CURRENT LAWS
FOR CHILD PROTECTION
CHILD USA tracks laws that put children at risk so that we can study and improve those laws to prevent abuse and neglect.
Click on the map below for each state’s statutes of limitation (SOLs) for child sex abuse, age of marriage, medical neglect, and religious liberty statutes:
CHILD USA’s Legal Team
Marci Hamilton, Esq.
Founder & CEO
Alice Bohn, Esq.
Legal Director
Alice Nasar Hanan, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Bridget Brainard, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Jessica Schidlow, Esq., MA, NCC
Staff Attorney
Carina Nixon, Esq.,
Staff Attorney
NEW: On-Demand Continuing Legal Education Course (1 Ethics Credit)
Topic: Trauma-Informed Practice in Child Sex Abuse Cases
- Implementing trauma-informed practices in legal careers
- Understanding secondary trauma, re-traumatization, and trauma responses
CHILD USA’s Legal Reports
The Relative Success of State Windows for Child Sexual Abuse Claims
Read about the relative success of state windows for child sexual abuse claims here.
Letter to the USOPC regarding SportsEngine
Read more about the USOPC regarding SportsEngine, here.
A Preliminary Report on the New York Child Victims Act
Read more about the New York Child Victims Act and why statute of limitations reform serves the public interest, here.
2021 Supreme Court Cases Relevant to Children
Read more about the cases reviewed by the United States Supreme Court this year, here.
BACKGROUND: Pennsylvania lawmakers have debated whether to provide justice to child sex abuse victims since 2005 when Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham released the groundbreaking Grand Jury Report on child sex abuse in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. There have been numerous hearings on bills introduced to enact a statutory window, support from one editorial board after another, and dozens of op-eds in support.
The nation’s leading constitutional expert on this issue, Penn professor, and former United States Supreme Court clerk, Marci A. Hamilton, has testified in every state to enact a window and defended window constitutionality across the United States including in Pennsylvania.
Click here for an analysis of the constitutionality of revival windows.
Click here for an outline of Pennsylvania caselaw showing that a revival window is constitutional.
Click here to see why Pennsylvania needs a revival window.
ANNUAL STATUTES OF LIMITATION REPORT
HISTORY OF CHILD SEX ABUSE SOL REFORM SINCE 2002
National overview of the movement to prevent child sex abuse and empower victims through statutes of limitation reform since 2002. This report includes an overview of the current and prior criminal and civil SOLs in each of the 50 States and US Territories, the recent trends in SOL reform, a focus on revival windows and discovery rules and CHILD USA’s rankings of each state’s SOLs.
History of US SOL Reform: 2002-2020 (February 2021)
History of US SOL Reform: 2002-2019 (May 2020)
Tolling the Criminal Statute of Limitations
2020 U.S. DISCOVERY RULE REPORT
DISCOVERY TOLLING OF CIVIL SOLS FOR CHILD SEX ABUSE CLAIMS
National overview of statutory and common law discovery rules for civil child sex abuse claims. There is a discovery rule that could toll the SOL for child sex abuse claims in 41 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This report includes an overview of the public policy for tolling SOLs until a victim discovers their injuries, the historical development of the adoption of discovery rules for child sex abuse, each state’s current discovery rule and CHILD USA’s rankings of each state’s discovery rule.
STATUTES OF LIMITATION TRACKER
CHILD USA leads the national SOL reform movement and tracks every SOL reform bill for child sex abuse introduced in state legislatures across the country. Our SOL Tracker provides an overview of all pending bills and new laws and is updated on a weekly basis. It also highlights states that have eliminated SOLs and revived expired claims.
2022 SOL TRACKER
2021 SOL TRACKER
2020 SOL TRACKER
2019 SOL TRACKER
2018 SOL TRACKER
REVIVAL WINDOWS AND AGE LIMIT REVIVAL LAWS
An overview of all window and age limit revival laws for child sex abuse in the United States, which includes laws in 27 U.S. States and Territories. Revival windows are now open or opening soon in Arkansas, California, Colorado*, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, Vermont, Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam, and several states have revived claims until a survivor reaches a certain age, ranging from 27-55 years old.
DELAYED DISCLOSURE OF CHILD SEX ABUSE FACTSHEET
A factsheet based on cutting-edge research on child sex abuse. It is a medical fact that the average age a person discloses they were sexually abused as a child is age 52.
2020 REPORT ON CHILD MARRIAGE IN THE UNITED STATES
A national overview of current child marriage laws in each state. The movement to end child marriage in the United States is growing, and CHILD USA is dedicated to reforming the laws to ensure children are not married before the age of 18.
RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS TO MEDICAL CARE
An explanation of religious exemptions to medical care and why they need to be eliminated
We are investigating the states with inadequate protection laws against child sex abuse, maltreatment, physical abuse, and neglect.
The information regarding child protection laws provided is solely for informational purposes and is not legal advice. To determine the law in a particular sex abuse or maltreatment case, contact a lawyer in the state.
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