CHILD ABUSE REPORT BY DHS
Senate Bill 1254
Sponsor: Sen. Bill Hardiman
House Committee: Family and Children Services
Senate Committee: Families and Human Services
Complete to 12-11-06
A SUMMARY OF SENATE BILL 1254 AS PASSED BY THE SENATE 9-20-06
The bill would amend the Child Protection Law to require the Department of Human Services (DHS) to report to the Legislature after fiscal years 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 the number of certain child abuse or neglect cases that were closed during fiscal year, the reasons for the case closures, and other information about those cases.
The law requires the DHS, upon investigating an allegation of child abuse or neglect, to rank the case according to five categories, with Category I being cases requiring a court petition, and Category V being cases in with there is no evidence of abuse or neglect. Category III cases are those in which the DHS determines there is a preponderance of evidence of child abuse or neglect, and an indication of low to moderate risk of future harm to the child.
Under the bill, within four months after the 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 fiscal years, the DHS would have to report to the appropriate legislative standing committees and to the Appropriations subcommittees for the DHS the total number of families classified in Category III and the number of Category III cases closed or reclassified during the fiscal year for each as follows:
**The number of cases referred to voluntary community services and closed with no additional monitoring.
**The number of cases referred to voluntary community services and monitored for up to 90 days.
**The number of cases for which the department entered more than one determination that there was evidence of child abuse or neglect.
**The number of cases that the department reclassified from category III to category II, from category III to category II; and from category III to category I that resulted in a removal.
The report would also have to include the number of cases the department reclassified in each category that had been referred to and provided voluntary community services before being reclassified by the department.
MCL 722.628d
FISCAL IMPACT:
The bill would have no fiscal impact on state or local government.
Fiscal Analyst: Bob Schneider
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.