HOUSE BILL No. 5198

 

December 12, 2013, Introduced by Reps. McCready, Kurtz, Haines, Crawford, MacGregor, Kowall and Kesto and referred to the Committee on Families, Children, and Seniors.

 

     A bill to amend 1975 PA 238, entitled

 

"Child protection law,"

 

by amending section 7 (MCL 722.627), as amended by 2011 PA 70.

 

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 or 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.


 

     (u) A department employee actively representing himself or

 

herself in a disciplinary action, a labor union representative who

 

is actively representing a department employee in a disciplinary

 

action, or an arbitrator or administrative law judge conducting a

 

hearing involving a department employee's dereliction, malfeasance,

 

or misfeasance of duty, for use solely in connection with that

 

action or hearing. Information disclosed under this subdivision

 

shall be returned not later than 10 days after the conclusion of

 

the action or hearing. A recipient shall not receive further

 

disclosures under this subdivision while he or she retains

 

disclosed information beyond the deadline specified for return.

 

     (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 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. 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

 

expunction under subsection (5), or fails to act within 30 days

 

after receiving the request, 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.

 

     (7) If the investigation of a report conducted under this act

 

fails to disclose evidence of abuse or neglect, the information

 

identifying the subject of the report shall be expunged from the

 

central registry. If evidence of abuse or neglect exists, 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 prohibit

 

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.