Children Exposed to Violence

Dear Colleagues,

I am honored to share with you the final report of Attorney General Eric Holder’s Task Force

 on Children Exposed to Violence. The report presents more than 50 recommendations for launching a coordinated national response to address children’s exposure to violence—as victims or witnesses—in their homes, schools, and communities.

At a time when more than 60 percent of America’s children are exposed to violence, crime, or abuse each year, protecting our children and raising public awareness about the seriousness of this problem is a top priority for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the entire U.S. Department of Justice.

It is my sincere hope that we can all work together to end, in the Attorney General’s words, the “epidemic of violence that robs our youth of their childhood.”

Melodee Hanes
Acting Administrator
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention