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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | August 25, 2021 10:28 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Timothy P. Kearney and Sen. Judy Ward |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Protecting Child Victims and Witnesses in Agency Administrative Proceedings |
| We will soon introduce legislation to fix a serious oversight in our state agency administrative procedure that allows child abusers to confront and cross-examine their victims within DHS proceedings. A glaring example of the need for this reform was brought to our attention by a constituent in Delaware County. After a 7-year-old child indicated sexual abuse to health and social workers, DHS charged the father with sexual abuse. The father immediately appealed the substantiated finding to DHS’s Bureau of Hearings and Appeals, and, acting as his own attorney, was allowed to cross-examine his abused son. The Bureau of Hearings and Appeals did not allow the child’s mother or a child advocate in the hearing while the 7-year-old child was questioned by his alleged abuser, and the panel overturned the finding of abuse. Such a traumatic cross-examination of a vulnerable victim or witness should never have been allowed. Of great concern is the appeals process’s lack of protection for child victims and witnesses, which differs substantively from civil and criminal judicial proceedings. Our courts may assign child advocates and provide for alternative recording of a child’s testimony if testifying in front of the defendant or in an open court will cause emotional distress that will hinder communication. The same protections do not exist for administrative law settings, like DHS’s Bureau of Hearings and Appeals. Title 2 allows state agencies to generally create their own procedures for dealing with appeals of their decisions and findings. The Department of Human Services created its Bureau of Hearings and Appeals to hear appeals of orders given for its programs, over 280 different types of cases. The Bureau’s administrative law panel hears appeals from alleged child abusers seeking to overturn their substantiated findings of abuse. In 2019, the Bureau overturned 75% of the child abuse cases it reached a decision on, expunging the child abuse findings for 108 perpetrators. This legislation would ensure that the same processes that work in our courts to both ensure due process and also protect children from harm and distress are applied to state administrative proceedings. A parent, guardian, attorney, court-appointed special advocate, or other person acting on behalf of the child would be able to petition the agency to provide a child advocate and consider alternative recording of testimony that ensure that the abuser will not address the child victim. Please join us in ensuring uniform protection of victims of child abuse in Pennsylvania. |