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Bill would narrow grounds for neglect findings when parents seek treatment for children with severe behavioral health needs
Summary
Senate Bill 372 would limit findings of neglect or abuse when parents seek or rely on inpatient and specialized behavioral-health services for children whose needs pose safety risks in the home. Sponsors and parents said the change would prevent families from being prosecuted or required to relinquish parental rights in order to access care.
Senate Bill 372 would narrow circumstances in which a court or child-protective agency may find neglect or abuse solely because parents seek behavioral-health treatment or are unable to provide continued care when facilities will not accept a child, sponsors and parents said at a committee hearing.
Sen. John Steinbeck presented SB 372, saying the bill is modeled on Arizona’s Jacob’s Law and aims to protect families navigating complex behavioral health needs. Kimberly Surratt, a Reno family-law attorney and longtime practitioner on these cases, told the committee she has represented numerous families whose children have violent behavior, homicidal ideation, or repeated elopements and who face allegations of neglect after seeking treatment or when facilities discharge children they consider unsafe.
Surratt described cases in which parents, after exhausting community-based options and treatment placements, either relinquished parental rights to secure services for their child or faced termination of rights when services were unavailable. “No parent should be punished for the sole purpose of seeking help for the child or protecting other children,” she told the committee.
Two constituent parents, Kimberly Alexander and Rayne Alexander, described repeated violent episodes involving their son, multiple facility denials, and court involvement. Rayne Alexander said facilities had discharged or denied admission because of the child’s violence and that Clark County Child Protective Services told them they would be charged with neglect if they did not accept the child back. “We have sought treatment since he was a little boy,” he said. “We have done everything that we can. But sadly, to protect our safety and the safety of others … we are willing to accept a charge that is outrageous.”
County officials from Washoe and Clark described the underlying service shortage and urged interagency solutions. Washoe County reported four relinquishments in 2024 and 23 cases in which relinquishment was prevented; Clark County reported 99 voluntary relinquishments in 2024 and said it subsequently reunified 74 of those children once services were available. County officials and the sponsor said they favor solutions that expand behavioral-health capacity and cross‑agency clinical review rather than placing the responsibility solely on child-welfare statutes.
Supporters testified the bill is a narrowly targeted remedy: it would prevent findings of neglect when parents seek therapy or when a parent cannot safely resume care because no appropriate treatment placement is available, while leaving broader abuse-and-neglect law intact. Witnesses from community groups, foster and adoptive parents and some clinicians spoke in support. No callers registered formal opposition during the hearing. The sponsor said he expects the bill to be revised to address county and implementation concerns and to continue work during the interim.
