Clik here to view.
Gov. Peter Shumlin speaks Thursday at an event focusing on child abuse prevention. Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt/VTDigger
The daylong event, hosted by Prevent Child Abuse Vermont in recognition of the organization’s 40th anniversary, attracted more than 100 people, including several top state officials.
Shumlin spoke at the start of the day, lauding expansions of health care, early education and other systems that have occurred under his tenure — factors that he says improve the safety of children in the state.
However, Shumlin said substance abuse presents a persistent challenge to the state’s child protection efforts.
“There is no greater victim of opiate addiction than kids,” Shumlin said.
“We live in a country now where big pharma has so much power and influence over politicians in Washington that we sit here looking at the victims, the kids, and trying to find the resources to pick up the pieces,” Shumlin said.
As Shumlin approaches the end of his administration, he called on the next governor to continue to push for reform on opiate prescription painkillers at a national level.
“My advice, my hope, my prayer would be this: that whoever we choose continues the vigorous outspoken fight against painkillers in this country,” Shumlin said.
The two leading gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Sue Minter and Republican Phil Scott, spoke at the event later in the day.
Both candidates discussed economic development as a way to curb rates of child poverty in Vermont, and touched on education and housing issues.
Asked about budgeting, both candidates said prevention of child abuse is a priority, but they took different approaches.
Scott said public safety is a key function of government. He plans to audit every state agency, including the Department for Children and Families, to see how effectively government tasks are being fulfilled.
“Prevention of child abuse is crucial, and finding ways to redirect dollars away from the process and to the people who are really actually in need requires constant, constant focus on improving the operation performance of every single agency,” Scott said.
Minter said assembling a balanced budget requires a balance of meeting immediate needs and investing in long-term programs, “because we all know that prevention actually helps reduce costs in the future.”
“We must be thinking about prevention and we must be meeting our needs,” Minter said.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Gathering explores keys to child abuse prevention.
