From Mirror staff reports

The Cambria County Child Advocacy Center will be awarded a $46,968 state grant to enhance services for abused children.

State Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria, announced Thurs­day that the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency grant will help victims of physical and sexual abuse with healing and hold abusers accountable.

“Our region has been devastated by decades of documented sexual abuse by clergy, but we all know the abuse doesn’t stop there,” Burns said. “This funding is all about giving abused kids a second chance — and rooting out and punishing their abusers — by ensuring that the center has the state-of-the art resources it needs for investigating, evaluating and treating abuse.”

He added the child advocacy center won close to the maximum of $47,000 to offer mental health screenings and medical evaluations for abused children and to conduct forensic interviews to help bring justice to victims.

The grant stems from Act 28 of 2014, which stresses the necessity of children’s advocacy centers and created a dedicated funding stream for training of mandated reporters and Child Advocacy Centers, according to a press release.