Committee hears data and testimony on HB 4059 as advocates debate narrowing 'threat of harm' and raising substantiation standard

The House Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services resumed a public hearing on House Bill 4059 on Feb. 10, hearing a report‑back from a work group, ODHS data reviews and dozens of witnesses about proposed changes to the "threat of harm" definition and the evidentiary standard for founded child‑abuse determinations.

Daniel Shane Mulkey, who facilitated the committee’s interim work group, told members that Oregon has higher referral and substantiation rates than national averages — roughly 100 reports per 1,000 children in Oregon compared with about 70 nationally, and a substantiation rate of about 21.5% versus a national average near 16% — and that many CPS assessments are overdue. Mulkey said the work group narrowed the controversial "threatened harm" category and recommended aligning the statutory language with an existing definition of "severe" harm in chapter 419B; the dash‑2 removes the explicit word "imminent" and instead uses language that harm be "reasonably likely to occur in the near future." The dash‑2 also pulls grooming‑related allegations out of the broader threatened‑harm category and adds a…