The Chair for the Children and Youth Committee 2011-2012 was Dennis M. O'Brien (Majority) and Louise W. Bishop (D). The Vice Chair was Dan Moul (Majority) and Kenyatta J. Johnson (D). The Secretary was Thomas P. Murt (Majority) and Michelle F. Brownlee (D).

The major topics of the session were Child Sexual Abuse, Adoption, and Child Welfare. A hot topic of 2011-2012, while not directly addressed by the committee, was the Penn State University sex scandal involving Jerry Sanduski. This brought the topic of child abuse to the forefront of commmittee discussion.