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House advances parental‑rights bill, adds floor protections for school interviews of children
Summary
First Substitute House Bill 102 passed the House 61‑11 after floor amendments requiring parental notice and a secondary review before child interviews at school in most cases; sponsors said the bill balances parental authority with child‑protection needs.
First Substitute House Bill 102, the parental‑rights amendment package, passed the Utah House on Feb. 18 by a 61‑11 margin after the House adopted floor amendments and extended debate.
Sponsor Representative Stevens described the bill as codifying public policy that parents retain primary responsibility for the care, supervision, upbringing and education of children. The bill requires parental permission for certain in‑home preschool programs, mandates that the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) assess the family impact of new policies, and requires a shelter‑hearing notice to be served to parents no later than one business day after removal of a child, the sponsor said.
Representative Wright moved Amendment No. 1 to add procedural safeguards for interviews of children at school: generally require contact with a parent before an interview, allow an exception when a parent is the alleged perpetrator only with an additional state‑level review, and require notice to parents after an interview. Wright and Stevens described the amendment as a consensus approach to balance parental rights and child protection. Floor discussion included questions about definitions (the bill uses terms such as “welfare worker” and “family service specialist”), workload and fiscal impact; the sponsor said the bill carried a zero fiscal note and the child‑specialist role would come from existing staff.
The House adopted the amendment and passed the bill as amended. The measure will move to the Senate for further consideration.
