H0434B3131A06782 BIL:AMY 04/28/14 #90 A06782
AMENDMENTS TO HOUSE BILL NO. 434
Sponsor: SENATOR VULAKOVICH
Printer's No. 3131
1Amend Bill, page 2, lines 10 through 15, by striking out all
2of said lines and inserting
3Section 1. The definitions of "founded report for school
4employee," "serious physical neglect" and "subject of the
5report" in section 6303(a) of Title 23 of the Pennsylvania
6Consolidated Statutes, added December 18, 2013 (P.L.1170,
7No.108), are amended to read:
8Amend Bill, page 6, lines 11 through 30; page 7, lines 1
9through 26, by striking out all of said lines on said pages
10Amend Bill, page 15, line 30; page 16, lines 1 through 29, by
11striking out all of said lines on said pages and inserting
12Section 2. Sections 6331(11) and 6338(a) of Title 23,
13amended April 7, 2014 (P.L. , No.29), are amended to read:
14§ 6331. Establishment of Statewide database.
15There shall be established in the department a Statewide
16database of protective services, which shall include the
17following, as provided by section 6336 (relating to information
18in Statewide database):
19* * *
20(11) False reports of child abuse pursuant to a
21conviction under 18 Pa.C.S. § 4906.1 (relating to false
22reports of child abuse) [and invalid general protective
23services reports that a county agency or the department have
24determined to be false,] for the purpose of identifying and
25tracking patterns of intentionally false reports.
26§ 6338. Disposition of founded and indicated reports.
27(a) General rule.--When a report of suspected child
28abuse [or a report under Subchapter C.1 (relating to students
29in public and private schools)] is determined by the
30appropriate county agency to be a founded report or an
31indicated report, the status of the report shall be changed
32from pending to founded or indicated in the Statewide
33database. Notice of the determination that a report is a
34founded, indicated or unfounded report shall be made as
1provided in section 6368(f) (relating to investigation of
2reports).
3* * *
4Section 3. (Reserved).
5Amend Bill, page 22, line 19, by inserting after "23"
6, amended April 7, 2014 (P.L. , No.29),
7Amend Bill, page 23, lines 12 through 17, by striking out all
8of said lines and inserting
9(2) A certification from the department as to whether
10the applicant is named in the Statewide database as the
11alleged perpetrator in a pending child abuse investigation or
12as the perpetrator of a founded report of child abuse[,] or
13an indicated report of child abuse[, founded report for
14school employee or indicated report for school employee].
15Amend Bill, page 24, lines 18 through 25, by striking out all
16of said lines and inserting
17(1) Is named in the Statewide database as the
18perpetrator of a founded report [of child abuse] committed
19within the five-year period immediately preceding
20verification pursuant to this section [or is named in the
21Statewide database as the perpetrator of a founded report for
22a school employee committed within the five-year period
23immediately preceding verification pursuant to this section].
24Amend Bill, page 25, lines 3 through 10, by striking out all
25of said lines and inserting
26(1) Is named in the Statewide database as the
27perpetrator of a founded report [of child abuse] committed
28within the five-year period immediately preceding
29verification pursuant to this section [or is named in the
30Statewide database as the perpetrator of a founded report for
31a school employee committed within the five-year period
32immediately preceding verification pursuant to this section].
33Amend Bill, page 25, lines 16 through 22, by striking out all
34of said lines and inserting
35(b) Required information.--Child abuse record information
36required under subsection (a) shall include certification by the
37department as to whether the applicant is named in the Statewide
38database as the perpetrator of a founded report[,] or an
39indicated report[, founded report for school employee or
40indicated report for school employee] of child abuse.
41Amend Bill, page 28, line 1, by inserting after "23"
1, amended April 7, 2014 (P.L. , No.29),
2Amend Bill, page 28, lines 4 through 30; page 29, lines 1
3through 11, by striking out all of said lines on said pages and
4inserting
5(b) Willful failure to cooperate.--Any agency, school
6[district] or facility or any person acting on behalf of an
7agency, school [district] or facility that violates this section
8by willfully failing to cooperate with the department or a
9county agency when investigating a report of suspected child
10abuse [or a report under Subchapter C.1 (relating to students in
11public and private schools)] or when assessing safety or risk to
12a child commits a misdemeanor of the third degree for a first
13violation and a misdemeanor of the second degree for subsequent
14violations.
15(c) Cooperation of county agency and law enforcement
16officials.--Consistent with the provisions of this chapter, the
17county agency and law enforcement officials shall cooperate and
18coordinate, to the fullest extent possible, their efforts to
19respond to and investigate reports of suspected child abuse [and
20to reports under Subchapter C.1].
21* * *
22§ 6347. Reports to Governor and General Assembly.
23(a) General rule.--No later than May 1 of every year, the
24secretary shall prepare and transmit to the Governor and the
25General Assembly a report on the operations of the Statewide
26database and protective services provided by county agencies.
27The report shall include a full statistical analysis of the
28reports of suspected child abuse made to the department[,] and
29the reports of general protective services made to the
30department or county agencies [and the reports under Subchapter
31C.1 (relating to students in public and private schools)],
32together with a report on the implementation of this chapter and
33its total cost to the Commonwealth, the evaluation of the
34secretary of services offered under this chapter and
35recommendations for repeal or for additional legislation to
36fulfill the purposes of this chapter. All such recommendations
37should contain an estimate of increased or decreased costs
38resulting therefrom. The report shall also include an
39explanation of services provided to children who were the
40subjects of founded or indicated reports while receiving child-
41care services. The department shall also describe its actions in
42respect to the perpetrators of the abuse.
43Amend Bill, page 51, by inserting between lines 3 and 4
44Section 17. Notwithstanding section 4 of the act of April
4515, 2014 (P.L. , No.32), entitled "An act amending Title 23
46(Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes,
47in child protective services, further providing for persons
1required to report suspected child abuse; providing for
2privileged communications; and further providing for penalties
3for failure to report or to refer," the amendment or addition of
4the following provisions of the act of April 15, 2014 (P.L.,
5No.32), shall take effect December 31, 2014:
6(1) 23 Pa.C.S. § 6311(a) and (b).
7(2) 23 Pa.C.S. § 6311.1.
8(3) 23 Pa.C.S. § 6319.
9Amend Bill, page 51, line 4, by striking out "17" and
10inserting
11 18
12Amend Bill, page 51, line 5, by striking out "and" where it
13occurs the first time and inserting a comma
14Amend Bill, page 51, line 5, by inserting after "16"
15 and 17