct a comprehensive study to examine children's needs. mr. out there redlener or both members of the commission and we are pleased to have them today -- mr. schreiber -- mr. shriver and mr. redlener were both members of the commission and we are pleased to have been today. i would like to quote from a commencement address at ursula, my all moderate -- he spoke the year of the storm and he saidwld daughter wrote. he is saying, my daughter was

asked to write about her experiences of the past year when she came back to know orleans. and this is what she wrote. "there was a hurricane. some people died. some of them were kids." my daughter, he says,v:çç wasn she wrote that. it does not strike me what you would wish for a child to write in her first great journal, but there it is. you, all of us are marked by life by what happens. like it not, this storm and circumstances marked you. that was part of chris rose's comments to the graduating class, we call them up katrina class that graduated because it will be four years this august, who graduated in may. the freshman in high school and college when the storm hit. and the kids who were in kindergarten and now fourth grade -- soç they knowç themss as the katrina class. i think this is the first place to start the hearing because these are real resultsçw3ççì+

terrible catastrophe that happens. we are still struggling with how to respond better, how to plan, how to recover, how to respond, and the needs of children are of primary interest to me and particularly the mental and emotional needs for the community at large as we seek to build a better and stronger community. with that, let me submit the rest of my statement to the record. q%i would like to introduce the first panel. weç have craig fugate, administrator of fema, who has been on the job now for six -- two monthsç. he is already making some very positive changes. real admiral nikole lurie, assistant association for preparedness -- nichole lurie. cynthia bascetta, head of

accountability office that issued a report. i will then introduce the second panel at the appointed time. mr.d8 fugate, let's begin with you. and thank you fori] being here this morning. >> good morning, chairman -- chairwoman landrieu. i submitted my written testimony. and i have some opening remarks, if that is ok with you. >> that's fine. them as a paramedic one of the things i was taught early on -- >> as a paramedic, one of the çthings i was taughtç earlyçn emy is children are not small emy adults. it may seem like seemduh, but not only the pharmacological needs are different but it goes to the all aspects that an adult you just don't size down to a child and at the same outcome. you have to focus on children --

there blain development, mental capabilities, and physiology is vastly different. your treatment approach has to be geared toward a child. not merely taking what you would normally do for an adult and make it smaller. i think that is one of the challenges we have looking at planning. historically when we look at communities and might planning documents, my observation is we tend to write plans for us, the adults, the people who have high school education, the speak englishç, they have aç car, ty drive, they have resources and they can pretty much take care of much of theirw3 needs. we tend to run a plan for that population. then we goç back and go, well,e have this other group. they have different challenges. we need a broader plan for those, so we come up with a second plan, third plan, fourth planned. that has been our approach. we are going to do something different. based upon the concerns raised by the commission and the gao reports and issues you raised,

we decided to take a different approach at fema and instead of writing the plan for adults and try to figure route how we deal for everything else, let us write plans that reflect the community's we live and. they have children, there are people with disabilities. frail elderly. let us stop putting those population and a special block that we will get to and let us put it in the beginning. let's start with children. there are crosscutting issues. not just disasters but in the daily delivery of service programs that often times we don't take advantage ofç when disaster strikes. there are many things that think we look at, children up front at the beginning, across all of the areas -- and starting internally with the mud -- but we also want to work with our partners because as we continue this journey as i completed my second month and look forward to completing my third, i hope, fema is not the team but it is part of the team. we have to do a better partnership with several

partners because they have the expertise on how the programs are delivered. the needs that are faced -- boast -- both physical needs an emotional and mental support. we know historically in disasters, high stress and the events that children face. the quicker we are able to get to a sense of providing routine, intervening for early, the better the outcome for the children. that means you cannot just look at what fema is able to bring but look at how we are able to take existing programs in the community and leverage that, and particularly, looking at our federal partners and their expertise helping us to design programs to achieve a change in how come they're not just looking atç the administrationf a grant program and hope we get where we need to go but getting our partners to drive the process on how we need to structure the programs to affect real change.

we put together and have worked with secretary napolitano to form within fema a working group whose sole focus is to make sure that throughout fema we are addressing children issues from preparedness grants, training, exercising, all the way through response recovery activities. we continue to work on these issues, everything from some of the issues with unaccompanied children -- all right, working with the center for missing and exploited children, establishing ai] childç locator center, worg with some of our programs like citizen core where we have a community response team that now has programs designed for teenagers. also looking at how we incorporate this across state and local partners. daycare centers in particular are a challenge because in a hurricane, these will be closed down as people realize with parents when the evacuation

order is issued but an earthquake could happen during this time frames. we have had other incidents when children are in school. we know if people don't have good family communication plans and they don't know where the day care centers and schools are doing, it can cause stress to the families we are trying to unite. with that, i will conclude my opening remarks and look forward to the questions. >> thank you. admiral? >> good morning, madame chairwoman, and thank you first for your continued interest and support of the issues we are here to talk about today. as a we are coming up on anniversary of hurricane katrina and reflect on end, it has been a really good time for us again to reflect on both the strengths and the gaps that remain in our national emergency preparedness response and recovery efforts. we all know that throughout this -- and you pointed out and mr.

fugate has -- that children and their families are often the mostçót( impacted and bear the t long lasting scars. let me say first, having spent a lot of time in new orleans, my ezç those who continue to suffer. what i want to do is talk tu you briefly about h h s's efforts in the na&q four years to address particularly the needs of children -- hhs's efforts. çqevacuation of neonatal and obstetric patients as well as mental health. we know prepared this is a critical part of what we do. we are completely in synch with mr. fugate about the need to plan with -- for the entire community as it is. and communities are different and we need to plan up to their needs. for that reason now my office has now more than 30 regional emergency cord naders who are actually on the grounds in communities, sort of the eyes and ears to know how to plant -- emergency coordinator is for

adulate on the ground in the communities, sort of the eyes and ears to know how to plan. ççt(xdby way of example, one e important programs that we have got under way in the past couple ofvç [eim are partnerships to really look across the population spectrum and to integrate really at the front and all of the groups that might be considered in the of vulnerable category because we add them up there is an awful lot of the population that is vulnerable, a pediatric populations often rise to the top of the list. other kinds of programs we developed in response to this include training curriculum for school crisis teams, disaster communication messaging, and a lot of work to develop programs in emotional first aid to early on address those emotional and mental health needs of children.

it is important, as we just heard, to do this at a developmentally appropriate level. that means across the whole age range of kids, as well as adults. çthe national child traumatic stress network has been really instrumental in this regard and like the psychological first aid field operations died immediatelyç after the hurrica. we're really proud of the fact that those materials have been picked up and adapted throughout the country. ççççon a response side, obvy during an emergency it is critical to support the state efforts, toq provide quick and competent assistance to everybody. t(ççthe national disaster medl system is the primary federal program that supports patient care and transfer during this evaluation of patience. it has both pediatric and obstetric capacity,çç and i tk

since the storms, has really worked very hard to upgrade its training, it's material, and transportation capacity s' this regard. çthis ranges from specialized equipment, transport teams that are specially trained and capable, and to make sure all of the teams have the special capabilities involved in them. in addition, as i think you know, the pediatric disaster coalition was formed in a region includingw3 orleans and the gulf coast and it has been focused on notç only getting people!óut but identifying the appropriate receiving facilities for these children and their families and anyone else and being sure that everybody knows about them and that that planning is integrated in the community operations plans at every level. çóçmental health needs can't be separated from the rest of other children's response needs and how we respond early on is

really going to impact the mental health of children and their families going forward. the crisis counselling assistance program is an example of collaboration between hhs and fema as this is administered by substance abuse and mental health administration and has crisis counselors routinely workingt(ç in places children congregate. ñrthe national child traumatic stress network also has a cadre of rapid response teams that can be mobilized nationally, regionally, or locally after a presidential directive. recovery is really complex and i think as we all appreciate, it has really been under-attended to, and we are really excited but the directionçó fema is takingç in but children's discovery efforts. hhs also started its own recovery coordination efforts and now has recovery court

naders identified in each of different -- district. and the concept of operations that integrates many of the stove typeç programs, particularly in the hhs family and we are continuing to workço build back out. i0(8%9- we have made a great deal of progress in addressing the needs of children in disaster and last four years. weç also had a long way to go. ç-- will also have a long way o go and i think we will be the first to tell you that. as we look to the future, we çhave a lot of planning and preparednessçó efforts underway there is terrific research that has been started over the last four years. we have to take it and translate into practice and best practices that will help communities all over the country. on the ground, we are committed to the highestç level of planning, response, and assistance for recovery for

children in emergency evens. we are most appreciative of the important work the national committee on children in disasters has done to highlight these important efforts. i also want to call out the work of the national by of the sense science board which had a work group focus very specifically i jz the importantçw3 needs and children and family going forward. we are now moving forward to integrate a number of those efforts. çi think during the q&a -- >> if you could wrapç up. >> we could tell you moreç abot those things. so, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> ms. bascetta. >> thankç you for allowing me o testify on a recent report on barriers to mental health services for childrenç in grear new orleans and to update you on the recommendations to fema in its efforts to support states faced with mental health

consequences ofi] catastrophic disasters. my remarks will be a reminder whyok asper and seen a's commitment to children is important. the psychological trauma experienced by so manyç childrn inok the after man --ç aftermaf katrina increased depression, i]ptsd, risk-taking behavior and other potentially long lasting behavioral and emotional effects. it is well known that chil&n greater risk of developing mental health disorders. çrecovery and a recovering thrt of hurricanes may further exacerbate that trauma. against this backdrop we found persistent barriers to providing and obtainingç mental health services although federal grants are helping to address them. lack of mental health providers was identified as the number one barrier to providing services. the designation of the parishes of the greater new orleans.

as mental health professional shortage areas under scored the barrier and state data showed a large decrease in the number of psychiatrists and clinical social workers to receive medicaid and chip reimbursement. to what address this shortage funding provided incentives to almost 90 mental health professionals who either relocated to or decided to stayç in new orleans. /e&athe secondy identified. is the sustainability of funding. we found that although most of the federal grants we identified existing -- existed before katrina, the heart can related programs have been a key source of support for mental health services for children. much of this funding is temporary and it is too early to know whether sustainability can be achieved by these programs. )riersççz?3qç toe programs. and the0cñ9)th$rççt( wereç af transportation, competing family

priorities, and concern about stigma. officials told usçthñ8 fundingm several programs had been used to provide children of transportation to mental health services, although none of the programs were designed solely for that purpose. examples includexd medicaid, the community mental health services block grant and social services block grants as low as funding. similarly, block grants and disaster housing assistance program funds were used to help family struggling with housing, unemployment, and other expenses. there was also federal support -- support for case management and referral services designed to help families locate and maintain mental health services for their children but we found a lack of continuous and reliable funding. still -- stigma as well as transportation and competing family priorities was addressed by the use of federal funds to support services the liberty in schools.

during the 2007-2000 school year 9 school based health centers for operating and at least four more were in planning stages. the advantages of the school settings are that first, it is not obvious students are receiving mental health services. second, the transportation problem is solved. third, the financial burden on the family is reduced because parents don't have to take time off from work and services are offered at low or no cost. stigma can also be reduced by media campaigns including the one run by fema and at a crisis counseling program. we made a recommendation to fema on february 2008 to improve the program by revising its reimbursement policy to pay for indirect costs as it does for other post disaster response grant programs and by determining what types of expanded crisis counseling services should be incorporated into ccp. expanded services would provide

more intensive services, especially in the aftermath of a disaster when provider availability can be limited. fema and samsa at all the states to provide pilot programs along the lines. fema also recently concurred with additional recommendations we made to expedite and improve the effectiveness of its case management services. taking these actions expeditiously before the next disaster would improve services for children and their families as well as all adults. that concludes my remarks. >> thank you very much. i would like to call attention, before i get into questions, to two charts that i think are very telling. the first is to my left. your right. you will see the green lines or bars, mental health resources in

new orleans in august of 2005. çóso, starting from the left, emergency rooms in new orleans -- 9. sidetracked -- site -- psychiatric beds, 350. çgreater new orleans, 668. physicians, 617. psychiatrists in new orleans, 196. number of doctors participating in medicaid, 400. when you go to the orange, two years after the storm, you think you would be sort of well on your way to recovery two years after the storm. we are going into the fourth year. but in 2007, instead of having 350 psychiatric beds we had 77. instead of 617 physicians in new orleans we had 140.

instead of 196 psychiatrists we had 22. and instead of 400 doctors participating in medicaid we had 100. just this one chart shows there is something terribly wrong with the system of support at either the state and federal level for shoring up the core of mental health stability in a community. it is one thing to talk about, you don't have access to medal -- mental health the to lack of funding. if you don't have the professionals to deliver the services you can start with this chart and work backwards. you don't have enough physical beds, you don't have enough professionals.

this is two years after the storm when you would think that people would be really trying to return after a catastrophe. this is not four years, this is two years. and the trauma that occurs in a community struggling with limited services -- i want to call your attention to the next chart i would like to put up. this one here. this is the child care center situation as of august, 2007. there are a couple of pretty startling graphs. again, two years after the storm. this is two years. hundreds of thousands of people have fled to houston, atlanta. they are trying to get back. the neighborhood has finally been cleared of environmental concerns. they are coming back to try to build their life. this is what they find it two years after the storm.

the blue is the number of child care centers in the greater new orleans. open before katrina -- 275. the green is the marker of august of 2007, 100. in jefferson parish, that was not as affected, 197 and then it was i think down to 170. but this is very interesting to me -- in st. bernard, the small little bars on the side. saint bernard was a parish of 67,000 people that was virtually completely destroyed. only five homes survived in the whole entire parish. before the storm there were 26 day care centers in st. bernard parish. very tight knit, working-class, middle-class community. two years later after all of our combined efforts, which

obviously weren't enough, they only had two day care centers open. two in a paris that was completely destroyed. my question would be, if we are asking parents to return and rebuild their communities, how is it past -- possible for parents to do that if there are only two day care centers and the whole parish? should they strapped -- strap their children on their backs, or bring their children in and let them sit in the gutted home while the parents gut their homes and taken place in the dirt and the nails? i'm not understanding how we think that the system that we have is appropriate in any way, shape, or form. so, i could show you the statistics four years out from the storm, but this really grabbed me that i saw after two years of all our efforts there were two day care centers opened

in st. bernard parish. so my first question is to you, mr. fugate, what is fema focused on about providing safe places for children -- whether it is schools, they care opportunities -- while parents are struggling to rebuild their communities after a catastrophic disaster and what would some of your comments be about what you heard this morning? >> medin chairwoman, mark shriver, he was probably one of the first meetings after i was sworn in. he laid out concerns and issues mainly that you have laid out and asked the same questions. the easy answer would be to put another box and we will write a plan for children and that would satisfy everybody's concerns. however, i didn't think that was going to be real change. as we talked with

members of the commission and we had a chance to go to one of the commission meetings, i kept asking, we have historically looked at special populations as an afterthought and i said let's try something different. maybe it is just semantics. why don't we right plans for the community and quit writing plans for just one part of the community, the people who can pretty well take care of themselves, and look at the needs of the community. as you point out, my experiences in the hurricanes, one of the things we're really pushed hard to do was to get things like prepay and schools open -- pre- k. we recognize the stress children going through and we cannot have the mental health facilities in -- all the hospitals and at one county were shut down. we know if we had schools we could bring counselors to the schools. it is not that we wanted schools back to normal but getting them

open and children back in an environment that would get them in a routine that will give them a chance to start dealing with this but also their parents chance to deal with what happened. the challenges have been when you get to day care, it depends upon states and localities, but that can be a quasi-state function, local, private or all. with the looking at the government's responsibility has been. the commission -- we don't have time for the report. as soon as you guys identified as, how you go back, the stafford act, grants, training, to start encouraging and recognizing that children from in the home -- again, you cannot just do one for all children but you have to look development lay a -- developmentally from infant of through certain

grades. how do we change will we're doing that if disaster strikes we address these issues? >> i appreciate that comprehensive look. it brings me to the other point where you say fema is a partner in this ever. yes, i do believe that fema is a partner. but i would say fema is the leader. the much should be the experts on disaster with your other federal partners. -- fema should be the experts on disaster. it should be the driver, motivator, the communique appeared i look at fema and homeland security as not being the only entity that responds but being the lead entity that helps coordinate and manage your other federal partners, gives guidance to your state and local partners, provides technical assistance and support to the private sector. but i wouldn't just say that fema is any old partner, it is

the lead. number two, when we talk about day care centers, part of this is -- you are right, some of them are nonprofit. some of them are government operated and run. and some of them are for profit. but a good plan that would make sure that head start teachers and early childhood education teachers and counselors are part of that first responder team coming back for rebuilding. loans from the small business administration to make sure that these day care centers can get the loans that they need and think about how difficult it is for a for-profit day care center operator under our current laws and current requirements to get a $200,000 loan to reopen a day care center. any bank or any under wrigglers system will say, why are you

open a day care center, there are no children in your parish. she says, we will never have children in the parish unless i open and provide a space for them. she's not, or he's not deemed credible or the business plan is "not viable." that is true on its face, but that is where the federal government has to step up and say under normal circumstances you would not lend this person to hundred thousand dollars to open a day care center where there is no children, but under this disaster response plan -- we will require you to london at lower interest rate or if you don't get a big care center back into the parish you will not have a parish back because i have to be safe places for children in order for parents to return. i would submit another thing that is all interconnected. and i think, mr. fugate, you hit the nail on the head.

when we are trying to encourage doctors to come back. we think of them as doctors but we don't think of them as parents. most of them are probably parents with children. they can't come back of their is not a day care center or school for their children. so all of the efforts to rebuild a community are really spinning our wheels if that plan, as you said, does not have in his absence rebuilding safe places for children which represent not only a special population but a central population to the families that we need to rebuild. i just think that has really been overlooked. they said there has been a vote called -- and unfortunately because i am here by myself, i'm probably going to need to call a two-minute recess and come back -- so if the committee will stand in recess for two minutes, i will go vote and we will come back and i will have a few more

questions for the final panelists and we will most probably at 11:00 or a little after to the second panel. thank you, and the committee will stand at recess for five minutes. >> t. we all for your patience and our meeting will resume. --xd thank you all for your patience. i have a couple of questions and because of time i will submit the rest in writing. let me ask again, mr. fugate, you heard the gao recommendations for fema to modify program rules to allow reimbursement of indirect costs

when it comes to mental health counseling. how did you receive this recommendation, and what are your plans to implement it, and if not, what will you do as an alternative? >> senator, we receive them favorably. we have been working with hhs to go through implementation. we are, i believe, getting to the point of finalizing them and sending them out for final comments. but we did receive these recommendations favorably. we are working to achieve that. and those are things that are still in process. but i think it goes back to earlier when i said we are part of the team. on behalf of the secretary of the present my job is to coordinate all the federal family when the government requests it. but part of it is recognizing subject matter expertise and existing programs have to be part of the response. that is what i was referring to

as part of the team. i don't think fema is the good job understanding and working with partner agencies and we have defaulted merely to the stafford act, which may be appropriate in some cases but not be the most effective way and does not pull upon existing expertise and programs in the community. that is why we will use the children's working group to step by from the traditional female- centric approach focused on stafford and look at what the family has leveraging it as a team -- to step back from the traditional fema-centric approach. how will leverage the stafford act, as you showed a chart, not having the locals and the state had to figure route who got what we can present a program that focuses on outcomes, and in this case, on children as the federal family working under the

authority the president has a vested in fema to support. >> i think your analysis that it has been a fema-centric approach and an easy changes that fema is the leader, coordinating, ending the link and designing the programs, not necessarily assuming the responsibility to deliver them all but have been delivered through partnerships. one more question, and then a few others. in november of 2005 i led the effort, along with senator kennedy dennis senator enzi, and without the report of those two senators i have to say publicly it would never happen. senator kennedy and senator enzi led an unprecedented effort to establish basically a plan for the 300,000 children that had been displaced from the storm in the week of august 29,

which is approaching soon, to try to find them a school somewhere in america where they could start school on a monday, the following monday, because children who are out of school have to skip a whole year. under their extraordinary leadership bear plan was implemented and basically provided -- their plan was implemented and basically provided vouchers for children to attend school for that year and as a result of the katrina class graduated, many of them. this was one time, though. my question, mr. fugate, are you going to recommend a continuation of the plan, and if so, how, and if not, what plan is going to put in place of the next time a catastrophic disaster happens? >> again, that is one of the issues we want to raise with the childrens' working group. in florida, our experience was, when we looked at fremont

registration, 25,000 families had come to florida. they were not part of a direct evacuation. either through churches or family associations or just coming to florida. we were able to make a decision in a state of florida that any of the folks who had children that were school age -- we did that through the state department education. and we did that across the board, realizing at some point we had to look at how we come back to our federal partner agencies that provided funding and get funding. we didn't want to is take money from the state of louisiana but we did recognize many of these would be additional burdens to the local tax authorities. we want to come back and go, what is the best mechanism. if there is a children coming in the state -- if there are children coming into the state, how we provide this -- assistance without -- >> i would respectfully suggest

you look at the program that seemed to look amazingly well. again, it was a symbol voucher program, up to $7,500, i recall -- simple the altar program. like going from private school to public or public to private, or catholic. a program that's not some place within the first week of disaster if it is catastrophic -- a program that snaps into place with in the first week of the disaster of there is a catastrophe. you have to have a button you pressed. right now, as i understand it, even though the senators put it in place for katrina and reed said, it was one time and it is not in place today -- katrina and rita. so it's a disaster happens this summer and either texas or mississippi or alabama is hit and hundreds of thousands are

displaced, we have to start over again and get an active congress that gives people confidence there is a backup plan in the event their school is destroyed. i only raise this to say what we have done a lot of talk and we have had actions, there are so many other steps that need to be taken. one more question to gao -- goa. recently released another report on disaster case management program. case management are meant to help clients get job training, relief supplies, access to critical services. particularly after a disaster case managers can be extremely helpful to try to make sense of things, trying to identify the programs that are still operating and out there and making them real for clients. what in your study could you share with us about the need for

case managers? did we have enough on the ground? how did the case management were generally? i think you testified on this. can you elaborate? >> overall, because of the chart you showed with the multiplicity of funding streams, case management is really important. çit is very difficult for families, especially low income families are families under stress, to figure out how they themselves can put together the package of services they need to stabilize and regain their self- sufficiency. we had two major findings. one was as we found in the mental health. there was a significant lack of case management providers and also limited referral services. this links back to the fact that if there are not enough providers in the areas there are not enough to refer people to. the other major concern was

sustainability of funding and breaks in funding. there was one situation in which a federal program was about to make a handoff to the state. at the state program wasn't up and running so there was a two- month gap in case management services when families were unable to access anything and all. that is correct. >> i understand catholic charities stepped forward, which is a very reputable, large, capable non-profit, stepped forward to provide case management but under the current law they were not allowed to recoup indirect costs. as a result, they were basically losing money as a nonprofit trying to deliver services for the federal and state government. is that your understanding? >> i am not sure you have the details of the situation you are describing. i know catholic charities dropped out as a provider of crisis counseling services because they were not able to

recoup indirect costs, and that was part of the basis of the recommendation to expedite that reimbursements under fema's rules. >> thank you all very much. i am going to ask the second panel to come forward. i really appreciate your participation and i look forward to continuing to work with you. as the second panel comes forward, just to save time, let me begin to introduce them. our first witness will be mr. marc shriver, who served as the first share of the national commission on children and disasters. the commission authorized -- tasked with the duties to conduct a comprehensive study to examine children's needs as they relate to all hazards anybody with existing laws, regulations, policies, and programs relevant to the needs of children during

and after a disaster. he is also vice president and managing director of u.s. programs for save the children, he served in the maryland house of delegates and is not new to this subject or leadership. we are pleased to have mr. shriver. dr. redlener also serves on the national commission on children and disasters. president and co-founder of the children's health fund with -- which works to educate the general public about the needs and barriers to health care. i must say on a personal note he stepped up after katrina and rita, working through senator clinton's office at the time to give encouragement to us on the gulf coast and we are grateful for your help and support. finally, ms. teri fugate, chairman and chief executive officer of women's hospital and batteries. she assumed this position in

1996. she chairs the louisiana hospital association professional and general liability trust and is leading one of the finest hospitals in my view in louisiana that serves as expertise in birthing and maternity for 8500 children every year and is the designated hospital in louisiana to be the leader in disaster preparedness and response for this neonatal group which is a very special group of infants we need to pay attention to. let us start, mr. shriver, with you. >> thank you very much, madame chair, for hosting this hearing and your interest in this issue. i have submitted a long report and, frankly, you said most of the things i was a interested in saying. just what the record i am mark

shriver, chair of the national commission on children and disasters. i just want to summarize, madam chair, and say a couple of quick facts. the bottom line is children are 25% of the population, yet the federal government and state governments and really all across the board, we have spent more time and energy and money to focusing on the needs of pacs in disaster planning response that we have on kids -- focusing on the needs of pets. 25% of the population received less time, focus, resources than pets. we think in this country and situation is absolutely outrageous. kids, as we all know and as you eloquently said, among the at risk and specialties population. as mr. fugate has said, what he is proposing to do at fema through the efforts over there

are really an exciting for step in the right direction to address children's needs and a comprehensive and effective manner rather than window dressing. a little background on the commission. we had the first meeting last year. our interim report is due october this year and final report is due in 2010. we had a field hearing in baton rouge where mr. redlener join me as well. we gathered entities to gather information, and those folks are not just federal or state and local government but non-profit as well. i do want to comment again what administrator fugate started at fema is very exciting. i just want to say a couple of quick words on child care. he already had but save the children a report of their --

and thus save the children report up there. the fact is following a disaster if you don't have child care facilities you have a loss of economic opportunities. save the children's disaster decade report shows only seven states meet the basic care providers to have basic written emergency plans in place addressing evacuation, reunification and accommodating children with special needs. seven states in the country have the basic minimums in place. that, too, i think it's absolutely outrageous and should be addressed, can be addressed through federal legislation and some of the steps we are proposing are in my written statement. but i will just highlight a couple of them. mr. fugate talked about the stafford actçççxdqçw3ok, chin deemedxd a social service. çcurrentl'sñç we are supportivf this çwe think funding is necessary

for the establishment of temporary emergency child care and recovery of child care infrastructure. child-care development block grants are being authorized. we would propose that during the reauthorization that state child care plans include guidelines for covering temporary emergency child-careç standards after disaster, that that they made a requirement. and states are also required to have child care providers have comprehensive hazard planssthat and corporate specific capabilities such as shelter in place, evacuation, relocation, family reunification, staff training, continuity of services and children with special needs. the federal government has the ability to put these requirements in the block grant reauthorization and we encourage you to look into that. i know time is of essence but i will wrap up by saying a lot of the ideas you and your staff have been working on and mention that today are critically important.

i would only encourage you as chair of this commission and member of the nonprofit committee to -- community to follow up and fall again. if you don't hold everyone's feet to the fire, kids, because they don't vote, and particularly poor kids who are not actively engaged in the political process, you are their voice. if you don't stand up or your staff does not fall diligently they will unfortunately suffer from benign neglect -- which someone told me was the modus operandi in the past and i do not think that is the way the country should be acting for poor children and especially vulnerable poor children. >>w3 i know want to note for the record that administrator fugate state for the second panel. it is important to me that he did not testify and leave but he is staying to hear these comments, and i appreciate it.