Book Description

This document presents testimony regarding the impact of violence on children. The opening statement of Senator Dodd discusses the exposure of American children to violence and notes the Senator's introduction of the "Child and Family Services and Law Enforcement Partnership Act," an act proposed to provide children exposed to violence with immediate assessment and intervention by child mental health professionals and to augment community policing efforts by providing training for law enforcement in child, family, and cultural issues. Testimonies are provided by: (1) Brandon Green, a 7-year-old boy who had recently witnessed a murder; (2) Liany Elba Arroyo, a 16-year-old girl who is working with a group of friends to curb violence in her community; (3) Carmen Siberon, director of Case Management for Bridgeport (Connecticut) Futures Initiatives, a community partnership that administers programs for high-risk youth; (4) Wayne Meyers, a shooting victim who is wheelchair-bound and a member of the P.O.W.E.R. (People Opening the World's Eyes to Reality) Group; (5) Byrl Phillips-Taylor, a mother whose adolescent son was shot and killed by a classmate; (6) Megan McGillicuddy and Tiffany Cruz, fifth graders from a school where the principal was gunned down; (7) Deborah Prothrow-Stith, assistant dean of the Office of Government and Community Programs, and director of Violence Abuse Programs, Injury Control Center, School of Public Health, Harvard University; (8) Joseph E. Marshall, Jr.; codirector of Omega Boys Club; (9) Ron Fox, member of Omega Boys Club; (10) John S. Pritchard, III, first deputy police commissioner of the New York Police Department and national vice-president/president-elect of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives; (11) David E. A. Carson, chief executive officer of People's Bank in Bridgeport, Connecticut; and (12) Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund. Additional materials are appended. (NB)