Bill Text: MI HB5198 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Labor; mediation; access to certain case files for use in human services employee disciplinary proceedings; allow without a court order. Amends sec. 7 of 1975 PA 238 (MCL 722.627).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 7-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-12-31 - Assigned Pa 527'14 2014 Addenda [HB5198 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2013-HB5198-Engrossed.html
HB-5198, As Passed Senate, December 19, 2014
SENATE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 5198
A bill to amend 1975 PA 238, entitled
"Child protection law,"
by amending section 7 (MCL 722.627), as amended by 2014 PA 30.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 7. (1) The department shall maintain a statewide,
electronic central registry to carry out the intent of this act.
(2) Unless made public as specified information released under
section 7d, a written report, document, or photograph filed with
the department as provided in this act is a confidential record
available only to 1 or more of the following:
(a) A legally mandated public or private child protective
agency investigating a report of known or suspected child abuse or
child neglect or a legally mandated public or private child
protective agency or foster care agency prosecuting a disciplinary
action against its own employee involving child protective services
or foster records.
(b) A police or other law enforcement agency investigating a
report of known or suspected child abuse or child neglect.
(c) A physician who is treating a child whom the physician
reasonably suspects may be abused or neglected.
(d) A person legally authorized to place a child in protective
custody when the person is confronted with a child whom the person
reasonably suspects may be abused or neglected and the confidential
record is necessary to determine whether to place the child in
protective custody.
(e) A person, agency, or organization, including a
multidisciplinary case consultation team, authorized to diagnose,
care for, treat, or supervise a child or family who is the subject
of a report or record under this act, or who is responsible for the
child's health or welfare.
(f) A person named in the report or record as a perpetrator or
alleged perpetrator of the child abuse or child neglect or a victim
who is an adult at the time of the request, if the identity of the
reporting person is protected as provided in section 5.
(g) A court for the purposes of determining the suitability of
a person as a guardian of a minor or that otherwise determines that
the
information is necessary to decide an issue before the court, .
In
or in the event of a child's death, a court that had
jurisdiction over that child under section 2(b) of chapter XIIA of
the probate code of 1939, 1939 PA 288, MCL 712A.2.
(h) A grand jury that determines the information is necessary
to conduct the grand jury's official business.
(i) A person, agency, or organization engaged in a bona fide
research or evaluation project. The person, agency, or organization
shall not release information identifying a person named in the
report or record unless that person's written consent is obtained.
The person, agency, or organization shall not conduct a personal
interview with a family without the family's prior consent and
shall not disclose information that would identify the child or the
child's family or other identifying information. The department
director may authorize the release of information to a person,
agency, or organization described in this subdivision if the
release contributes to the purposes of this act and the person,
agency, or organization has appropriate controls to maintain the
confidentiality of personally identifying information for a person
named in a report or record made under this act.
(j) A lawyer-guardian ad litem or other attorney appointed as
provided by section 10.
(k) A child placing agency licensed under 1973 PA 116, MCL
722.111 to 722.128, for the purpose of investigating an applicant
for adoption, a foster care applicant or licensee or an employee of
a foster care applicant or licensee, an adult member of an
applicant's or licensee's household, or other persons in a foster
care or adoptive home who are directly responsible for the care and
welfare of children, to determine suitability of a home for
adoption or foster care. The child placing agency shall disclose
the information to a foster care applicant or licensee under 1973
PA 116, MCL 722.111 to 722.128, or to an applicant for adoption.
(l) Family division of circuit court staff authorized by the
court to investigate foster care applicants and licensees,
employees of foster care applicants and licensees, adult members of
the applicant's or licensee's household, and other persons in the
home who are directly responsible for the care and welfare of
children, for the purpose of determining the suitability of the
home for foster care. The court shall disclose this information to
the applicant or licensee.
(m) Subject to section 7a, a standing or select committee or
appropriations subcommittee of either house of the legislature
having jurisdiction over child protective services matters.
(n) The children's ombudsman appointed under the children's
ombudsman act, 1994 PA 204, MCL 722.921 to 722.932.
(o) A child fatality review team established under section 7b
and authorized under that section to investigate and review a child
death.
(p) A county medical examiner or deputy county medical
examiner appointed under 1953 PA 181, MCL 52.201 to 52.216, for the
purpose of carrying out his or her duties under that act.
(q) A citizen review panel established by the department.
Access under this subdivision is limited to information the
department determines is necessary for the panel to carry out its
prescribed duties.
(r) A child care regulatory agency.
(s) A foster care review board for the purpose of meeting the
requirements of 1984 PA 422, MCL 722.131 to 722.139a.
(t) A local friend of the court office.
(u) A department employee actively representing himself or
herself in a disciplinary action, a labor union representative who
is actively representing a department employee in a disciplinary
action, or an arbitrator or administrative law judge conducting a
hearing involving a department employee's dereliction, malfeasance,
or misfeasance of duty, for use solely in connection with that
action or hearing. Information disclosed under this subdivision
shall be returned not later than 10 days after the conclusion of
the action or hearing. A recipient shall not receive further
disclosures under this subdivision while he or she retains
disclosed information beyond the deadline specified for return.
(3) Subject to subsection (9), a person or entity to whom
information described in subsection (2) is disclosed shall make the
information available only to a person or entity described in
subsection (2). This subsection does not require a court proceeding
to be closed that otherwise would be open to the public.
(4) If the department classifies a report of suspected child
abuse or child neglect as a central registry case, the department
shall maintain a record in the central registry and, within 30 days
after the classification, shall notify in writing each person who
is named in the record as a perpetrator of the child abuse or child
neglect. The notice shall be sent by registered or certified mail,
return receipt requested, and delivery restricted to the addressee.
The notice shall set forth the person's right to request expunction
of the record and the right to a hearing if the department refuses
the request. The notice shall state that the record may be released
under section 7d. The notice shall not identify the person
reporting the suspected child abuse or child neglect.
(5) A person who is the subject of a report or record made
under this act may request the department to amend an inaccurate
report or record from the central registry and local office file. A
person who is the subject of a report or record made under this act
may request the department to expunge from the central registry a
report or record by requesting a hearing under subsection (6). A
report or record filed in a local office file is not subject to
expunction except as the department authorizes, if considered in
the best interest of the child.
(6) A person who is the subject of a report or record made
under this act may, within 180 days from the date of service of
notice of the right to a hearing, request the department hold a
hearing to review the request for amendment or expunction. If the
hearing request is made within 180 days of the notice, the
department shall hold a hearing to determine by a preponderance of
the evidence whether the report or record in whole or in part
should be amended or expunged from the central registry. The
hearing shall be held before a hearing officer appointed by the
department and shall be conducted as prescribed by the
administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to
24.328. The department may, for good cause, hold a hearing under
this subsection if the department determines that the person who is
the subject of the report or record submitted the request for a
hearing within 60 days after the 180-day notice period expired.
(7) If the investigation of a report conducted under this act
does not show child abuse or child neglect by a preponderance of
evidence, or if a court dismisses a petition based on the merits of
the petition filed under section 2(b) of chapter XIIA of the
probate code of 1939, 1939 PA 288, MCL 712A.2, because the
petitioner has failed to establish that the child comes within the
jurisdiction of the court, the information identifying the subject
of the report shall be expunged from the central registry. If a
preponderance of evidence of abuse or neglect exists, or if a court
takes jurisdiction of the child under section 2(b) of chapter XIIA
of the probate code of 1939, 1939 PA 288, MCL 712A.2, the
department shall maintain the information in the central registry
as follows:
(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), for a person listed
as a perpetrator in category I or II under section 8d, either as a
result of an investigation or as a result of the reclassification
of a case, the department shall maintain the information in the
central registry for 10 years.
(b) For a person listed as a perpetrator in category I or II
under section 8d that involved any of the circumstances listed in
section 17(1) or 18(1), the department shall maintain the
information in the central registry until the department receives
reliable information that the perpetrator of the abuse or neglect
is dead. For the purpose of this subdivision, "reliable
information" includes, but is not limited to, information obtained
using the United States social security death index database.
(c) For a person who is the subject of a report or record made
under this act before the effective date of the amendatory act that
added this subdivision, the following applies:
(i) Except as provided in subparagraph (ii), for a person listed
as perpetrator in category I or II under section 8d either as a
result of an investigation or as a result of the reclassification
of a case, the department may remove the information for a person
described in this subparagraph after 10 years without a request for
amendment or expunction.
(ii) For a person listed as a perpetrator in category I or II
under section 8d that involved any of the circumstances listed in
section 17(1) or 18(1), the department shall maintain the
information in the central registry until the department receives
reliable information that the perpetrator of the child abuse or
child neglect is dead. For the purpose of this subparagraph,
"reliable information" includes, but is not limited to, information
obtained using the United States social security death index
database.
(8) In releasing information under this act, the department
shall not include a report compiled by a police agency or other law
enforcement agency related to an ongoing investigation of suspected
child
abuse or child neglect. This subsection does not prevent
prohibit the department from releasing reports of convictions of
crimes related to child abuse or child neglect.
(9) A member or staff member of a citizen review panel shall
not disclose identifying information about a specific child
protection case to an individual, partnership, corporation,
association, governmental entity, or other legal entity. A member
or staff member of a citizen review panel is a member of a board,
council, commission, or statutorily created task force of a
governmental agency for the purposes of section 7 of 1964 PA 170,
MCL 691.1407. Information obtained by a citizen review panel is not
subject to the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231
to 15.246.
(10)
An agency obtaining a confidential record under
subsection
(2)(a) may seek an order from the court having
jurisdiction
over the child or from the family division of the
Ingham
county circuit court that allows the agency to disseminate
confidential
child protective services or foster care information
to
pursue sanctions for alleged dereliction, malfeasance, or
misfeasance
of duty against an employee of the agency, to a
recognized
labor union representative of the employee's bargaining
unit,
or to an arbitrator or an administrative law judge who
conducts
a hearing involving the employee's alleged dereliction,
malfeasance,
or misfeasance of duty to be used solely in connection
with
that hearing. Information released under this subsection shall
be
released in a manner that maintains the greatest degree of
confidentiality
while allowing review of employee performance.
(10) Documents, reports, or records authored by or obtained
from another agency or organization shall not be released or open
for inspection under subsection (2) unless required by other state
or federal law, in response to an order issued by a judge,
magistrate, or other authorized judicial officer, or unless the
documents, reports, or records are requested for a child abuse or
child neglect case or for a criminal investigation of a child abuse
or child neglect case conducted by law enforcement.
