4 months ago
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA - Child Protective Services says it has until the first of the year to find $133,000 to pay for medical exams for abused or neglected children.
According to Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully, in 2008 over 800 kids under the age of 6 were removed from their homes after going through a medical examination showing 55 percent of them were physically abused.
Scully is advocating that First Five, a group that supports healthy development in the first five years of a child's life, step in and fund the medical exams.
"First Five should put their signature on this one and fund it, for as long as they can. They're sitting on approximately $70 million," Scully said. "This is about $133,000 to $134,000 to fund it for a year."
First Five receives funding from the Children and Families Act, a proposition that California voters passed in 1998. The Act imposes taxes on all tobacco products to support health, childcare and other programs for expectant parents and children 5 years old and younger.
First Five Executive Director Kimberly Dahl said CPS will present their proposal in November and the First Five Commission will consider its request.
News10/KXTV
