South Carolina General Assembly
122nd Session, 2017-2018

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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

S. 448

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Young, Shealy, Johnson, Climer, Talley and McElveen
Document Path: l:\council\bills\cc\15097vr17.docx

Introduced in the Senate on February 21, 2017
Introduced in the House on April 18, 2017
Last Amended on May 10, 2017
Currently residing in conference committee

Summary: Unfounded child abuse and neglect reports

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   2/21/2017  Senate  Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 10)
   2/21/2017  Senate  Referred to Committee on General (Senate Journal-page 10)
   3/22/2017  Senate  Committee report: Favorable General 
                        (Senate Journal-page 11)
   3/23/2017          Scrivener's error corrected
    4/4/2017  Senate  Amended (Senate Journal-page 20)
    4/4/2017  Senate  Read second time (Senate Journal-page 20)
    4/4/2017  Senate  Roll call Ayes-36  Nays-0 (Senate Journal-page 20)
    4/6/2017  Senate  Read third time and sent to House 
                        (Senate Journal-page 113)
   4/18/2017  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 8)
   4/18/2017  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary (House Journal-page 8)
    5/3/2017  House   Committee report: Favorable Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 63)
    5/9/2017  House   Amended (House Journal-page 199)
    5/9/2017  House   Read second time (House Journal-page 199)
    5/9/2017  House   Roll call Yeas-87  Nays-0 (House Journal-page 200)
   5/10/2017  House   Reconsidered (House Journal-page 15)
   5/10/2017  House   Amended (House Journal-page 20)
   5/10/2017  House   Read second time (House Journal-page 20)
   5/10/2017  House   Roll call Yeas-109  Nays-0 (House Journal-page 23)
   5/11/2017  House   Read third time and returned to Senate with amendments 
                        (House Journal-page 46)
   5/11/2017  Senate  Non-concurrence in House amendment 
                        (Senate Journal-page 115)
   5/11/2017  Senate  Roll call Ayes-0  Nays-37 (Senate Journal-page 115)
   5/11/2017  House   House insists upon amendment and conference committee 
                        appointed Reps. Crawford, Norrell, Caskey 
                        (House Journal-page 54)
   5/11/2017  Senate  Conference committee appointed Turner, Young, Allen 
                        (Senate Journal-page 116)

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

2/21/2017
3/22/2017
3/23/2017
4/4/2017
5/3/2017
5/9/2017
5/10/2017
5/10/2017-A

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

AMENDED

May 10, 2017

S. 448

Introduced by Senators Young, Shealy, Johnson, Climer, Talley and McElveen

S. Printed 5/10/17--H.

Read the first time April 18, 2017.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 63-7-940, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO AUTHORIZED USES OF UNFOUNDED CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT REPORTS, SO AS TO AUTHORIZE RELEASE OF INFORMATION ABOUT CHILD FATALITIES OR NEAR FATALITIES; AND TO AMEND SECTION 63-7-1990, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO CONFIDENTIALITY OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT RECORDS, SO AS TO AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF INFORMATION ABOUT CHILD FATALITIES OR NEAR FATALITIES.

Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 63-7-940(A) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 291 of 2014, is amended further by adding an appropriately numbered item at the end to read:

"( )    the state director or the director's designee publicly may disclose findings or information about an unfounded case of child abuse or neglect, the circumstances of which resulted in a child fatality or near fatality, provided that the disclosed information is limited to the following: (a) the cause and circumstances regarding the child fatality or near fatality; (b) the age and gender of the child; (c) information describing any previous reports of child abuse or neglect that are pertinent to the abuse or neglect that led to the child fatality or near fatality; (d) information describing any previous investigations pertinent to the abuse or neglect that led to the child fatality or near fatality; (e) the result of any such investigations; and (f) the services provided by the State and actions of the State on behalf of the child that are pertinent to the child abuse or neglect that led to the child fatality or near fatality. The department may delay public disclosure of findings or information pursuant to this item if the disclosure of the findings or information would threaten the safety or well-being of a child or the child's family, or when disclosure of the findings or information would impede a criminal investigation or endanger a reporter of abuse or neglect."

SECTION     2.    Section 63-7-1990(H) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(H)    The state director or the director's designee is authorized to prepare and release reports of the results of the department's investigations into the deaths fatalities or near fatalities of children, in its custody or receiving child welfare services at the time of death provided that the disclosed information is limited to the following: (a) the cause and circumstances regarding the child fatality or near fatality; (b) the age and gender of the child; (c) information describing any previous reports of child abuse or neglect that are pertinent to the abuse or neglect that led to the child fatality or near fatality; (d) information describing any previous investigations pertinent to the abuse or neglect that led to the child fatality or near fatality; (e) the result of any such investigations; and (f) the services provided by the State and actions of the State on behalf of the child that are pertinent to the child abuse or neglect that led to the child fatality or near fatality. The department may delay public disclosure of a report pursuant to this subsection if the disclosure of the report would threaten the safety or well-being of a child or the child's family, or when disclosure of the report would impede a criminal investigation or endanger a reporter of abuse or neglect."

SECTION    3.    Section 63-7-20 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding an appropriately numbered item to read:

"(    )    'Near fatality' means an act that, as certified by a physician, places a child in serious or critical condition."

SECTION    4.    Section 63-7-40 (G) and (J) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 228 of 2016, is further amended to read:

"(G)    A person who leaves an infant at a safe haven or directs another person to do so must not be prosecuted for any criminal offense on account of such action if:

(1)    the person is a parent of the infant or is acting at the direction of a parent;

(2)    the person leaves the infant in the physical custody of a staff member or an employee of the safe haven; and

(3)    the infant is not more than sixty days one year old or the infant is reasonably determined by the hospital or hospital outpatient facility to be not more than sixty days one year old.

This subsection does not apply to prosecution for the infliction of any harm upon the infant other than the harm inherent in abandonment.

(J)    For purposes of this section:

(1)    'infant' means a person not more than sixty days one year old; and

(2)    'safe haven' means a hospital or hospital outpatient facility, a law enforcement agency, a fire station, an emergency medical services station, or any staffed house of worship during hours when the facility is staffed."

SECTION    5.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on May 12, 2017 at 12:09 PM