Which act created the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare?

• A. Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974
• B. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
• C. National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect
• D. National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information

Answer: (B)

The event being tested is the legislative act that brought a national center into existence. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 created the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect and placed it within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. This act gave NCCAN its mandate to coordinate information, training, and resources related to child abuse prevention and treatment across the country. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare is the organizational home for NCCAN, not the source of its creation. The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect refers to the center itself, and the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information is a related information resource; neither is the act that established the center. So the key idea is that CAPTA is the law that created NCCAN, housed within HEW, to support nationwide prevention and response efforts.