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Committee receives two requests for committee-sponsored bill drafts on records access and parental notification
Summary
At the start of the meeting the committee accepted two committee-sponsored bill requests: RS 25RS0504, a survivor-records and statute-of-limitations proposal presented by Protecting Kansas Children from ****** Predators; and RS 0373, described as a "Miranda-like" notice for parents presented by Representative Wanda Page.
The Committee on Child Welfare and Foster Care opened with requests for committee-sponsored bill drafts. Tess Ramirez of Protecting Kansas Children from ****** Predators asked the committee to sponsor RS 25RS0504, a draft she described as allowing survivors of substantiated abuse to access Department for Children and Families records and extending the time to file a lawsuit to age 55 (currently age 31). Representative Kim Johnson expressed support.
Representative Cindy Howerton then offered 1 committee request of her own, RS 0373, described in committee as a "Miranda-like" notification for parents when DCF and police remove a child from a home. Representative Wanda Brownlee Page asked for clarification whether the proposal was a bill of rights for children; Howerton and others clarified the draft is a structure for DCF and police to notify parents of rights at removal, and committee members indicated no objections.
Both requests were presented on the record and the chair called for objections; none were raised and the committee moved on to introductions and the informational hearing on the governor's executive order. There was no formal vote recorded in the transcript; the chair accepted both requests without audible objection.
Details captured in the request: RS 25RS0504 — described as record access for survivors of substantiated abuse and an extension of the statute of limitations to age 55; RS 0373 — described as a Miranda-like bill to require DCF and police to notify parents of their rights at removal. The transcript did not provide full bill text; committee staff (reviser's office) and the committee will handle drafting.
Speakers on these agenda items included Tess Ramirez (requesting RS 25RS0504), Representative Kim Johnson (commenting in support), Representative Wanda Brownlee Page (clarifying RS 0373), and Committee Chair Cindy Howerton (placing the requests).
