SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES BILL)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the child abuse registry administered by the department of human services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

   Section 1.  Section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph d, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   d.  The failure on the part of a person responsible for the care of a child to provide for the adequate food, shelter, clothing, supervision, or other care necessary for the child’s health and welfare when financially able to do so or when offered financial or other reasonable means to do so. A parent or guardian legitimately practicing religious beliefs who does not provide specified medical treatment for a child for that reason alone shall not be considered abusing the child, however this provision shall not preclude a court from ordering that medical service be provided to the child where the child’s health requires it.
   Sec. 2.  Section 232.71D, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2011, are amended to read as follows:
   2.  If Except as otherwise provided in subsections 3 and 3A, if the alleged child abuse meets the definition of child abuse under section 232.68, subsection 2,paragraph“a” or “d”, and the department determines the injury or risk of harm to the child was minor and isolated and is unlikely to reoccur, the names of the child and the alleged perpetrator of the alleged child abuse and any other child abuse information shall not be placed in the central registry as a case of founded child abuse.
   3.
  a.  Unless any of the circumstances listed in paragraph “b” are applicable, cases to which any of the following circumstances apply shall not be placed on the central registry:
   (1)  A finding of physical abuse in which the department has determined the injury resulting from the abuse was minor, isolated, and unlikely to reoccur.
   (2)  A finding of abuse by failure to provide proper supervision or by failure to provide adequate clothing, in which the department has determined the risk from the abuse to the child’s health and welfare was minor, isolated, and unlikely to reoccur.
   b.  Except as otherwise provided in section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph “d”, regarding parents legitimately practicing religious beliefs, If any of the following circumstances apply in addition to those listed in paragraph “a”, the names of the child and the alleged perpetrator of the alleged child abuse and the report data and disposition data any other child abuse information shall be placed in the central registry as a case of founded child abuse under any of the following circumstances:
   a.  (1)  The case was referred for juvenile or criminal court action as a result of the acts or omissions of the alleged perpetrator or a criminal or juvenile court action was initiated by the county attorney or juvenile court within twelve months of the date of the department’s report concerning the case, in which the alleged perpetrator was convicted of a crime involving the child or there was a delinquency or child in need of assistance adjudication.
   b.  The department determines the acts or omissions of the alleged perpetrator meet the definition of child abuse under section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph “a”, involving nonaccidental physical injury suffered by the child and the injury was not minor or was not isolated or is likely to reoccur.
   c.  (2)  The department determines the acts or omissions of the alleged perpetrator meet the definition of child abuse and the department has previously determined within the eighteen-month period preceding the issuance of the department’s report that the acts or omissions of the alleged perpetrator in a prior case met the definition of child abuse.
   d.  The department determines the acts or omissions of the alleged perpetrator meet the definition of child abuse under section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph “b”, involving mental injury.
   e.  The department determines the acts or omissions meet the definition of child abuse under section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph “c”, and the alleged perpetrator of the acts or omissions is age fourteen or older. However, the juvenile court may order the removal from the central registry of the name of an alleged perpetrator placed in the registry pursuant to this paragraph who is age fourteen through seventeen upon a finding of good cause. The name of an alleged perpetrator who is less than age fourteen shall not be placed in the central registry pursuant to this paragraph.
   f.  The department determines the acts or omissions of the alleged perpetrator meet the definition of child abuse under section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph “d”, involving failure to provide care necessary for the child’s health and welfare, and any injury to the child or risk to the child’s health and welfare was not minor or was not isolated or is likely to reoccur, in any of the following ways:
   (1)  Failure to provide adequate food and nutrition.
   (2)  Failure to provide adequate shelter.
   (3)  Failure to provide adequate health care.
   (4)  Failure to provide adequate mental health care.
   (5)  Gross failure to meet emotional needs.
   (6)  Failure to respond to an infant’s life-threatening condition.
   g.  The department determines the acts or omissions of the alleged perpetrator meet the definition of child abuse under section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph “e”, involving prostitution.
   h.  The department determines the acts or omissions of the alleged perpetrator meet the definition of child abuse under section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph “f”, involving the presence of an illegal drug.
   i.  (3)  The department determines the alleged perpetrator of the child abuse will continue to pose a danger to the child who is the subject of the report of child abuse or to another child with whom the alleged perpetrator may come into contact.
   Sec. 3.  Section 232.71D, Code 2011, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  3A.  Cases of alleged child abuse to which any of the following circumstances apply shall be placed in the central registry as follows:
   a.  A finding of sexual abuse in which the alleged perpetrator of the abuse is age thirteen or younger. However, the name of the alleged perpetrator shall be withheld from the registry.
   b.  A finding of sexual abuse in which the alleged perpetrator of the abuse is age fourteen through seventeen and the court has found there is good cause for the name of the alleged perpetrator to be removed from the central registry. Only the name of the alleged perpetrator shall be removed from the registry.
   Sec. 4.  Section 235A.18, subsection 3, Code 2011, is amended by striking the subsection.
EXPLANATION
   This bill relates to the child abuse registry administered by the department of human services and addresses when founded child abuse information is placed in the child abuse registry.
   Code section 232.68, providing definitions of child abuse and related terms, is amended. The amendment adds to the definition of child abuse by a person responsible for the care of a child, the person’s failure to provide adequate supervision of the child. The definition provision addressed by the amendment is commonly referred to as “denial of critical care”.
   Under current law, denial of critical care is limited to failure to provide for the adequate food, shelter, clothing, or other care necessary for the child’s health and welfare when financially able to do so or when offered financial or other reasonable means to do so. A parent or guardian legitimately practicing religious beliefs who does not provide specified medical treatment for a child for that reason alone is not considered abusing the child, however, this exemption does not preclude a court from ordering that medical service be provided to the child where the child’s health requires it. Although the religious belief exemption is not affected by the bill, an internal reference to it in Code section 232.71D is deleted.
   Code section 232.71D, providing criteria for whether or not founded child abuse information is placed on the central child abuse registry, is amended. Current law provides a specific list of abuses for which there is no discretion and must be placed on the registry and describes two types of abuse that are not placed on the registry if certain determinations are made:  nonacccidental physical injury or injury at variance with the history of it and the denial of critical care. For those two types of abuse, in order not to be placed on the registry, the department must determine that the injury or risk of harm was minor, isolated, and is unlikely to reoccur.
   The bill removes from Code section 232.71D most of the specific provisions requiring registry placement and instead provides a specific list of four exemptions that if any of the circumstances described in the exemptions are applicable, the case of founded child abuse is not placed on the central registry. The first exemption listed is similar to the exemption in current law:  a finding of physical abuse in which the department has determined the injury was minor, isolated, and unlikely to reoccur. The second exemption narrows the denial of critical care exemption in current law to now only apply to failure to provide adequate supervision or failure to provide adequate clothing, and the department must determine that the risk to the child’s health and welfare was minor, isolated, and unlikely to reoccur. Under the bill, abuse resulting from other forms of denial of critical care would no longer be exempted from placement on the registry. These two exception clauses do not apply if one of the following circumstances is also applicable:  referral of the case for criminal or juvenile court action, the same perpetrator was previously determined to have committed child abuse in a prior case that occurred within the preceding 18-month period, or the department determines the alleged perpetrator will continue to pose a danger to the child involved with this case or to another child.
   The third exemption is sexual abuse when the alleged perpetrator of the abuse is age 13 or younger. The fourth exemption is sexual abuse when the alleged perpetrator is age 14 through 17 and the court has determined there is good cause for removing the name of the alleged perpetrator from the registry. In such cases only the name of the alleged perpetrator will be withheld or removed from the registry.
   Subsection 3 of Code section 235A.18, relating to sealing and expungement of founded child abuse information from the registry, is stricken. The subsection requires the department to review cases of child abuse placed in the registry before the original effective date of Code section 232.71D of July 1, 1997. The review is required when the department is considering the information while performing a record check evaluation under law or administrative rule and when a review is indicated under a procedure for performing reviews adopted by the department.