Erin's law is a bill that requires public schools to implement an orientation which introduce prevention over child sexual abuse. The law has a bipartisan support that requires the Department of Health, Child Protection Accountability Commission and Social Services to develop a curriculum for public schools.
According to Danny Short, a State House Minority Leader said "The educational improvement and curriculum development I think is essential. It's kind of just raising the bar on the awareness issue." Short also stated that he vision the Erin's law being passed before the legislative session ends.
The law is currently reviewed in the committee. Various laws with the same objective as the Erin's law had already implemented in 26 states. According to WMDT, Erin's law is introduced last week at the Senate.
The name of the bill is named after Erin Merryn, an author, speaker, activist and a sexual assault survivor. Merryn is also the founder of the Erin's Law, a non-profit organization that is registered in the State of Illinois and IRS as 501.
After Merryn launch the legislation in Illinois, the legislators named the bill after her first name. The Erin's law spreads nationwide after Merryn introduced it in Illinois.
The law teaches parents, guardians and school staffs all about the child sexual abuse, assistance, and information to support sexually abuse children and families. It also opened for preK-12th grade to recognize child who being sexually abused and immediately report any incident to a trusted adult about the issue, according to Erin's Law website.
The law was already passed in 26 state government including Missouri, Utah, Pennsylvania, and Alaska. Some states like Massachusetts, New York, Florida, and Hawaii are interested about the Erin's law but they haven't decided it yet if they going to implement the law or not.
