New York City's District Attorneys Hynes and Donovan to Launch Statewide Campaign Against Child Abuse and Neglect

**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR TUESDAY, APRIL 17**

NEW YORK, April 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes and Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan will kickoff a statewide campaign by New York law enforcement leaders against child abuse and neglect with a press conference in Hynes' offices on Tuesday. The Brooklyn and Staten Island District Attorneys will release a report prepared by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids New York showing that more than 77,000 children in New York, nearly half of them from New York City, suffered abuse or neglect in 2010. At least 114 children from across the state died from abuse and neglect in 2010.

Law enforcement leaders in Yonkers, Schenectady, Mineola, Syracuse and Rochester have scheduled similar events over the next two weeks as part of National Child Abuse Prevention Month. At the news conference, Hynes and Donovan will emphasize the benefits of voluntary home visiting services, which help new parents cope with the stresses of raising a young child.  Research shows that quality home visiting programs can cut child abuse and neglect by as much as 50 percent, significantly reduce later crime and save taxpayer dollars.

Hynes and Donovan will also release a national open letter to policy makers, signed by more than 1,560 law enforcement leaders nationwide (including nearly 200 from New York): one law enforcement signature for every confirmed child who died from abuse or neglect in 2010.

SOURCE Fight Crime: Invest in Kids New York