Date:
3/5/04 12:52:58 PM Mountain Standard Time
From:
lucsan@yahoo.com
The
Utah legislative session ended at midnight on Wednesday the 3rd
of March.
The following is a list of the bills dealing with DCFS that
made it through
both the House and the Senate.
SB 54 S2 videotaping
of minors - Wayne Harper
General
Description:
This bill sets specific
requirements for interviewing children during investigations into abuse.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill requires
that all investigative interviews of children who are believed to have
been sexually or seriously physically abused be videotaped or similarly
recorded; requires that the child and interviewer be simultaneously recorded;
requires that the recording be continuous and display time and date; and
requires a worker to audiotape all interviews that are not videotaped except
only for the very first 15 minute interviews in initial contact.
HB 60 Protection
of children in foster care -
David Litvack
General
Description:
This bill modifies
Division of Child and Family Services provisions.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill gives
the Department of Human Services access to provide a complete case history
contained in the Management Information System for the purpose of licensing
and monitoring foster parents; gives the Office of the Guardian Ad
Litem access only to information about children and families where it has
been appointed by a court to represent the interests of the children.
HB 61 S1 Child
welfare investigations - Mike Thompson
General
Description:
This bill amends
Child and Family Services.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill prohibits
a state officer, peace officer, or child welfare worker from entering the
home of a minor who is not under the jurisdiction of the court, unless
parental permission is obtained or unless they possess a warrant or exigent
circumstances (immediate danger) are present.
HB 90 S1 Access
to child welfare hearings -
Mike Morley
General
Description:
This bill amends
the Judicial Code.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill opens
all juvenile courts to the public on July 1, 2004.
HB 120 Child
welfare funding for in-home services -
Mike Thompson
General
Description:
This bill amends
Child and Family Services.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill requires
the Division of Child and Family Services to seek funding for in-home
services to prevent the removal of children from their homes and promote
the preservation of families by asking for waivers so as to not follow
mandates that come with federal monies.
HB 140 S3
Child and family services related judicial code amendments -
LaVar Christensen
General
Description:
This bill amends
child welfare provisions in Child and Family Services and the Judicial
Code.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill exempts
health care decisions of a mature minor from the definition of neglect
and exempts parents from being charged with abuse if a mature minor makes
his or her own medical decisions;
requires the legislative
auditor general to complete an audit of child welfare cases to measure
compliance by attorney guardians ad litem with their statutory duties;
requires the juvenile
court to recognize the rights of parents and children and the limits placed
on the Division of Child and Family Services; clarifies how a petition
before a juvenile court may be dismissed at any stage of the court proceedings.
requires the Child
Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel to study and make recommendations regarding
the following:
1- the feasibility
of requiring the juvenile court, except in exigent circumstances, to adjudicate
a petition alleging child abuse, neglect, or dependency prior to ordering
a child into protective custody;
2- establishing
a right to a jury trial in a juvenile court proceeding:
(a)
to adjudicate a petition alleging child abuse, neglect, or dependency;
or
(b)
to terminate a parent's rights;
3- the adequacy
of warrant provisions in protecting children balanced against preserving
and strengthening family ties to the fullest possible extent under the
law;
4-whether
a presumption of parental fitness and competence in judicial proceedings
should be made in determining whether a parent's rights should be terminated;
5- except
in clear and verifiable exigent circumstances, how to otherwise strengthen
procedural due process safeguards, including notice and an opportunity
to be heard, for the parents of children that come under the jurisdiction
of the juvenile court for possible child abuse, neglect, or dependency;
6- how to
strengthen defense counsel for parents of children taken into protective
custody;
7- whether
compliance with 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5106a, the federal Child Abuse Prevention
and Treatment and Adoption Reform requirements which include the mandatory
appointment of a guardian ad litem in child abuse, neglect, and dependency
cases with the approximately $250,000 in federal child abuse prevention
and treatment grant monies for which the state annually qualifies provides
a sufficient comparative benefit to the state in relation to its strong
interest in preserving and strengthening family ties to the fullest extent
possible under the law;
8- whether
the evidentiary standard for the reunification services presumption and
proceedings to terminate a parents rights should be changed from clear
and convincing to beyond a reasonable doubt;
HB 186 Evaluation
and counseling prior to termination proceedings
- Mike Thompson
General
Description:
This bill modifies
sections of the Judicial Code dealing with Juvenile Court proceedings.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill allows
the juvenile court to appoint any qualified mental health therapist; and
prohibits the juvenile court from excluding a mental health therapist because
they have not followed the recommendations of the Division of Child and
Family Services in another case.
HB 197 Limit
on child welfare recommendations and rulings-
Mike Thompson
General
Description:
This bill amends
the Administrative Procedures Act and the Judicial Code.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill limits
factors that may be considered when an agency or court recommends or rules
on the custody, placement, or other disposition alternative of a minor,
or the termination of parental rights such as:
(a) legally
possesses or uses a firearm or other weapon;
(b) espouses
particular religious beliefs or engages in particular religious practices
;
(c) schools
the minor or other minors outside the public education system or is otherwise
sympathetic to schooling a minor outside the public education system.
HB 198 S2
Child welfare court reports
- Mike Thompson
General
Description:
This bill amends
the Judicial Code to create a disclosure requirement for child welfare
reports made in juvenile court.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill requires
a party to a child welfare hearing to share its report at least five days
prior to the proceeding.
HB 268 Child
welfare processes - Mike Thompson
General
Description:
This bill amends
Child and Family Services and the Judicial Code.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill amends
the definition of "protective services";
requires notice
to parents of their statutory and constitutional rights before conducting
a child abuse, neglect, or dependency investigation;
prohibits a reporter
of child abuse from acting as a support person in a preremoval interview;
prohibits a juvenile court from using disability of a parent as a basis
for removing a child from the custody of the parent; basis for changing
a custody award made in district court;
expands interdisciplinary
child protection team membership by adding a member of clergy to be able
to be part of the team;
amends preferential
placement provisions for children removed from their homes due to abuse,
neglect, or dependency;
requires the Division
of Child and Family Services to accommodate and honor the moral and religious
beliefs of those it serves;
requires the Division
of Child and Family Services to design treatment plans in a manner that
minimizes disruption to the normal activities of the child's family;
modifies access
to juvenile court proceedings;
limits the types
of identifying information that may be stricken from a record released
by the Division of Child and Family Services to specified individuals;
requires recording
of unauthorized ex parte communications concerning an ongoing case between
a judge and other parties to an abuse, neglect, or dependency proceeding;
and requires the
office of the Guardian ad Litem to provide an annual report to the Legislative
Child Welfare interim committee creates a parental legal defense fund and
creates an office to be run by an attorney who has experience in child
welfare to oversee the parental legal defense fund, train attorneys to
properly represent parents and provide expert witnesses for parents.
SB 104 Selection
of mental health therapists in termination of parental rights
- Parley Hellewell
General
Description:
This bill amends
the Termination of Parental Rights Act.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill specifies
that the juvenile court may not refuse to appoint a mental health therapist
because the therapist has not followed the recommendations of the guardian
ad litem in another case; and requires the juvenile court to give the parent
or guardian strong consideration regarding their choice of a mental health
therapist.
But the bills of real change
where subverted:
SB 90
HB 266
and most Parley Hellewell's
bills that would have protected family rights the most while still protecting
truly abused children; but these were vigously fought by DCFS (AG&PCMC)
because they required restructuring and public accountability. SeeAccountabilityUtah.org
ByATread.org
> LegislativeAccomplishments < FamilyVsState.org
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