REGISTRY OF CHILDREN'S DEATH
Senate Bill 226
Sponsor: Sen. Mark Jansen (Enacted as Public Act 69 of 2011)
House Committee: Families, Children, and Seniors
Senate Committee: Families, Seniors, and Human Services
Complete to 6-8-11
A SUMMARY OF SENATE BILL 226 AS REPORTED FROM HOUSE COMMITTEE
The bill would amend the Child Protection Law to require the Department of Human Services to establish and maintain a central registry of statistical information regarding children's deaths that is accessible to the public. Senate Bill 226 contains the same provisions as House Bill 4384, which has already passed the House.
The registry could not disclose any identifying information and could only include statistical information covering all of the following:
· The number of children who died while under court jurisdiction for child abuse or neglect regardless of placement setting.
· The total number of children who died as a result of child abuse or neglect after a parent had one or more child protective services complaints within the two years preceding the child's death and the category dispositions of those complaints.
· The total number of children who died under the above conditions in the preceding year.
· The child protective services disposition of the child fatality.
MCL 722.627b
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department has noted that data are already collected by the child fatality review teams. The bill would likely lead to a small, indeterminate increase in administrative cost to the Department of Human Services associated with modifying information for use in a central registry.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
This bill is one of a package of Senate Bills (Senate Bills 226-229) addressing this topic. There is also a set of House Bills (House Bills 4384-4387). Proponents have said the bills aim at revising procedures for investigating the death of a child who was under the jurisdiction of a court or was subject of child abuse and neglect investigations; improving communication between public agencies and public officials; aggregating information into a database of child deaths, available to officials and the general public; and helping public officials identify systemic problems that may be leading to the death of children. As with the House Bills, each of the Senate bills is summarized separately.
POSITIONS:
Department of Human Services indicated that it supports the bill in concept. (6-7-11)
Michigan Chapter, National Association of Social Workers supports the bill (6-7-11).
Fiscal Analyst: Kevin Koorstra
■ 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.