When it comes to protecting children from and responding to child abuse and neglect, Pennsylvania's state policies are neither among the best nor worst in the country, according to child advocacy groups like First Star and the Children's Defense Fund, which release reports ranking states on policy and legal representation of children. Now, the state has approved an expansion of child abuse laws that could further protect Pennsylvania's most vulnerable.

The laws have come as a response to a massive child abuse case at a state-funding university. After the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State University became public knowledge, the state established the Pennsylvania Task Force on Child Protection, which recommended redefining child abuse to be more inclusive, specifying the adults responsible for reporting abuse, and streamlining records of abuse.

Before the new legislation, abuse qualified under the law if a child suffered "serious physical injury," leaving abuse that was not extremely physically damaging to a child to pass under the radar. Now, a doctor affirms that a child suffered "bodily injury" at the hands of an adult, then the state will consider the case abuse. Doctors and teachers, among other adults who interact with children, are now required to report suspected abuse directly to a state hotline rather than a supervisor. Those reports will be available in real time across state law enforcement agencies. 

The new policies will also require more frequent background checks for all school employees who work with children while expanding training for teachers and counselors so that they can better recognize and respond to signs of abuse.