SB-0334, As Passed Senate, October 15, 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUBSTITUTE FOR

 

SENATE BILL NO. 334

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1975 PA 238, entitled

 

"Child protection law,"

 

by amending sections 2 and 3 (MCL 722.622 and 722.623), section 2

 

as amended by 2014 PA 30 and section 3 as amended by 2014 PA 344.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 2. As used in this act:

 

     (a) "Adult foster care location authorized to care for a

 

child" means an adult foster care family home or adult foster care

 

small group home as defined in section 3 of the adult foster care

 

facility licensing act, 1979 PA 218, MCL 400.703, in which a child

 

is placed in accordance with section 5 of 1973 PA 116, MCL 722.115.

 

     (b) "Attorney" means, if appointed to represent a child under

 

the provisions referenced in section 10, an attorney serving as the

 

child's legal advocate in the manner defined and described in

section 13a of chapter XIIA of the probate code of 1939, 1939 PA

 

288, MCL 712A.13a.

 

     (c) "Central registry" means the system maintained at the

 

department that is used to keep a record of all reports filed with

 

the department under this act in which relevant and accurate

 

evidence of child abuse or child neglect is found to exist.

 

     (d) "Central registry case" means a child protective services

 

case that the department classifies under sections 8 and 8d as

 

category I or category II. For a child protective services case

 

that was investigated before July 1, 1999, central registry case

 

means an allegation of child abuse or child neglect that the

 

department substantiated.

 

     (e) "Centralized intake" means the department's statewide

 

centralized processing center for reports of suspected child abuse

 

and child neglect.

 

     (f) (e) "Child" means a person under 18 years of age.

 

     (g) (f) "Child abuse" means harm or threatened harm to a

 

child's health or welfare that occurs through nonaccidental

 

physical or mental injury, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or

 

maltreatment, by a parent, a legal guardian, or any other person

 

responsible for the child's health or welfare or by a teacher, a

 

teacher's aide, or a member of the clergy.

 

     (h) (g) "Child care organization" means that term as defined

 

in section 1 of 1973 PA 116, MCL 722.111.

 

     (i) (h) "Child care provider" means an owner, operator,

 

employee, or volunteer of a child care organization or of an adult

 

foster care location authorized to care for a child.

 

     (j) (i) "Child care regulatory agency" means the department of

 

licensing and regulatory affairs or a successor state department

 

that is responsible for the licensing or registration of child care

 

organizations or the licensing of adult foster care locations

 

authorized to care for a child.

 

     (k) (j) "Child neglect" means harm or threatened harm to a

 

child's health or welfare by a parent, legal guardian, or any other

 

person responsible for the child's health or welfare that occurs

 

through either of the following:

 

     (i) Negligent treatment, including the failure to provide

 

adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care.

 

     (ii) Placing a child at an unreasonable risk to the child's

 

health or welfare by failure of the parent, legal guardian, or

 

other person responsible for the child's health or welfare to

 

intervene to eliminate that risk when that person is able to do so

 

and has, or should have, knowledge of the risk.

 

     (l) (k) "Citizen review panel" means a panel established as

 

required by section 106 of title I of the child abuse prevention

 

and treatment act, 42 USC 5106a.

 

     (m) (l) "Member of the clergy" means a priest, minister,

 

rabbi, Christian science practitioner, or other religious

 

practitioner, or similar functionary of a church, temple, or

 

recognized religious body, denomination, or organization.

 

     (n) (m) "Controlled substance" means that term as defined in

 

section 7104 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.7104.

 

     (o) (n) "CPSI system" means the child protective service

 

information system, which is an internal data system maintained

 

within and by the department, and which is separate from the

 

central registry and not subject to section 7.

 

     (p) (o) "Department" means the department of health and human

 

services.

 

     (q) (p) "Director" means the director of the department.

 

     (r) (q) "Expunge" means to physically remove or eliminate and

 

destroy a record or report.

 

     (s) (r) "Lawyer-guardian ad litem" means an attorney appointed

 

under section 10 who has the powers and duties referenced by

 

section 10.

 

     (t) (s) "Local office file" means the system used to keep a

 

record of a written report, document, or photograph filed with and

 

maintained by a county or a regionally based office of the

 

department.

 

     (u) (t) "Nonparent adult" means a person who is 18 years of

 

age or older and who, regardless of the person's domicile, meets

 

all of the following criteria in relation to a child:

 

     (i) Has substantial and regular contact with the child.

 

     (ii) Has a close personal relationship with the child's parent

 

or with a person responsible for the child's health or welfare.

 

     (iii) Is not the child's parent or a person otherwise related

 

to the child by blood or affinity to the third degree.

 

     (v) "Online reporting system" means the electronic system

 

established by the department for individuals identified in section

 

3(1) to report suspected child abuse or child neglect.

 

     (w) (u) "Person responsible for the child's health or welfare"

 

means a parent, legal guardian, person 18 years of age or older who

 

resides for any length of time in the same home in which the child

 

resides, or, except when used in section 7(2)(e) or 8(8), nonparent

 

adult; or an owner, operator, volunteer, or employee of 1 or more

 

of the following:

 

     (i) A licensed or registered child care organization.

 

     (ii) A licensed or unlicensed adult foster care family home or

 

adult foster care small group home as defined in section 3 of the

 

adult foster care facility licensing act, 1979 PA 218, MCL 400.703.

 

     (iii) A court-operated facility as approved under section 14

 

of the social welfare act, 1939 PA 280, MCL 400.14.

 

     (x) (v) "Relevant evidence" means evidence having a tendency

 

to make the existence of a fact that is at issue more probable than

 

it would be without the evidence.

 

     (y) (w) "Sexual abuse" means engaging in sexual contact or

 

sexual penetration as those terms are defined in section 520a of

 

the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.520a, with a child.

 

     (z) (x) "Sexual exploitation" includes allowing, permitting,

 

or encouraging a child to engage in prostitution, or allowing,

 

permitting, encouraging, or engaging in the photographing, filming,

 

or depicting of a child engaged in a listed sexual act as defined

 

in section 145c of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL

 

750.145c.

 

     (aa) (y) "Specified information" means information in a

 

children's protective services case record related specifically to

 

the department's actions in responding to a complaint of child

 

abuse or child neglect. Specified information does not include any

 

of the following:

 

     (i) Except as provided in this subparagraph regarding a

 

perpetrator of child abuse or child neglect, personal

 

identification information for any individual identified in a child

 

protective services record. The exclusion of personal

 

identification information as specified information prescribed by

 

this subparagraph does not include personal identification

 

information identifying an individual alleged to have perpetrated

 

child abuse or child neglect, which allegation has been classified

 

as a central registry case.

 

     (ii) Information in a law enforcement report as provided in

 

section 7(8).

 

     (iii) Any other information that is specifically designated as

 

confidential under other law.

 

     (iv) Any information not related to the department's actions

 

in responding to a report of child abuse or child neglect.

 

     (bb) (z) "Structured decision-making tool" means the

 

department document labeled "DSS-4752 (P3) (3-95)" or a revision of

 

that document that better measures the risk of future harm to a

 

child.

 

     (cc) (aa) "Substantiated" means a child protective services

 

case classified as a central registry case.

 

     (dd) (bb) "Unsubstantiated" means a child protective services

 

case the department classifies under sections 8 and 8d as category

 

III, category IV, or category V.

 

     Sec. 3. (1) An individual is required to report under this act

 

as follows:

 

     (a) A physician, dentist, physician's assistant, registered

 

dental hygienist, medical examiner, nurse, person licensed to

 

provide emergency medical care, audiologist, psychologist, marriage

 

and family therapist, licensed professional counselor, social

 

worker, licensed master's social worker, licensed bachelor's social

 

worker, registered social service technician, social service

 

technician, a person employed in a professional capacity in any

 

office of the friend of the court, school administrator, school

 

counselor or teacher, law enforcement officer, member of the

 

clergy, or regulated child care provider who has reasonable cause

 

to suspect child abuse or child neglect shall make immediately, by

 

telephone or otherwise, an oral report, or cause an oral report to

 

be made, an immediate report to centralized intake by telephone,

 

or, if available, through the online reporting system, of the

 

suspected child abuse or child neglect. to the department. Within

 

72 hours after making the an oral report by telephone to

 

centralized intake, the reporting person shall file a written

 

report as required in this act. If the immediate report has been

 

made using the online reporting system and that report includes the

 

information required in a written report under subsection (2), that

 

report is considered a written report for the purposes of this

 

section and no additional written report is required. If the

 

reporting person is a member of the staff of a hospital, agency, or

 

school, the reporting person shall notify the person in charge of

 

the hospital, agency, or school of his or her finding and that the

 

report has been made, and shall make a copy of the written or

 

electronic report available to the person in charge. A notification

 

to the person in charge of a hospital, agency, or school does not

 

relieve the member of the staff of the hospital, agency, or school

 

of the obligation of reporting to the department as required by

 

this section. One report from a hospital, agency, or school is

 

adequate to meet the reporting requirement. A member of the staff

 

of a hospital, agency, or school shall not be dismissed or

 

otherwise penalized for making a report required by this act or for

 

cooperating in an investigation.

 

     (b) A department employee who is 1 of the following and has

 

reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or child neglect shall make

 

a report of suspected child abuse or child neglect to the

 

department in the same manner as required under subdivision (a):

 

     (i) Eligibility specialist.

 

     (ii) Family independence manager.

 

     (iii) Family independence specialist.

 

     (iv) Social services specialist.

 

     (v) Social work specialist.

 

     (vi) Social work specialist manager.

 

     (vii) Welfare services specialist.

 

     (c) Any employee of an organization or entity that, as a

 

result of federal funding statutes, regulations, or contracts,

 

would be prohibited from reporting in the absence of a state

 

mandate or court order. A person required to report under this

 

subdivision shall report in the same manner as required under

 

subdivision (a).

 

     (2) The written report or a report made using the online

 

reporting system shall contain the name of the child and a

 

description of the child abuse or child neglect. If possible, the

 

report shall contain the names and addresses of the child's

 

parents, the child's guardian, the persons with whom the child

 

resides, and the child's age. The report shall contain other

 

information available to the reporting person that might establish

 

the cause of the child abuse or child neglect, and the manner in

 

which the child abuse or child neglect occurred.

 

     (3) The department shall inform the reporting person of the

 

required contents of the written report at the time the oral report

 

is made by the reporting person.

 

     (4) The written report required in this section shall be

 

mailed or otherwise transmitted to the county department of the

 

county in which the child suspected of being abused or neglected is

 

found.centralized intake.

 

     (5) Upon receipt of a written report of suspected child abuse

 

or child neglect, the department may provide copies to the

 

prosecuting attorney and the probate court of the counties in which

 

the child suspected of being abused or neglected resides and is

 

found.

 

     (6) If an allegation, written report, or subsequent

 

investigation of suspected child abuse or child neglect indicates a

 

violation of sections 136b, 145c, 462a to 462h, or 520b to 520g of

 

the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.136b, 750.145c,

 

750.462a to 750.462h, and 750.520b to 750.520g, or section 7401c of

 

the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.7401c, involving

 

methamphetamine has occurred, or if the allegation, written report,

 

or subsequent investigation indicates that the suspected child

 

abuse or child neglect was committed by an individual who is not a

 

person responsible for the child's health or welfare, including,

 

but not limited to, a member of the clergy, a teacher, or a

 

teacher's aide, the department shall transmit a copy of the

 

allegation or written report and the results of any investigation

 

to a law enforcement agency in the county in which the incident

 

occurred. If an allegation, written report, or subsequent

 

investigation indicates that the individual who committed the

 

suspected child abuse or child neglect is a child care provider and

 

the department believes that the report has basis in fact, the

 

department shall, within 24 hours of completion, transmit a copy of

 

the written report or the results of the investigation to the child

 

care regulatory agency with authority over the child care

 

provider's child care organization or adult foster care location

 

authorized to care for a child.

 

     (7) If a local law enforcement agency receives an allegation

 

or written report of suspected child abuse or child neglect or

 

discovers evidence of or receives a report of an individual

 

allowing a child to be exposed to or to have contact with

 

methamphetamine production, and the allegation, written report, or

 

subsequent investigation indicates that the child abuse or child

 

neglect or allowing a child to be exposed to or to have contact

 

with methamphetamine production, was committed by a person

 

responsible for the child's health or welfare, the local law

 

enforcement agency shall refer the allegation or provide a copy of

 

the written report and the results of any investigation to the

 

county department of the county in which the abused or neglected

 

child is found, as required by subsection (1)(a). If an allegation,

 

Senate Bill No. 334 as amended October 14, 2015

 

written report, or subsequent investigation indicates that the

 

individual who committed the suspected child abuse or child neglect

 

or allowed a child to be exposed to or to have contact with

 

methamphetamine production, is a child care provider and the local

 

law enforcement agency believes that the report has basis in fact,

 

the local law enforcement agency shall transmit a copy of the

 

written report or the results of the investigation to the child

 

care regulatory agency with authority over the child care

 

provider's child care organization or adult foster care location

 

authorized to care for a child. Nothing in this subsection or

 

subsection (1) relieves the department of its responsibilities to

 

investigate reports of suspected child abuse or child neglect under

 

this act.

 

     (8) For purposes of this act, the pregnancy of a child less

 

than 12 years of age or the presence of a <<venereal diseaseSEXUALLY

TRANSMITTED INFECTION>> in a

child who is over 1 month of age but less than 12 years of age is

 

reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or child neglect has

 

occurred.

 

     (9) In conducting an investigation of child abuse or child

 

neglect, if the department suspects that a child has been exposed

 

to or has had contact with methamphetamine production, the

 

department shall immediately contact the law enforcement agency in

 

the county in which the incident occurred.

 

     (10) The online reporting system described in this section

 

shall be implemented subject to appropriation.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.