Text: SF00084 Text: SF00086 Text: SF00000 - SF00099 Text: SF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 235A.15, subsection 8, Code 2001, is
1 2 amended to read as follows:
1 3 8. Upon the request of the governor or a member of the
1 4 general assembly, the department shall disclose child abuse
1 5 information to the governor or the member of the general
1 6 assembly relating to a specific case of child abuse reported
1 7 to the department. The disclosure shall include all
1 8 information obtained by the department in the course of
1 9 responding to the report of child abuse, including but not
1 10 limited to department of human services' information described
1 11 in section 217.30, subsection 1, mental health information as
1 12 defined in section 228.1, and juvenile court social records
1 13 and other information in official juvenile court records
1 14 described in section 232.147. The purpose of the disclosure
1 15 is for the governor or member of the general assembly to
1 16 respond to a citizen's request for an independent review of
1 17 the actions of the department and others in responding to a
1 18 report of child abuse. The governor or member of the general
1 19 assembly may designate a staff person to receive the
1 20 disclosure and to respond on the governor's or member's
1 21 behalf. A person other than the governor who receives a
1 22 disclosure under this subsection must be an officer of the
1 23 court or must have completed training as a reporter of child
1 24 abuse or comparable training before receiving the disclosure.
1 25 A person who receives confidential information disseminated
1 26 under this subsection shall not further disseminate,
1 27 communicate, or attempt to communicate the information to a
1 28 person who is not authorized by this chapter or other
1 29 provision of law to have access to the information.
1 30 EXPLANATION
1 31 This bill provides for access to certain child abuse
1 32 information by a member of the general assembly by amending
1 33 Code section 235A.15. Under current law, upon receiving a
1 34 request from the governor, the department of human services is
1 35 required to disclose child abuse information to the governor
2 1 relating to a specific case of child abuse reported to the
2 2 department. By definition, the term "child abuse information"
2 3 includes report information, assessment information, and
2 4 disposition information. Under the bill, a member of the
2 5 general assembly is included in the disclosure requirement and
2 6 the governor or the member may designate a staff person to
2 7 receive the disclosure and respond to it.
2 8 In addition, the bill provides that the disclosure is to
2 9 include specific types of information obtained by the
2 10 department, including department information, mental health
2 11 information, and juvenile court social records. The bill
2 12 outlines the purpose of the disclosure to be for the governor
2 13 and the member of the general assembly to respond to a
2 14 citizen's request for an independent review of actions taken
2 15 by the department and others in response to a report of child
2 16 abuse.
2 17 A person other than the governor who receives a disclosure
2 18 of child abuse information must have completed child abuse
2 19 reporter training or other comparable training before
2 20 receiving the disclosure. Further dissemination of the
2 21 information disclosed to another person who does not have
2 22 legal access to the information is prohibited.
2 23 LSB 1056SS 79
2 24 jp/pj/5
Text: SF00084 Text: SF00086 Text: SF00000 - SF00099 Text: SF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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