Senators Expand Plan for Tobacco Settlement Funds to Include Child Abuse Prevention

Four Senators who are drafting distribution plans for Oklahoma's share of the national tobacco settlement are adding another area to their list: child abuse.

Just two weeks ago, Senators Angela Monson, Ben Brown, Ben Robinson and Bernest Cain unveiled a proposal which would deposit half of the state's tobacco settlement in an interest-earning trust fund and distribute the other half to programs ranging from before and after school programs to expanded health care opportunities for the elderly, the disabled and the uninsured.

The lawmakers announced today they are amending the proposal to include funding for so-called "multidisciplinary" child abuse teams.

"Child abuse is one of the greatest problems facing our society, but when budget times get tight, it sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of other issues. This would ensure that it would have a stable source of funding for the foreseeable future," said Senator Brown.

The multidisciplinary approach coordinates existing resources into teams of professionals - law enforcement, prosecutors, social workers, counselors, etc. - who work together to ensure that no aspect of the child abuse problem falls through the safety net of state and local services.

A number of multidisciplinary teams are in place across the state, but most face funding problems.

"The teams are out on the front lines of the child abuse battle, saving lives that might otherwise be lost. They're doing a good job with what they have, but they could do even more if they were adequately funded," said Senator Cain.

"We would ultimately like to expand the use of multidisciplinary teams, but like all things, that will require more money. We have a unique opportunity to dedicate a solid source of funding to child abuse efforts and we should seize it," added Senator Robinson.

With the latest addition, the tobacco settlement distribution plan proposed by the four Senators includes several target areas designated to receive annual funding:

• Multidisciplinary child abuse teams;
  
• Before and after care programs in the public schools;
  
• Early childhood education programs;
  
• Tobacco education and prevention programs;
  
• Teen counseling and violence prevention programs;
  
• Expanded health care opportunities for the elderly, the disabled and the uninsured.

"We know that a lot of interests are competing for tobacco funding, but we believe our program would produce the most positive, long-term benefits for the people of Oklahoma," said Senator Monson.