House File 2245
HOUSE FILE
BY HUTTER
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to founded child abuse by providing for inclusion
2 of disposition information in the child's permanent student
3 record.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
5 TLSB 5794HH 80
6 jp/gg/14
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 232.71D, Code 2003, is amended by
1 2 adding the following new subsection:
1 3 NEW SUBSECTION. 4A. The central registry shall transmit
1 4 to the child's school district or accredited nonpublic school
1 5 the name of the child and disposition data placed in the
1 6 central registry as a case of founded child abuse pursuant to
1 7 subsection 3. The school district or accredited nonpublic
1 8 school shall place the transmitted information in the child's
1 9 permanent student record. The information placed in the
1 10 child's permanent student record in accordance with this
1 11 subsection is subject to sealing and expungement as provided
1 12 in section 235A.18, correction of data as provided in section
1 13 235A.19, and the information sharing provisions of section
1 14 280.25, and shall only be disseminated in accordance with
1 15 section 280.25.
1 16 Sec. 2. Section 235A.15, subsection 2, paragraph e,
1 17 subparagraph (16), Code Supplement 2003, is amended to read as
1 18 follows:
1 19 (16) To the superintendent, or the superintendent's
1 20 designee, of a school district or to the authorities in charge
1 21 of an accredited nonpublic school for purposes of a volunteer
1 22 or employment record check or for placement of child abuse
1 23 information in a child's permanent student record pursuant to
1 24 section 232.71D, subsection 4A.
1 25 Sec. 3. Section 280.25, subsection 6, Code 2003, is
1 26 amended to read as follows:
1 27 6. The interagency agreement shall provide, and each
1 28 signatory agency to the agreement shall certify in the
1 29 agreement, that confidential information shared among the
1 30 parties to the agreement shall remain confidential and shall
1 31 not be shared with any other person, school, school district,
1 32 or agency, unless otherwise provided by law. However, the
1 33 child abuse information placed in the permanent student record
1 34 pursuant to section 232.71D shall remain in the record if the
1 35 child transfers to a nonpublic school or school district that
2 1 is subject to this section and shall be subject to disclosure
2 2 in accordance with this section to any party to the receiving
2 3 school's or school district's interagency agreement for
2 4 information disclosure.
2 5 Sec. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT. Section 25B.2, subsection
2 6 3, shall not apply to this Act.
2 7 EXPLANATION
2 8 This bill relates to founded child abuse by providing for
2 9 inclusion of child abuse disposition information in the
2 10 child's permanent student record that is subject to
2 11 interagency information sharing.
2 12 The bill amends Code section 232.71D, relating to
2 13 information placed in the central child registry following a
2 14 child abuse assessment and the confidentiality requirements
2 15 applicable to the information. The bill provides that for
2 16 founded child abuse information, the child's name and
2 17 disposition data are to become part of the child's permanent
2 18 student record and are subject to information sharing under
2 19 Code section 280.25. "Disposition data" is defined in Code
2 20 section 235A.13 to mean information pertaining to an opinion
2 21 or decision as to the occurrence of child abuse. Under Code
2 22 section 235A.18, the information placed in the record is
2 23 subject to sealing 10 years after the data was placed in the
2 24 central registry and to expungement eight years after sealing.
2 25 If a court finds a case of child abuse is unfounded, the
2 26 information must be expunged immediately. Code section
2 27 235A.19 provides a procedure for a subject of a child abuse to
2 28 correct information referring to the person either by review
2 29 of the department or the district court. If the information
2 30 is corrected, the department is required to notify all who
2 31 received the information. Code section 280.25 requires each
2 32 Iowa school district and nonpublic school to have a policy
2 33 providing for information sharing between the school and
2 34 agencies involved with the juvenile justice system.
2 35 Code section 235A.15, relating to authorized access to
3 1 report and disposition child abuse information, is amended.
3 2 The superintendent of a school district or the authorities in
3 3 charge of an accredited nonpublic school currently have access
3 4 to child abuse disposition information for purposes of a
3 5 volunteer or employment record check. The bill provides
3 6 additional access for the purpose of placing the child abuse
3 7 disposition information in a child's permanent student record.
3 8 Persons authorized to have access to child abuse information
3 9 under Code chapter 235A are restricted from unauthorized
3 10 redissemination and are subject to civil remedies and a
3 11 criminal penalty for doing so.
3 12 Code section 280.25, relating to interagency agreements and
3 13 sharing of school information, is amended to provide an
3 14 exception to a requirement that confidential information
3 15 shared among the parties to an interagency agreement cannot be
3 16 shared with others. The exception allows the child abuse
3 17 information placed in the permanent student record to be
3 18 shared with nonpublic schools and school districts of this
3 19 state that are subject to Code section 280.25.
3 20 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code
3 21 section 25B.3. The bill makes inapplicable Code section
3 22 25B.2, subsection 3, which would relieve a political
3 23 subdivision from complying with a state mandate if funding for
3 24 the cost of the state mandate is not provided or specified.
3 25 Therefore, political subdivisions are required to comply with
3 26 any state mandate included in the bill.
3 27 LSB 5794HH 80
3 28 jp/gg/14