The Kentucky Senate Families and Children Committee advanced a bill on Tuesday to ensure law enforcement, social services and other authorities are properly notified and communicating in cases of child abuse.
Senate Majority Caucus Chair Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville) is sponsoring the bill. She said the legislation has been in discussions for several years following reports of child abuse in the Louisville Metro Police’s Explorer Scout program.
“Part of the reason it was so frustrating is because they used kind of these loopholes in our current statute to avoid notifying the appropriate agencies,” she said.
SB 229 calls for people reporting child abuse to immediately notify the proper authorities along with the leaders of institutions, schools, and other agencies where the allegations occurred, regardless of the internal chain of command.
Authorities include the Kentucky State Police, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, a Commonwealth’s attorney, or a county attorney, according to the bill.
Leaders of the agency under investigation would be required to facilitate cooperation with those authorities, and any person who uses intimidation, retaliation, or obstruction to stifle the case would be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
The bill would also allow the Department for Community Based Services to initiate an assessment or an investigation when child abuse or neglect is suspected.
Supporters said one goal of the bill is to ensure that multiple agencies are involved and cooperating in the investigation.
Caroline Ruschell, chief executive officer of the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Kentucky, testified Tuesday that multiple agencies are critical when dealing with often horrific and heart-wrenching cases of abuse.
“These cases are complex. Children are complex. They have medical needs. They have mental health needs,” Ruschell said. “There are prosecution needs if the case is going to move forward to prosecution.”
Without cooperation between agencies, children and families won’t get the help they need, she said.
“Here’s the problem: None of those agencies can respond properly,” Ruschell said. “We can’t do what we need to do if the information isn’t shared. And that’s what this does. It ensures the right agencies get the information so that the kids and families get what they need.”
Sen. Danny Carroll (R-Benton) said he was concerned about school systems conducting investigations and how cases could be destroyed.
“I know we had a bill a couple of years ago dealing with the school system,” he said. “There are concerns about school systems doing their own investigations when these allegations come up and concerns about tainting investigations.”
The bill was approved with a 7-0 vote and now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
Information came from a release by the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission.
