What was the Tucker Act of 2017?

After tragedy struck, Tucker’s family undertook the development of the One Tucker at a Time Foundation as well as the call for permanent change in Kentucky–a change that would prevent more death and violence across the abuse-ridden state. 

In 2013, when Tucker was murdered by his mother’s live-in boyfriend, Kentucky ranked 50th in the United States for the number of Child victims of abuse (19.7) per 1,000 children with 23 deaths reported that year. Every year since Tucker’s death, the number of children receiving an investigation for abuse remained at around 70 per 1,000. 

The most astounding thing happened after the Tucker Act was passed. The number of deaths decreased to only 6, while the number of children receiving an investigation increased to 80 per 1,000.

Why are children getting much more needed attention? Let’s take a closer look at the Tucker Act to find out. 

Surprise Visits

Prior to the Tucker Act, the team at Child Protective Services would call the accused abuser ahead of their investigation and ask, “Sir/Ma’am, you’ve been accused of abuse, when would be a good time for us to stop by?” 

No, of course, that wasn’t exactly how the conversation went, but CPS would indeed schedule their visits with the families allowing time for potential abusers to rehearse with their children the best way to get out of the line of questioning.  Now, the Tucker Act requires that the initial visit is “unannounced” and that subsequent visits can be scheduled but must include some unannounced visits as well. 

Imminent Danger

An interesting fact about the Tucker Act–it took three years to pass because of pushback from the Department of Health and Human Services because of concerns for their staff, specifically of the violence that may occur upon surprising a violent offender in their home. 

The One Tucker at a Time foundation argued that if the threat was that imminent, the child’s safety must be paramount! A clause was added into the bill allowing for police escort and a court order for entry into the home upon refusal from the accused to appease these concerns. 

They Can Hear Everything

Believe it or not, interviews with the children were often conducted right in front of the parents. What child would speak out in front of their abuser? The final clause in the bill allowed for a school or child-care provider to provide access to the child without the parent’s consent allowing for a low-threat conversation to take place with the intent of eliciting the truth. 

The numbers speak for themselves. It is never the foundation’s intention to separate families, only for children to be in a safe, loving environment. The Tucker Act allowed for Child Protective Servies to be better equipped for their investigations bringing the truth and hopefully healing to more families across Kentucky. 

References: Department of Health and Human Services Child Maltreatment Records 2013, 2018