HARRISBURG — Now that a settlement has cleared the way for $60 million from Penn State to be spent in Pennsylvania to address child sexual abuse, potential recipients are starting to think about how that money might be put to use.

“There’s certainly a tremendous need,” said Linda Rosenberg, executive director of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. “In the area of child sexual abuse, I don’t know if there’s ever enough money to help support the need.”

The Jan. 16 deal that ended litigation by two state officials against Penn State and the NCAA split up the money, with $12 million being retained by the university and $48 million going to Rosenberg’s agency.

Penn State agreed to the $60 million fine in 2012, as part of a consent decree with the NCAA over the university’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal. Soon after, the state senator who represents the State College area, Majority Leader Jake Corman, pushed through the Institution of Higher Education Monetary Penalty Endowment Act to prevent the money from being sent out of state.

Corman argued that state money helped fund Penn State, and much of the money would come from state residents.

The Endowment Act dictated five purposes for the money: preventing child sexual abuse or helping its victims, supporting investigative teams, aiding victim services’ groups that work with children, training about how to report or treat child abuse victims, and operating child advocacy centers.

Rosenberg said half of the $48 million going to her agency is expected to be doled out in grants over the next five years. The other will fund an endowment, with additional grants funded out of the investment proceeds.