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Bill would remove 'founded' classification from child‑welfare determinations; advocates say change would increase transparency
Summary
Senate Bill 402 would eliminate the 'founded' category from child‑abuse/neglect determinations and align state reporting with federal CAPTA categories. Proponents argued 'founded' has been applied inconsistently; Children and Family Services staff explained how determinations affect background checks and services.
Senate Public Health Committee heard Senate Bill 402, which would remove the “founded” classification from child‑welfare case determinations and align Montana’s civil reporting categories with the three determinations required by federal CAPTA: substantiated, unsubstantiated and unfounded.
Senator Dennis Lend said the bill seeks to eliminate a gray zone voters and families find confusing and to codify consistent evidentiary standards. Denise Johnson of the Montana Child Protection Alliance urged the committee to adopt the change, describing instances where “founded” had been used inconsistently and sometimes resulted in expensive legal entanglements when cases were prosecuted under different standards.
Nikki Grossberg, Division Administrator for Child and Family Services, served as an informational witness and explained current practice: ‘‘founded’’ has been treated in recent departmental manuals with the same evidentiary standard as ‘‘substantiated,’’ but the term has also at times been used to designate cases not expected to pose a risk to other children. Grossberg said eliminating the confusion would likely result in some prior ‘‘founded’’ findings being recorded instead as substantiated or unsubstantiated, with attendant implications for background checks and disclosures when agencies request department records.
Committee members asked how removing the classification would affect families and employment background checks; Grossberg said a substantiated finding — unlike an unfounded or unsubstantiated finding — can be reported to agencies conducting background checks and could affect employment in child‑facing roles. The committee took no final action at the hearing.
