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Every 25 Minutes ...

Part of a broad effort to combat the country’s growing opioid epidemic, the House today passed the Infant Plan of Safe Care Improvement Act (H.R. 4843). The legislation—introduced by Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) and Katherine Clark (D-MA)—will require the Department of Health and Human Services to better ensure states are meeting current child welfare requirements, strengthening protections for infants exposed to illegal substance before birth. 

During debate, Rep. Barletta emphasized the painful consequences experienced by children born to parents struggling with opioid addiction and explained how this commonsense, bipartisan proposal will “help ensure these children, mothers, and their families have the help they need and the care they deserve.”

                                            

Every 25 minutes in America, a baby is born suffering from opioid withdrawal. It’s an eye-opening statistic, and the more you consider what it really means, the more tragic it becomes. Every 25 minutes, a child enters the world having already been exposed to drugs. Every 25 minutes, a newborn has to pay the price for something he or she was defenseless against. Every 25 minutes, another infant becomes a victim of the national opioid crisis. These are the victims this bill
will help protect …

Through a number of commonsense measures, it strengthens protections for infants born with illegal substance exposure, improves accountability related to the care of infants and their families, and ensures states will have best practices for developing plans to keep infants and their caregivers healthy and safe. As the House works this week to fight the opioid epidemic that is destroying communities and lives across the country, these are commonsense reforms we should all embrace.

To read Rep. Barletta’s full remarks, click here.

To watch a video, click here.

For more information on the bill, click here.

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