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Committee backs bill to remove parental-consent language from runaway-shelter statute; advocates warn of harm to vulnerable youth
Summary
The Idaho Senate Rules Committee recommended House Bill 46 for the floor, a measure that would remove a statutory line requiring a runaway child's consent to shelter care; supporters say the change preserves crisis-center operations while critics warned it could block safe refuge for abused or trafficked youth.
The Idaho Senate Rules Committee voted to recommend House Bill 46 to the Senate floor after a hearing on proposed changes to the statute that governs providing shelter to runaway children.
Rep. Elaine Price (R., Kootenai County) asked the committee to delete lines in Idaho Code 18-15-10 that made a child’s voluntary consent to shelter care a specific protecting condition for facilities. Price said the amendment retains two other conditions already in law — attempts to contact a parent or legal guardian and notifying the sheriff’s office — and that removing the consent clause would not prevent centers from offering services.
Opponents, including Britney Shipley who said she serves on a regional youth crisis-center board, argued the change would reduce the ability of runaway youth — including those fleeing abuse, trafficking or other immediate danger — to self-refer to crisis centers. "By requiring parental notification upon the youth's arrival, the bill creates a dangerous situation," Shipley told the committee, saying many youth use crisis centers precisely because their guardian may be the source of harm.
Price told the committee the amendment was intended to preserve crisis-center operations and avoid criminalizing facilities that provide short-term shelter; she said the sponsor of last year’s related law agreed the deletion would not change the statute’s intent. The committee voted to send HB46 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation. Sen. Wintrow recorded a nay vote described as "nay with confusion." The bill will now be scheduled for Senate-floor consideration.
