Bill Text: MI HB5641 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Children; protection; central registry records; require certain notifications to recipients regarding expungement and limit maintenance of records to 10 years. Amends secs. 7 & 8d of 1975 PA 238 (MCL 722.627 & 722.628d).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-12-12 - Referred To Committee On Families, Seniors And Human Services [HB5641 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2011-HB5641-Engrossed.html
HB-5641, As Passed House, December 6, 2012
HOUSE BILL No. 5641
May 16, 2012, Introduced by Rep. O'Brien and referred to the Committee on Families, Children, and Seniors.
A bill to amend 1975 PA 238, entitled
"Child protection law,"
by amending sections 7 and 8d (MCL 722.627 and 722.628d), section 7
as amended by 2011 PA 70 and section 8d as amended by 2006 PA 618.
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
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 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 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 that determines the information is necessary to
decide an issue before the court. 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.
(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 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 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 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 in which no relevant and accurate evidence of
abuse
or neglect is found to exist 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)
If the department refuses a request for amendment or
House Bill No. 5641 as amended December 6, 2012
expunction
under subsection (5), or fails to act within 30 days
after
receiving the request, A
person who is the subject of a
report or record made under this act may, within 90 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 90 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.
on
the grounds that the report or record is not relevant or
accurate
evidence of abuse or neglect. 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 90-day notice period expired.]
(7) If the investigation of a report conducted under this act
fails
to disclose evidence of does
not show abuse or 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.
(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 neglect. This subsection does not prevent the
department from releasing reports of convictions of crimes related
to child abuse or 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.
Sec. 8d. (1) For the department's determination required by
section 8, the categories, and the departmental response required
for each category, are the following:
(a) Category V - services not needed. Following a field
investigation, the department determines that there is no evidence
of child abuse or neglect.
(b) Category IV - community services recommended. Following a
field investigation, the department determines that there is not a
preponderance of evidence of child abuse or neglect, but the
structured decision-making tool indicates that there is future risk
of harm to the child. The department shall assist the child's
family in voluntarily participating in community-based services
commensurate with the risk to the child.
(c) Category III - community services needed. The department
determines that there is a preponderance of evidence of child abuse
or neglect, and the structured decision-making tool indicates a low
or moderate risk of future harm to the child. The department shall
assist the child's family in receiving community-based services
commensurate with the risk to the child. If the family does not
voluntarily participate in services, or the family voluntarily
participates in services, but does not progress toward alleviating
the child's risk level, the department shall consider reclassifying
the case as category II.
(d) Category II - child protective services required. The
department determines that there is evidence of child abuse or
neglect, and the structured decision-making tool indicates a high
or intensive risk of future harm to the child. The department shall
open a protective services case and provide the services necessary
under this act. The department shall also list the perpetrator of
the child abuse or neglect, based on the report that was the
subject of the field investigation, on the central registry, either
by name or as "unknown" if the perpetrator has not been identified
as provided in section 7(7).
(e) Category I - court petition required. The department
determines that there is evidence of child abuse or neglect and 1
or more of the following are true:
(i) A court petition is required under another provision of
this act.
(ii) The child is not safe and a petition for removal is
needed.
(iii) The department previously classified the case as category
II and the child's family does not voluntarily participate in
services.
(iv) There is a violation, involving the child, of a crime
listed or described in section 8a(1)(b), (c), (d), or (f) or of
child abuse in the first or second degree as prescribed by section
136b of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.136b.
(2) In response to a category I classification, the department
shall do all of the following:
(a) If a court petition is not required under another
provision of this act, submit a petition for authorization by the
court under section 2(b) of chapter XIIA of the probate code of
1939, 1939 PA 288, MCL 712A.2.
(b) Open a protective services case and provide the services
necessary under this act.
(c) List the perpetrator of the child abuse or neglect, based
on the report that was the subject of the field investigation, on
the central registry, either by name or as "unknown" if the
perpetrator has not been identified as provided in section 7(7).
(3) The department is not required to use the structured
decision-making tool for a nonparent adult who resides outside the
child's home who is the victim or alleged victim of child abuse or
neglect or for an owner, operator, volunteer, or employee of a
licensed or registered child care organization or a licensed or
unlicensed adult foster care family home or adult foster care small
group home as those terms are defined in section 3 of the adult
foster care facility licensing act, 1979 PA 218, MCL 400.703.
(4) If following a field investigation the department
determines that there is a preponderance of evidence that an
individual listed in subsection (3) was the perpetrator of child
abuse or neglect, the department shall list the perpetrator of the
child abuse or neglect on the central registry as provided in
section 7(7).
(5) The department shall furnish a written report described in
subsection (6) to the appropriate legislative standing committees
and the house and senate appropriations subcommittees for the
department within 4 months after each of the following time
periods:
(a) Beginning October 1, 2005 and ending September 30, 2006.
(b) Beginning October 1, 2006 and ending September 30, 2007.
(c) Beginning October 1, 2007 and ending September 30, 2008.
(6) The department shall include in a report required by
subsection (5) at least all of the following information regarding
all families that were classified in category III at some time
during the time period covered by the report:
(a) The total number of families classified in category III.
(b) The number of cases in category III closed or reclassified
during the time period covered by the report categorized as
follows:
(i) The number of cases referred to voluntary community
services and closed with no additional monitoring.
(ii) The number of cases referred to voluntary community
services and monitored for up to 90 days.
(iii) The number of cases for which the department entered more
than 1 determination that there was evidence of child abuse or
neglect.
(iv) The number of cases that the department reclassified from
category III to category II.
(v) The number of cases that the department reclassified from
category III to category I.
(vi) The number of cases that the department reclassified from
category III to category I that resulted in a removal.
(c) For the periods described in subsection (5)(b) and (c),
the number of cases that the department reclassified in each of
subparagraphs (iv), (v), and (vi) of subdivision (b) that were
referred to and provided voluntary community services before being
reclassified by the department.
