Institution of Higher Education Monetary Penalty Endowment Act
Annual Report 2021
Act 1 of 2013, better known as the "Endowment Act," charges the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) with the responsibility of administering $48 million in funding that resulted from the settlement reached between State Senator Jake Corman, former State Treasurer Rob McCord, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) in January 2015.
Endowment Act funds may only be used within this Commonwealth for the benefit of the residents of Pennsylvania, and on any of the following:
- Programs or projects preventing child sexual abuse or assisting the victims of child sexual abuse;
- Multidisciplinary investigative teams (MDITs) established under 23 Pa.C.S. (relating to Domestic Relations);
- Child advocacy centers (CACs);
- Victim service organizations that provide services to children subjected to sexual abuse; and
- Training of persons who are mandated by law to report child sexual abuse or who treat victims of child sexual abuse.
In order to administer the funding, PCCD relies on the advice and recommendations of the Children's Advocacy Center Advisory Committee (CACAC), which was established by Act 28 of 2014. The members of the CACAC include experts in the investigation, identification, prosecution and treatment of victims of child sexual abuse.
2021 Annual Report to the General Assembly
The Endowment Act requires PCCD to provide an annual report to the General Assembly itemizing all approved expenditures from the endowment, the amount received by the organization and summary information aggregating expenditures by each category. It is PCCD's intention that this webpage should serve as the annual report to the General Assembly and the public.
The maps contained on this webpage provide the location of the grant recipients, the category of funding that they applied for, a summary of the award and the amount of the award.
For 2021, the CACAC funded projects included under category 2 (MDITs) and category 5B (training of persons who treat victims of child sexual abuse). Funding announcements for category 1 (prevention/programs assisting victims of child sexual abuse), category 3 (CACs), and category 4 (victim service agencies) were not released during 2021.
By the end of December 2021, a total of 7 awards amounting to $493,573 were released by PCCD.
Multidisciplinary Investigative Teams (MDITS)
The second category in Act 1 is multidisciplinary investigative teams (MDITs) established under 23 Pa.C.S. (relating to Domestic Relations). Per 23 Pa.C.S. § 6365 (relating to services for prevention, investigation and treatment of child abuse), every county in Pennsylvania is required to develop a MDIT, which is used to coordinate child abuse investigations between county agencies and law enforcement.
For 2021, the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute (PDAI), under an agreement with PCCD and the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS), offered a one-time mini-grant solicitation consisting of federal Children's Justice Act (CJA) funds ($134,000) and a set-aside of Endowment Act funds ($205,000) to all 67 county MDITs. PDAI was responsible for the administration of the mini-grant program, with assistance from PCCD staff.
Each county MDIT was eligible to apply to PDAI for up to $5,000 to support training, equipment purchases, and other one-time purchases that improve the investigation, prosecution, and judicial handling of cases of child abuse and neglect. An additional $5,000 in Endowment Act funding was provided to PDAI to support the administrative costs associated with the implementation of the mini-grants.
As of September 30, 2021, thirty counties applied and received a mini-grant, for a total of $129,298 awarded. The map depicts those counties participating in the mini-grant program in blue below.
Please note that CJA funding was utilized first in the satisfaction of these mini-grants, and Endowment Act funding was only reserved for use if needed. For the purposes of our total awarded Endowment Act grants in 2021, however, PCCD does count the $205,000 award initially issued to PDAI as an expenditure of those funds. Since most of the Endowment Act funds were not actually expended by PDAI for the mini-grant program, they will remain in the Endowment Act Fund for future use.
Treatment Training
The fifth category in Act 1 is training of persons who are mandated by law to report child sexual abuse or who treat victims of child sexual abuse. The CACAC has determined that this category is two distinct items (i.e., mandated reporter training; treatment training).
Mandated Reporter Training. The CACAC decided not to release any funding for this category in 2021.
Treatment Training. The Endowment Act – Treatment Training solicitation was released in 2021 and focused on providing funding to support the training of persons who treat victims/survivors of child sexual abuse. Applicants were eligible to apply for up to $50,000 for one-year projects.
In response to this solicitation, the CACAC recommended and PCCD approved six applications requesting $288,573 in Endowment Act funds.
Institution of Higher Education Monetary Penalty Endowment Act 2021
As noted above, for 2021, funding was not released for category 1 (prevention/programs assisting victims of child sexual abuse), category 3 (CACs), and category 4 (victim service agencies).
Programs Assisting Victims
The first category in Act 1 is programs or projects preventing child sexual abuse or assisting the victims of child sexual abuse. The CACAC has determined that this category is actually two distinct items (i.e., prevention; assistance).
Prevention. In 2017, the CACAC, in partnership with the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network at the Pennsylvania State University (CMSN at PSU), awarded four applicants Endowment Act – Prevention funding to support a three-year universal (county-wide), coordinated prevention strategy that targets three distinct groups of individuals who are important agents in protecting children from sexual abuse. Each component utilizes the following Evidence-Based Programs (EBPs):
(1) A community-based component, Stewards of Children, which is a program that promotes awareness, education, and skills to adults in the community. This component also includes a media and outreach campaign designed to deliver educational and awareness content at a broader level.
(2) A school-based component, Safe Touches, which is a program delivered to elementary school-aged students within the classroom setting. The curriculum teaches children about healthy boundaries, that it is okay to say "no," and how to get help from adults.
(3) A parent-focused component, Smart Parents – Safe and Healthy Kids, which will add a sexual abuse prevention curriculum to the following evidence-based parent education programs: Parents As Teachers, SafeCare, and The Incredible Years. The parent-focused component will be utilized for parents/caregivers who are already involved with Children and Youth.
Initial estimates for the three-year project were anticipated to be in the $3-3.2 million range, however expenditures were approximately $1.7 million. Due to the availability of additional funding, in 2020 the CACAC recommended and PCCD approved a fourth year of the project to continue the implementation of all three components, with a particular focus on the promoting the community component (Stewards of Children) with an aim to achieving the original goal of 5% of adult participation in that training. The CACAC made the decision not to release additional funding in this category for 2021.
Assistance. The Endowment Act – Programs Assisting Victims solicitation was released in 2019 with a project period of 2 years. The CACAC made the decision not to release additional funding in this category for 2021.
Child Advocacy Centers
The third category in Act 1 is child advocacy centers (CACs). CACs provide state-of-the-art treatment for the victims of child sexual abuse and child abuse. They coordinate medical care, treatment and other social services for victims while gathering evidence, through age-appropriate forensic interviewing and other methods employed by MDITs, to build an effective case against the alleged offender. By bringing medical professionals, social workers, prosecutors and police who specialize in child sexual abuse together under one roof, CACs are the most effective way to bring a perpetrator to justice.
The Endowment Act – Child Advocacy Center solicitation was released in 2020 with a project period of two years. The CACAC made the decision not to release additional funding in this category for 2021.
Victim Service Organizations Providing Services to Children Subjected to Sexual Abuse
The fourth category in Act 1 is victim service organizations providing services to children subjected to sexual abuse. Victim assistance agencies throughout Pennsylvania provide a wide variety of services (e.g., shelter, legal counseling, mental health counseling, etc.) to victims of sexual assault and other crimes.
The Endowment Act – Direct Victim Service Organizations solicitation was released in 2020 with a project period of two years. The CACAC made the decision not to release additional funding in this category for 2021.
All Grants Distributed to Date (2015-2021)
This map shows all of the projects that have been supported by Endowment Act funding since 2015. Collectively since 2015, a total of 245 grants amounting to $18.6 million in Endowment Act funds have been awarded throughout the Commonwealth to support over 68,000 child victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse.
The Filter feature on the top right-hand side of the page can be used to display projects by year. If you are interested in viewing the actual award documents, please visit our full Grants Map webpage.
More Information
FAQ sheets on Endowment Act outcomes can be found on the Child Advocacy and Endowment Act webpage and in previous Endowment Act Annual Reports. More information about the Endowment Act in general can be found on PCCD's website. If you have a specific question, please email ra-pccd-cacac@pa.gov.
If you are interested in learning more about the availability of Endowment Act funding and/or any other funds that may be administered by PCCD, please sign up for our email notification of our funding announcements.
Disclaimer
For best results when using this application, it is suggested Internet Explorer 10.0 or greater be used.
This website is funded in part through a grant from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse this website (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided). In addition, please refer to the information Disclaimer within Pennsylvania's Privacy Policy shown to the right and also available at http://www.pa.gov/privacy-policy/, which is incorporated herein by reference.