ARTICLE 17
RELATING TO
DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES
SECTION
1. Sections 40-11-6 and 40-11-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 40-11
entitled “Abused and
Neglected Children” are hereby amended to read as follows:
40-11-6. Report
by physicians of abuse or neglect. -- (a) When any physician or duly
certified registered nurse practitioner has cause to
suspect that a child brought to him or her or
coming to him or her for examination, care, or treatment,
is an abused or neglected child as
defined in this chapter, or when he or she determines
that a child under the age of twelve (12)
years is suffering from any sexually transmitted
disease, he or she shall report the incident or
cause a report thereof to be made to the department as
provided in subsection (b).
(b) An
immediate oral report shall be made by telephone or otherwise, to both the
department and law enforcement agency, and shall be
followed by a report, in writing, to the
department and law enforcement agency explaining the
extent and nature of the abuse or neglect
the child is alleged to have suffered.
(c)
The department, upon receipt of such a report by a person other than a
physician or
duly certified registered nurse practitioner alleging
that a child has been physically abused, shall
investigate the report, and if the investigation
reveals evidence of physical injury or that the child
has been the victim of sexual abuse, the department shall have the child examined
by a licensed
physician or duly certified registered nurse
practitioner. Any child protective investigator shall,
with or without the consent of the parent or other
person responsible for the child's welfare, have
the right to remove the child from the place where the
child may be to secure the examination
required by this subsection. Upon completion of the
examination, it shall be mandatory for the
physician or duly certified registered nurse
practitioner to make a written report of his or her
findings to the department.
(d) The department
shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of
this section.
40-11-7. Investigation
of reports – Petition for removal from custody – Report to
child advocate – Attorney general – Court-appointed
special advocate. -- (a) The
department
shall investigate each report reports of
child abuse and neglect made under this chapter in
accordance with the rules the department has
promulgated and in order to determine
the
circumstances surrounding the alleged abuse or neglect
and the cause thereof. The investigation
shall include personal contact with the child named in
the report and any other children in the
same household. Any person required to investigate
reports of child abuse and/or neglect may
question the subjects of those reports with or without
the consent of the parent or other person
responsible for the child's welfare. The interviewing
of the child or children, if they are of the
mental capacity to be interviewed, shall take place in
the absence of the person or persons
responsible for the alleged neglect or abuse. In the
event that any person required to investigate
child abuse and/or neglect is denied reasonable access
to a child by the parents or other person,
and that person required to investigate deems that the
best interests of the child so require, they
may request the intervention of a local law
enforcement agency, or seek an appropriate court
order to examine and interview the child. The
department shall provide such social services and
other services as are necessary to protect the child
and preserve the family.
(b) In
the event that after investigation it is determined by the department that the
child
is being or has been abused or neglected but that the
circumstances of the child's family or
otherwise do not require the removal of the child for
his or her protection, the department may
allow the child to remain at home and shall
petition the family court for an order for the provision
of treatment of the family and child provide the family and child with access to
preventative
support and services.
(c)
The department shall also have the duty to petition the family court for
removal of
the child from the care and custody of the parents, or
any other person having custody or care of
the child in cases where it is felt that a
particular child has suffered abuse or neglect and that
continued care and custody by that person might result
in further harm to the child if
there is a
determination that a child has been abused or
neglected; which results in a child death, serious
physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or
exploitation or an act or failure to act which
represents an imminent risk of serious harm. In addition, in cases of alleged abuse and/or
neglect,
the department may petition the family court for the
removal of the alleged perpetrator of that
abuse, and/or neglect from the household of the child
or children when the child or children are
eleven (11) years of age or older. It shall be the
responsibility of the department to make the
parent or other person responsible for the child's
welfare aware of the court action, the possible
consequences of the court action, and to explain the
rights of the parent relative to the court
action.
(d)
The department shall forward immediately any reports of institutional child
abuse
and neglect to the child advocate who shall
investigate the report in accordance with chapter 73 of
title 42, and also to any guardian ad litem and/or attorney of record for the child.
(e) In
the event that after investigation the department takes any action regarding
placement of the child, the department shall
immediately notify the child advocate of such action.
(f) In the event that
after investigation the department has reasonable cause to know or
suspect that a child has been subjected to criminal
abuse or neglect, the department shall forward
immediately any information as it relates to that
knowledge or suspicion to the law enforcement
agency.
SECTION
2. Section 40-13.2-3.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 40-13.2 entitled
"Certification of
Child Care and Youth Serving Agency Workers" is hereby amended to read as
follows:
40-13.2-3.1. CANTS
(Child Abuse and Neglect Tracking System) check -- Operators
and employees. -- Any person seeking to operate a facility, which is,
or is required to be licensed
or registered with the department or who is seeking
employment, if such employment involves
supervisory or disciplinary power over a child or
children or involves routine contact with a child
or children without the presence of other employees in
any facility which is, or is required to be,
licensed or registered with the department or who is seeking
such employment at the training
school for youth shall, after acceptance by the
employer of the affidavit required by section 40-
13.2-3, apply to the appropriate agency for a CANTS
(child abuse and neglect tracking system)
check. The department is authorized and directed to
promulgate rules and regulations to impose
such fees or charges as may be appropriate to
implement the provisions of this section.
SECTION
3. Section 14-1-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 14-1 entitled
"Proceedings
in Family Court" is
hereby amended to read as follows:
14-1-3.
Definitions. -- The following words and phrases when used in this
chapter shall,
unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as
follows:
(1) "Adult"
means a person eighteen (18) years of age or older, except that
"adult"
includes any person seventeen (17) years of age or
older who is charged with a delinquent offense
involving murder, first degree sexual assault, first
degree child molestation, or assault with intent
to commit murder, and that person shall not be subject
to the jurisdiction of the family court as set
forth in sections 14-1-5 and 14-1-6 if after a
hearing, the family court determines that probable
cause exists to believe that the offense charged has
been committed and that the person charged
has committed the offense.
(2) "Appropriate
person," as used in sections 14-1-10 and 14-1-11, except in matters
relating to adoptions and child marriages, means and
includes:
(i)
Any police official of this state, or of any city or town within this state;
(ii) Any duly qualified
prosecuting officer of this state, or of any city or town within this
state;
(iii) Any director of
public welfare of any city or town within this state, or his or her duly
authorized subordinate;
(iv) Any truant officer
or other school official of any city or town within this state;
(v) Any duly authorized
representative of any public or duly licensed private agency or
institution established for purposes similar to those
specified in section 8-10-2 or 14-1-2; or
(vi) Any maternal or
paternal grandparent, who alleges that the surviving parent, in those
cases in which one parent is deceased, is an unfit and
improper person to have custody of any
child or children.
(3) "Child"
means a person under eighteen (18) years of age.
(4) "The
court" means the family court of the state of
(5)
"Delinquent" when applied to a child means and includes any child who
has
committed any offense which, if committed by an adult,
would constitute a felony, or who has on
more than one occasion violated any of the other laws
of the state or of the
of the ordinances of cities and towns, other than
ordinances relating to the operation of motor
vehicles.
(6)
"Dependent" means any child who requires the protection and
assistance of the court
when his or her physical or mental health or welfare
is harmed or threatened with harm due to the
inability of the parent or guardian, through no fault
of the parent or guardian, to provide the child
with a minimum degree of care or proper supervision
because of:
(i)
The death or illness of a parent; or
(ii) The special
medical, educational, or social service needs of the child which the
parent is unable to provide.
(7) "Justice"
means a justice of the family court.
(8) "Neglect"
means a child who requires the protection and assistance of the court when
his or her physical or mental health or welfare is
harmed or threatened with harm when the
parents or guardian:
(i)
Fails to supply the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical
care, though
financially able to do so or offered financial or
other reasonable means to do so;
(ii) Fails to provide
the child proper education as required by law; or
(iii) Abandons and/or
deserts the child.
(9) "Wayward"
when applied to a child means and includes any child:
(i)
Who has deserted his or her home without good or sufficient cause;
(ii) Who habitually
associates with dissolute, vicious, or immoral persons;
(iii) Who is leading an
immoral or vicious life;
(iv) Who is habitually
disobedient to the reasonable and lawful commands of his or her
parent or parents, guardian, or other lawful
custodian;
(v) Who, being required
by chapter 19 of title 16 to attend school, willfully and
habitually absents himself or herself from school or
habitually violates the rules and regulations
of the school when he or she attends; or
(vi) Who has on any
occasion violated any of the laws of the state or of the
or any of the ordinances of cities and towns, other
than ordinances relating to the operation of
motor vehicles.
(10) The singular shall
be construed to include the plural, the plural the singular, and the
masculine the feminine, when consistent with the
intent of this chapter.
(11) For the purposes
of this chapter, “electronic surveillance and monitoring devices”
means any “radio frequency identification device
(RFID)” OR “global positioning device” that is
either tethered to a person or is intended to be kept
with a person and is used for the purposes of
tracking the whereabouts of that person within the
community.
SECTION
4. Chapter 14-1 of the General Laws entitled "Proceedings in Family
Court" is
hereby amended by adding
thereto the following section:
14-1-36.3.
Community confinement. – (a) The family court may authorize that a
sentenced youth or a youth who is subject to an order
of detention to the Thomas C. Slater
training school be placed in the community in an
appropriate setting as specified in sections
14-1-27 and 14-1-32 for a period of time as determined
by the court. In any instance wherein
the family court authorizes the release of a sentenced
youth from the Thomas C. Slater training
school to community confinement, the youth shall be
supervised by probation pursuant to section
14-1-33 and the term of community confinement shall
not exceed the term of his or her sentence
to the training school.
(b) The court order
to place a detained youth or a sentenced youth on probation and/or in
community confinement may include the use of
electronic surveillance or monitoring devices as
defined in this chapter, upon the finding by the court
that:
(1) The youth is
charged with or adjudicated on an offense which meets the definition of
“delinquent” as found in 14-1-3(5); and
(2) The youth would
otherwise be detained at or sentenced to the Thomas C. Slater
Training School for Youth; and
(3) The use of the
surveillance or devices will allow the youth to be released to the home
of a legal guardian, family member, or foster home
placement.
(c) Any use of
electronic surveillance and monitoring devices authorized for non-
adjudicated youth who have been detained in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter shall
be limited to thirty (30) days unless the court
determines that an additional period not to exceed
thirty (30) days is necessary for the safety or
welfare of the youth and/or the community.
(d) Any use of
electronic surveillance and monitoring devices authorized for adjudicated
youth who have been sentenced in accordance with the
provisions of this chapter shall be limited
to a period not to exceed sixty (60) days unless the
court determines that an additional period not
to exceed thirty (30) days is necessary for the safety
or welfare of the youth and/or the
community.
(e) The department is
authorized to adopt, amend, and rescind regulations in accordance
with this chapter and implement its provisions,
including rules and regulations for the application,
surveillance and reporting of youth compliance with
electronic surveillance and monitoring
devices. The regulations shall be promulgated and
become effective in accordance with the
provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act,
chapter 35 of title 42.
SECTION
5. This Article shall take effect upon passage.