MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2019 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B
By: Representatives Huddleston, Paden, Hines
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-353, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT IN CASES OF REPORTS OF CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES, IF THE DEPARTMENT DETERMINES THAT A PARENT OR OTHER PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CARE OR WELFARE OF AN ABUSED OR NEGLECTED CHILD MAINTAINS ACTIVE DUTY STATUS WITHIN THE MILITARY, THEN THE DEPARTMENT SHALL NOTIFY THE APPLICABLE MILITARY INSTALLATION FAMILY ADVOCACY PROGRAM THAT THERE IS AN ALLEGATION OF ABUSE OR NEGLECT THAT RELATES TO THAT CHILD; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 43-21-353, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-353. (1) Any
attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse, psychologist, social
worker, family protection worker, family protection specialist, child
caregiver, minister, law enforcement officer, public or private school employee
or any other person having reasonable cause to suspect that a child is a
neglected child or an abused child, shall cause an oral report to be made
immediately by telephone or otherwise and followed as soon thereafter as
possible by a report in writing to the Department of * * * Child Protection Services, and
immediately a referral shall be made by the Department of * * * Child Protection Services to the
youth court intake unit, which unit shall promptly comply with Section 43-21-357.
In the course of an investigation, at the initial time of contact with the
individual(s) about whom a report has been made under this Youth Court Act or
with the individual(s) responsible for the health or welfare of a child about
whom a report has been made under this chapter, the Department of * * * Child Protection Services shall
inform the individual of the specific complaints or allegations made against
the individual. Consistent with subsection (4), the identity of the person who
reported his or her suspicion shall not be disclosed. Where appropriate, the
Department of * * *
Child Protection Services shall additionally make a referral to the
youth court prosecutor.
Upon receiving a report that
a child has been sexually abused, or burned, tortured, mutilated or otherwise
physically abused in such a manner as to cause serious bodily harm, or upon
receiving any report of abuse that would be a felony under state or federal
law, the Department of * * *
Child Protection Services shall immediately notify the law enforcement
agency in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred and shall notify the
appropriate prosecutor within forty-eight (48) hours, and the Department of * * * Child Protection Services shall
have the duty to provide the law enforcement agency all the names and facts
known at the time of the report; this duty shall be of a continuing nature.
The law enforcement agency and the Department of * * * Child Protection Services shall
investigate the reported abuse immediately and shall file a preliminary report
with the appropriate prosecutor's office within twenty-four (24) hours and
shall make additional reports as new or additional information or evidence
becomes available. The Department of * * * Child Protection Services shall
advise the clerk of the youth court and the youth court prosecutor of all cases
of abuse reported to the department within seventy-two (72) hours and shall
update such report as information becomes available. In addition, if the
Department of Child Protection Services determines that a parent or other
person responsible for the care or welfare of an abused or neglected child
maintains active duty status within the military, the department shall notify
the applicable military installation family advocacy program that there is an
allegation of abuse or neglect that relates to that child.
(2) Any report to the
Department of * * *
Child Protection Services shall contain the names and addresses of the
child and his parents or other persons responsible for his care, if known, the
child's age, the nature and extent of the child's injuries, including any
evidence of previous injuries * * *, any other information that might
be helpful in establishing the cause of the injury, and the identity of
the perpetrator.
(3) The Department of * * * Child Protection Services shall
maintain a statewide incoming wide-area telephone service or similar service
for the purpose of receiving reports of suspected cases of child abuse;
provided that any attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse,
psychologist, social worker, family protection worker, family protection
specialist, child caregiver, minister, law enforcement officer or public or
private school employee who is required to report under subsection (1) of this
section shall report in the manner required in subsection (1).
(4) Reports of abuse and neglect made under this chapter and the identity of the reporter are confidential except when the court in which the investigation report is filed, in its discretion, determines the testimony of the person reporting to be material to a judicial proceeding or when the identity of the reporter is released to law enforcement agencies and the appropriate prosecutor pursuant to subsection (1). Reports made under this section to any law enforcement agency or prosecutorial officer are for the purpose of criminal investigation and prosecution only and no information from these reports may be released to the public except as provided by Section 43-21-261. Disclosure of any information by the prosecutor shall be according to the Mississippi Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court Procedure. The identity of the reporting party shall not be disclosed to anyone other than law enforcement officers or prosecutors without an order from the appropriate youth court. Any person disclosing any reports made under this section in a manner not expressly provided for in this section or Section 43-21-261 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties prescribed by Section 43-21-267.
(5) All final dispositions
of law enforcement investigations described in subsection (1) of this section
shall be determined only by the appropriate prosecutor or court. All final
dispositions of investigations by the Department of * * * Child Protection Services as
described in subsection (1) of this section shall be determined only by the
youth court. Reports made under subsection (1) of this section by the
Department of * * *
Child Protection Services to the law enforcement agency and to the
district attorney's office shall include the following, if known to the
department:
(a) The name and address of the child;
(b) The names and addresses of the parents;
(c) The name and address of the suspected perpetrator;
(d) The names and addresses of all witnesses, including the reporting party if a material witness to the abuse;
(e) A brief statement of the facts indicating that the child has been abused and any other information from the agency files or known to the family protection worker or family protection specialist making the investigation, including medical records or other records, which may assist law enforcement or the district attorney in investigating and/or prosecuting the case; and
(f) What, if any,
action is being taken by the Department of * * * Child Protection Services.
(6) In any investigation of
a report made under this chapter of the abuse or neglect of a child as defined
in Section 43-21-105(l) or (m), the Department of * * * Child Protection Services may
request the appropriate law enforcement officer with jurisdiction to accompany
the department in its investigation, and in such cases the law enforcement
officer shall comply with such request.
(7) Anyone who willfully violates any provision of this section shall be, upon being found guilty, punished by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or by imprisonment in jail not to exceed one (1) year, or both.
(8) If a report is made
directly to the Department of * * * Child Protection Services that a
child has been abused or neglected in an out-of-home setting, a referral shall
be made immediately to the law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the
abuse occurred and the department shall notify the district attorney's office
within forty-eight (48) hours of such report. The Department of * * * Child Protection Services shall
investigate the out-of-home setting report of abuse or neglect to determine
whether the child who is the subject of the report, or other children in the
same environment, comes within the jurisdiction of the youth court and shall
report to the youth court the department's findings and recommendation as to
whether the child who is the subject of the report or other children in the
same environment require the protection of the youth court. The law
enforcement agency shall investigate the reported abuse immediately and shall
file a preliminary report with the district attorney's office within forty-eight
(48) hours and shall make additional reports as new information or evidence
becomes available. If the out-of-home setting is a licensed facility, an
additional referral shall be made by the Department of * * * Child Protection Services to the
licensing agency. The licensing agency shall investigate the report and shall
provide the Department of * * * Human Child Protection Services, the law enforcement
agency and the district attorney's office with their written findings from such
investigation as well as that licensing agency's recommendations and actions
taken.
(9) If a child protective investigation does not result in an out-of-home placement, a child protective investigator must provide information to the parent or guardians about community service programs that provide respite care, voluntary guardianship or other support services for families in crisis.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.