Judiciary committee reviews S.109 amendment; defers decision on relief-from-abuse language for minors

Members of the Judiciary Committee reviewed a committee-strike amendment to S.109, a miscellaneous judiciary bill, that would delete duplicate "public inebriate" provisions, add new sections limiting when courts may consider child-support payment history in termination-of-parental-rights proceedings, expand a victim-notification task-force seat, and adjust several working groups. The committee did not vote and asked staff to bring the Department for Children and Families (DCF) back to explain the changes.

The amendment matters because it touches child-welfare practice, court procedure and the potential use of federal Title IV-E funding to expand legal representation for children and parents. Lawmakers and outside stakeholders debated whether to keep relief-from-abuse (RFA) petitions on behalf of minors within the child- and parent-representation task force’s charge, or to handle RFAs in a separate forum.

Patrick, attorney with the Office of Legislative Council, walked members through the draft committee-strike amendment and the bill pages. He told the committee the deletion of sections 22 and…