Subcommittee narrows focus on definitions in House Bill 553 amid concerns about emotional abuse language and substance‑exposed newborns

A legislative subcommittee reviewing House Bill 553 — legislation to revise definitions of child abuse and neglect — spent its meeting debating how to define psychological or emotional maltreatment and whether new language about substance‑exposed newborns could discourage pregnant people from seeking prenatal care.

The discussion brought testimony from Division for Children, Youth & Families officials, the Office of the Child Advocate, health‑system representatives and nonprofit advocates. Jen Ross, deputy director of the Division for Children, Youth & Families, told the panel that "psychological abuse is defined as reports where a child suffers or is likely to suffer psychological, emotional harm as a result of parental behaviors." Ross said screeners consider both the caregiver's actions or inactions and the impact on the child, pointing to examples such as "persistent and severe ridiculing, terrorizing, bullying, isolating."

The bill’s advocates said the change is meant to clarify and modernize statutory definitions adopted piecemeal over decades, not to expand the agency’s authority to remove children. "The purpose section ... focuses on the fact that preserving the unity of the family is the primary purpose," Lisa Maschio, associate child advocate, told the committee, summarizing…