Thank you to Blondie, Abiblestudent, Vidiot and Umbertoecho for interesting and useful replies..
I doubt I can help the SNAP network, all I can do is research online and emailing.
I apologise for wasting people's time with that silly letter writing idea..
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On the topic of ways to initiate a national inquiry in USA, this is all I could find...
The National Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities. (CECANF)
There is nothing more important than the health and happiness of our children, and what they experience in their early years helps build the foundation for them to grow into strong, confident adults.
But every year, more than 650,000 children across our nation suffer from abuse and neglect, and more than 1,500 die from this abuse. We are only recently becoming aware of the long-term impact of these preventable tragedies on our nation's physical and economic health.
We were honored to host the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities in Madison recently.
The commission, formed by the Protect our Kids Act of 2012, is charged with developing a national strategy and recommendations for reducing fatalities. Members are currently working to raise visibility and awareness about the problem, review data and best practices to determine what is and is not working, and identify solutions.
The commission will issue a report to the president and Congress in early 2016, complete with findings and recommendations that can drive future policy.
The organisation I have contacted is called Every Child Matters.
They were one of the founding members of the coalition that helped bring about the National Commission.
From Every Child Matters website:
We are proud to be a founding member of the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths.
Every Child Matters and its partners in this effort—the National Center for Child Death Review, the National Children’s Alliance, the National Association of Social Workers, the National District Attorneys’ Association,
formed this coalition in order to launch a campaign to urge Congress and the Administration to address the fatalities that claim the lives of innocent children every day.
The campaign's initial goal was realized in January 2013, when Congress passed the Protect Our Kids Act, which creates a bi-partisan, two-year Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities. For more information about the Act and the Commission, visit the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths.
www.everychildmatters.org/national-activities/child-abuse-and-neglect-fatalities
I am not sure what use this is right now, but it certainly seems to be an interesting example of how these things can come about, even at a national level.