Panel approves change removing minor’s consent clause for crisis-center sheltering but debate raises child-safety concerns

The Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee voted to send House Bill 46 to the Senate floor with a due pass recommendation after debate over an amendment that would remove a provision treating a runaway child’s consent as a shield for a shelter or crisis center from a criminal charge of harboring.

Representative Elaine Price, sponsor, said the requested deletion would not prevent centers from providing care; it would simply remove a provision that had been added to avoid technical violations of the harboring statute. “All I’m asking to do is remove that first one so they still have two provisions to help them from preventing to, break this code,” Price said, explaining that the centers would still be required to attempt parent contact and notify law enforcement.

Opponents and practitioners warned that striking the consent clause could deter runaway youth — particularly those fleeing abusive guardians or trafficking — from seeking immediate help. Britney Shipley, who said she serves on a regional youth-crisis-board, told senators the amendment could block an option for children whose legal guardians are the source of abuse. “If a child’s abuser is their legal guardian, the child would no longer have a safe place to go for immediate help,” Shipley said, adding that many youth crisis centers rely on rapid, walk-in help outside normal business hours.

Committee members discussed whether the remaining two conditions (an effort to contact a parent/legal guardian and notifying law enforcement when a parent cannot be reached) would preserve access to services in urgent cases. Supporters said the change retains those backstops; some senators expressed uncertainty and recorded dissent or confusion at the vote. The motion to send the bill to the floor carried; Senator Wintrow asked to be recorded as voting nay with confusion.

Representative Price said the amendment is narrowly procedural and intended to avoid penalizing crisis centers that accept runaway youth while keeping the notification safeguards in place. The committee did not vote to remove the other two notification requirements; those provisions remain in the bill as passed from committee.