Current Initiatives

A Statute of Limitations (SOL) is the time allotted for victims to seek justice from their perpetrators. Unfortunately, the vast majority of child sex abuse victims can not prosecute or file civil lawsuits because they missed the arbitrary procedural deadline or SOL to file their claims.

Most states have laws giving religious exemptions to testing and screening of children. Federal law requires doctors treating children on Medicaid or CHIP to perform several tests and screenings on the children, yet federal law also allows states to offer religious exemptions. CHILD USA's research into these religious exemption laws reveals the exigency for policy that protects the health and safety of children.

The pattern of successful coaches with power over aspiring athletes repeats itself time and again in all levels of sport. Like other arenas where children can be isolated and manipulated by predatory adults, sports present steep challenges to the protection of children. Sports, at all levels, are the latest frontier in the war against child sex abuse and the least studied.

Leading Experts Conduct Independent Investigation of the USA Gymnastics - Larry Nassar Scandal to Ensure It Never Happens Again. Utilizing the combined expertise of leading national experts in child protection, this independent commission is investigating all aspects of the systems that enabled the abuse, examining how they failed, reaching conclusions, and issuing recommendations to prevent child sex abuse in the future.

Through the Amicus Advocacy Project, CHILD USA is submitting amicus briefs in important cases involving child protection. CHILD USA CEO, Professor Marci Hamilton, has submitted dozens of amicus briefs related to child protection. The Amicus Advocacy Project enables CHILD to continue its groundbreaking work on behalf of lawyers and child advocates everywhere.

CHILD USA will study the health effects of children who are subjected to so-called “gay conversion therapy,” which is intended to “fix” their sexual orientation. This supposedly therapeutic approach has been uniformly rejected and discredited by every leading medical organization.

Child sexual abuse perpetrated within families is one of the most insidious and under-prosecuted crimes. Shortcomings in both the criminal and civil justice systems fail to protect victims of child sex abuse in the family context. Family court judges and custody evaluators are not trained on the facts of child sex abuse. The lack of education on child abuse and trauma associated with abuse in family court can have detrimental effects for the children including ongoing abuse, loss of a secure parental relationship, and at worst, death.

Child marriage has become an increasingly pertinent issue. That's why we are researching child marriage throughout the United States and the world to understand how it can be prevented in the future. We aim to help politicians create legislation and policy to prevent all unlawful child marriages.