HCS HB 355 Davidson, Bishop Committee
HCS HB 355 -- PROTECTION OF CHILDREN
SPONSOR: Davidson
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass with HCS" by the Standing Committee on Children and Families by a vote of 9 to 0. Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Rules- Regulatory Oversight by a vote of 7 to 0.
The following is a summary of the House Committee Substitute for HB 355.
This bill changes the age a person is considered a child, as it pertains to multiple provisions in the bill, to anyone under the age of 18 instead of 17. A missing child can also include a person still in foster care regardless of their age.
The bill requires law enforcement agencies to take a missing child report from any member of the family support team, as defined in this bill, and provide a copy of the report to the agency or placement provider with legal custody of the missing child. The agency or placement provider shall maintain all copies of missing child reports for any child under its legal custody. Within 72 hours of a missing child complaint being filed for a child placed in an authorized agency or foster care or within 72 hours of an authorized agency or foster care being notified that a child under its custody is missing, whichever event first occurs, the family support team, as defined in this bill, shall hold a meeting to discuss the whereabouts of the missing child and to discuss the initial decision regarding the custody and placement of the missing child once the child is found. (Sections 43.401, and 210.762, RSMo).
This bill also waives driver's license fees and non-driver's license fees for verified homeless youths or unaccompanied youths. It also specifies who may verify the person's status as a homeless youth (Sections 136.055, 302.178, and 302.181).
Currently, the Department of Health and Senior Services is required to maintain a record of substantiated, signed parental complaints against licensed child care facilities and make those available to the public. This bill gives the responsibility to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education instead of DHSS and specifies that the complaints being made available to the public should not divulge any information that can identify the reporters (Section 210.203).
This bill also requires case workers to notify a juvenile officer if a child under their supervision goes missing or is suspected to be on the run. Once notified, the juvenile officer shall file with the court a notice in the child's case file that states the child is missing and include any other relevant information, which shall include the missing child report. If the missing child is found, the juvenile officer shall file with the court a notice in the child's case file that the child has been found and include any other relevant information (Section 210.795).
The following is a summary of the public testimony from the committee hearing. The testimony was based on the introduced version of the bill.
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that this bill will make appropriate updates to statutes for more clarity and accountability. These are simple measures that support our children.
Testifying in person for the bill were Representative Davidson; Missouri Juvenile Justice Association; Kids Win Missouri; Missouri Coalition For Children; and Missouri Baptist Convention.
OPPONENTS: Those who oppose the bill submitted written testimony.
Written testimony has been submitted for this bill. The full written testimony and witnesses testifying online can be found under Testimony on the bill page on the House website.