Bill Text: MS HB1375 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Determination by youth court to maintain a child in home; revise standards for.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)
Status: (Failed) 2020-03-03 - Died In Committee [HB1375 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2020-HB1375-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2020 Regular Session
To: Youth and Family Affairs; Judiciary A
By: Representatives Owen, Ford (73rd), McCarty, McLean, Rushing, Hobgood-Wilkes
House Bill 1375
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-603, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE INFORMATION THAT MAY BE PROVIDED IN YOUTH COURT FOR A DISPOSITION HEARING REGARDING AN ABUSED OR NEGLECTED CHILD; TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-105, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF NEGLECTED CHILD; TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-455, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 43-21-603, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-603. (1) At the beginning of each disposition hearing, the judge shall inform the parties of the purpose of the hearing.
(2) All testimony shall be under oath unless waived by all parties and may be in narrative form. The court may consider any evidence that is material and relevant to the disposition of the cause, including hearsay and opinion evidence. At the conclusion of the evidence, the youth court shall give the parties an opportunity to present oral argument.
(3) If the child has been adjudicated a delinquent child, before entering a disposition order, the youth court should consider, among others, the following relevant factors:
(a) The nature of the offense;
(b) The manner in which the offense was committed;
(c) The nature and number of a child's prior adjudicated offenses;
(d) The child's need for care and assistance;
(e) The child's current medical history, including medication and diagnosis;
(f) The child's mental health history, which may include, but not be limited to, the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument version 2 (MAYSI-2);
(g) Copies of the child's cumulative record from the last school of record, including special education records, if applicable;
(h) Recommendation from the school of record based on areas of remediation needed;
(i) Disciplinary records from the school of record; and
(j) Records of disciplinary actions outside of the school setting.
(4) If the child has been adjudicated a child in need of supervision, before entering a disposition order, the youth court should consider, among others, the following relevant factors:
(a) The nature and history of the child's conduct;
(b) The family and home situation; and
(c) The child's need of care and assistance.
(5) If the child has been adjudicated a neglected child or an abused child, before entering a disposition order, the youth court shall consider, among others, the following relevant factors:
(a) The child's physical and mental conditions;
(b) The child's need of assistance;
(c) The manner in which the parent, guardian or custodian participated in, tolerated or condoned the abuse, neglect or abandonment of the child;
(d) The ability of a child's parent, guardian or custodian to provide proper supervision and care of a child; and
(e) Relevant testimony and recommendations, where available, from the foster parent of the child, the grandparents of the child, the guardian ad litem of the child, representatives of any private care agency that has cared for the child, the family protection worker or family protection specialist assigned to the case, and any other relevant testimony pertaining to the case.
(6) After consideration of all the evidence and the relevant factors, the youth court shall enter a disposition order that shall not recite any of the facts or circumstances upon which the disposition is based, nor shall it recite that a child has been found guilty; but it shall recite that a child is found to be a delinquent child, a child in need of supervision, a neglected child or an abused child.
(7) If the youth court orders that the custody or supervision of a child who has been adjudicated abused or neglected be placed with the Department of Human Services or any other person or public or private agency, other than the child's parent, guardian or custodian, the youth court shall find and the disposition order shall recite that:
(a) (i) Reasonable efforts have been made to maintain the child within his own home, but that the circumstances warrant his removal and there is no reasonable alternative to custody; or
(ii) The circumstances are of such an emergency nature that no reasonable efforts have been made to maintain the child within his own home, and that there is no reasonable alternative to custody; and
(b) That the effect of the continuation of the child's residence within his own home would be contrary to the welfare of the child and that the placement of the child in foster care is in the best interests of the child; or
(c) Reasonable efforts to maintain the child within his home shall not be required if the court determines that:
(i) The parent has subjected the child to aggravated circumstances, including, but not limited to, abandonment, torture, chronic abuse and sexual abuse; or
(ii) The parent has been convicted of murder of another child of that parent, voluntary manslaughter of another child of that parent, aided or abetted, attempted, conspired or solicited to commit that murder or voluntary manslaughter, or a felony assault that results in the serious bodily injury to the surviving child or another child of that parent; or
(iii) The parental
rights of the parent to a sibling have been terminated involuntarily; * * *
(iv) That the
effect of the continuation of the child's residence within his own home would
be contrary to the welfare of the child and that placement of the child in
foster care is in the best interests of the child * * *;
(v) That a child who is less than six (6) months of age was: 1. Exposed to a drug or substance that was not the result of medical treatment administered to the mother or the infant, 2. The biological mother of the child is the biological mother of at least one (1) other child who has been adjudicated dependent to a drug or substance because of a finding of harm to the child's health or welfare because of exposure to a controlled substance or alcohol and 3. The biological mother was provided the opportunity to participate in substance abuse treatment; and
(vi) That a child has been removed from the parent or guardian on at least two (2) previous occasions because an adjudication of abuse or neglect was made against the parent, guardian or someone residing with the parent or guardian.
Once the reasonable efforts requirement is bypassed, the court shall have a permanency hearing under Section 43-21-613 within thirty (30) days of the finding.
(8) Upon a written motion by a party, the youth court shall make written findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which it relies for the disposition order. If the disposition ordered by the youth court includes placing the child in the custody of a training school, an admission packet shall be prepared for the child that contains the following information:
(a) The child's current medical history, including medications and diagnosis;
(b) The child's mental health history;
(c) Copies of the child's cumulative record from the last school of record, including special education records, if reasonably available;
(d) Recommendation from the school of record based on areas of remediation needed;
(e) Disciplinary records from the school of record; and
(f) Records of disciplinary actions outside of the school setting, if reasonably available.
Only individuals who are permitted under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) shall have access to a child's medical records which are contained in an admission packet. The youth court shall provide the admission packet to the training school at or before the child's arrival at the training school. The admittance of any child to a training school shall take place between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on designated admission days.
(9) When a child in the jurisdiction of the Youth Court is committed to the custody of the Mississippi Department of Human Services and is believed to be in need of treatment for a mental or emotional disability or infirmity, the Department of Human Services shall file an affidavit alleging that the child is in need of mental health services with the Youth Court. The Youth Court shall refer the child to the appropriate community mental health center for evaluation pursuant to Section 41-21-67. If the prescreening evaluation recommends residential care, the Youth Court shall proceed with civil commitment pursuant to Sections 41-21-61 et seq., 43-21-315 and 43-21-611, and the Department of Mental Health, once commitment is ordered, shall provide appropriate care, treatment and services for at least as many adolescents as were provided services in fiscal year 2004 in its facilities.
(10) Any screening and assessment examinations ordered by the court may aid in dispositions related to delinquency, but no statements or admissions made during the course thereof may be admitted into evidence against the child on the issue of whether the child committed a delinquent act.
SECTION 2. Section 43-21-105, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-105. The following words and phrases, for purposes of this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly otherwise requires:
(a) "Youth court" means the Youth Court Division.
(b) "Judge" means the judge of the Youth Court Division.
(c) "Designee" means any person that the judge appoints to perform a duty which this chapter requires to be done by the judge or his designee. The judge may not appoint a person who is involved in law enforcement or who is an employee of the Mississippi Department of Human Services or the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services to be his designee.
(d) "Child" and "youth" are synonymous, and each means a person who has not reached his eighteenth birthday. A child who has not reached his eighteenth birthday and is on active duty for a branch of the armed services or is married is not considered a "child" or "youth" for the purposes of this chapter.
(e) "Parent" means the father or mother to whom the child has been born, or the father or mother by whom the child has been legally adopted.
(f) "Guardian" means a court-appointed guardian of the person of a child.
(g) "Custodian" means any person having the present care or custody of a child whether such person be a parent or otherwise.
(h) "Legal custodian" means a court-appointed custodian of the child.
(i) "Delinquent child" means a child who has reached his tenth birthday and who has committed a delinquent act.
(j) "Delinquent act" is any act, which if committed by an adult, is designated as a crime under state or federal law, or municipal or county ordinance other than offenses punishable by life imprisonment or death. A delinquent act includes escape from lawful detention and violations of the Uniform Controlled Substances Law and violent behavior.
(k) "Child in need of supervision" means a child who has reached his seventh birthday and is in need of treatment or rehabilitation because the child:
(i) Is habitually disobedient of reasonable and lawful commands of his parent, guardian or custodian and is ungovernable; or
(ii) While being required to attend school, willfully and habitually violates the rules thereof or willfully and habitually absents himself therefrom; or
(iii) Runs away from home without good cause; or
(iv) Has committed a delinquent act or acts.
(l) "Neglected child" means a child:
(i) Whose parent, guardian or custodian or any person responsible for his care or support, neglects or refuses, when able so to do, to provide for him proper and necessary care or support, or education as required by law, or medical, surgical, or other care necessary for his well-being; however, a parent who withholds medical treatment from any child who in good faith is under treatment by spiritual means alone through prayer in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner thereof shall not, for that reason alone, be considered to be neglectful under any provision of this chapter; or
(ii) Who is otherwise without proper care, custody, supervision or support; or
(iii) Who, for any
reason, lacks the special care made necessary for him by reason of his mental
condition, whether the mental condition is having mental illness or having an
intellectual disability; * * * or
(iv) Who, for any
reason, lacks the care necessary for his health, morals or well-being * * *; or
(v) Who was determined by a health professional to be prenatally exposed to a controlled substance listed in Section 41-29-113 or 41-29-115, and that this exposure was not the result of a medical treatment that was administered to the mother or the newborn infant by a health profession.
(m) "Abused child" means a child whose parent, guardian or custodian or any person responsible for his care or support, whether legally obligated to do so or not, has caused or allowed to be caused, upon the child, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, commercial sexual exploitation, emotional abuse, mental injury, nonaccidental physical injury or other maltreatment. However, physical discipline, including spanking, performed on a child by a parent, guardian or custodian in a reasonable manner shall not be deemed abuse under this section. "Abused child" also means a child who is or has been trafficked within the meaning of the Mississippi Human Trafficking Act by any person, without regard to the relationship of the person to the child.
(n) "Sexual abuse" means obscene or pornographic photographing, filming or depiction of children for commercial purposes, or the rape, molestation, incest, prostitution or other such forms of sexual exploitation of children under circumstances which indicate that the child's health or welfare is harmed or threatened.
(o) "A child in need of special care" means a child with any mental or physical illness that cannot be treated with the dispositional alternatives ordinarily available to the youth court.
(p) A "dependent child" means any child who is not a child in need of supervision, a delinquent child, an abused child or a neglected child, and which child has been voluntarily placed in the custody of the Department of Child Protection Services by his parent, guardian or custodian.
(q) "Custody" means the physical possession of the child by any person.
(r) "Legal custody" means the legal status created by a court order which gives the legal custodian the responsibilities of physical possession of the child and the duty to provide him with food, shelter, education and reasonable medical care, all subject to residual rights and responsibilities of the parent or guardian of the person.
(s) "Detention" means the care of children in physically restrictive facilities.
(t) "Shelter" means care of children in physically nonrestrictive facilities.
(u) "Records involving children" means any of the following from which the child can be identified:
(i) All youth court records as defined in Section 43-21-251;
(ii) All forensic interviews conducted by a child advocacy center in abuse and neglect investigations;
(iii) All law enforcement records as defined in Section 43-21-255;
(iv) All agency records as defined in Section 43-21-257; and
(v) All other documents maintained by any representative of the state, county, municipality or other public agency insofar as they relate to the apprehension, custody, adjudication or disposition of a child who is the subject of a youth court cause.
(v) "Any person responsible for care or support" means the person who is providing for the child at a given time. This term shall include, but is not limited to, stepparents, foster parents, relatives, nonlicensed babysitters or other similar persons responsible for a child and staff of residential care facilities and group homes that are licensed by the Department of Human Services or the Department of Child Protection Services.
(w) The singular includes the plural, the plural the singular and the masculine the feminine when consistent with the intent of this chapter.
(x) "Out-of-home" setting means the temporary supervision or care of children by the staff of licensed day care centers, the staff of public, private and state schools, the staff of juvenile detention facilities, the staff of unlicensed residential care facilities and group homes and the staff of, or individuals representing, churches, civic or social organizations.
(y) "Durable legal custody" means the legal status created by a court order which gives the durable legal custodian the responsibilities of physical possession of the child and the duty to provide him with care, nurture, welfare, food, shelter, education and reasonable medical care. All these duties as enumerated are subject to the residual rights and responsibilities of the natural parent(s) or guardian(s) of the child or children.
(z) "Status offense" means conduct subject to adjudication by the youth court that would not be a crime if committed by an adult.
(aa) "Financially able" means a parent or child who is ineligible for a court-appointed attorney.
(bb) "Assessment" means an individualized examination of a child to determine the child's psychosocial needs and problems, including the type and extent of any mental health, substance abuse or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders and recommendations for treatment. The term includes, but is not limited to, a drug and alcohol, psychological or psychiatric evaluation, records review, clinical interview or the administration of a formal test and instrument.
(cc) "Screening" means a process, with or without the administration of a formal instrument, that is designed to identify a child who is at increased risk of having mental health, substance abuse or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders that warrant immediate attention, intervention or more comprehensive assessment.
(dd) "Durable legal relative guardianship" means the legal status created by a youth court order that conveys the physical and legal custody of a child or children by durable legal guardianship to a relative or fictive kin who is licensed as a foster or resource parent.
(ee) "Relative" means a person related to the child by affinity or consanguinity within the third degree.
(ff) "Fictive kin" means a person not related to the child legally or biologically but who is considered a relative due to a significant, familial-like and ongoing relationship with the child and family.
(gg) "Reasonable efforts" means the exercise of reasonable care and due diligence by the Department of Human Services, the Department of Child Protection Services, or any other appropriate entity or person to use appropriate and available services to prevent the unnecessary removal of the child from the home or provide other services related to meeting the needs of the child and the parents.
(hh) "Commercial sexual exploitation" means any sexual act or crime of a sexual nature, which is committed against a child for financial or economic gain, to obtain a thing of value for quid pro quo exchange of property or for any other purpose.
SECTION 3. Section 43-21-455, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-455. (1) The petition shall set forth plainly and concisely with particularity:
(a) identification of the child, including his full name, birth date, age, sex and residence;
(b) identification of the parent, guardian or custodian including the name and residence of the child's parents, the name and residence of the child’s legal guardian, if there be one, any person or agency in whose custody the child may be and the child's nearest relative if no parent or guardian be known;
(c) a statement of the facts, including the facts which bring the child within the jurisdiction of the youth court and which show the child is a delinquent child, a child in need of supervision, a neglected child or an abused child;
(d) in petitions alleging delinquency, a citation of the statute or ordinance which the child is alleged to have violated. Error in or omission of the citation shall not be grounds for dismissing the petition or for a reversal of the adjudication based thereon if the error or omission did not mislead the child to his prejudice.
(e) a prayer for the
type of adjudicatory relief sought; * * *
(f) whether evidence exists that a circumstance listed in Section 43-21-603(7)(c) for waiving efforts to maintain the child within his or her home is applicable; and
( * * *g) if any of the facts herein required
are not known by the petitioner.
(2) Two (2) or more offenses may, in the discretion of the youth court, be alleged in the same petition in a separate count for each offense.
(3) Two (2) or more children may be the subject of the same petition if:
(a) they are siblings; and
(b) they are alleged to be neglected or abused from a common source of mistreatment or neglect.
(4) Where the child is alleged to be a delinquent child, the petition must recite factual allegations with the same particularity required in a criminal indictment but need not have the technical form of a criminal indictment.
(5) The petition may contain a motion to transfer.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.
