Panel approves bill to speed public reporting and legislative review of child fatalities

The Family and Children Services committee advanced House Bill 12‑57 on a 9‑0 roll call after adding language from Representative Lauer to align Indiana’s child‑fatality summaries with federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) expectations and to shorten public reporting timelines.About a dozen witnesses and advocates urged the committee to pass the bill, saying current reports are often too late or too brief to allow lawmakers and the public to learn from system failures.

Representative McGuire opened the discussion saying the bill is designed to break the ‘‘box’’ of confidentiality that prevents legislators from seeing how and why some child‑welfare interventions failed. Representative Lauer told the committee the amendment would make summary information — including circumstances of the fatality, prior agency involvement and publicly available arrests or convictions — available much sooner than under current practice and noted that the 2024 report listed 59 child fatalities attributed to abuse or neglect.

Former DCS caseworker Mariah, who identified herself as having worked primarily as a permanency worker and later as a victim advocate and foster/adoptive parent, described encountering sparse fatality reports when she sought details about cases she had worked. "Imagine my dismay when I got to his section and it barely had any info at all about his death," she said, arguing that short, late reports make it impossible to identify risk factors and to improve policy.

Kathleen Momen of Champions for Children and family members detailed aspects of the Zara Arnold case and said repeated DCS contacts and court interactions were not reflected in publicly available reports because current confidentiality rules limit disclosure. "Please vote yes on House Bill 12 57 and choose sunlight over silence," Momen told the committee.

Committee members praised the bill’s move toward timelier transparency and discussed safeguards for sensitive information. Senator Gaskell and others stressed the importance of rapid review when fatalities occur so the legislature can consider corrective policy remedies rather than wait years for summaries.

The committee adopted the amendments by consent and recorded a roll‑call vote of 9‑0 to move the bill to the floor. The amendment references federal CAPTA reporting standards; the measure includes provisions for four legislative appointees to the statewide child fatality review committee, expanded annual report content, and mechanisms to allow legislators and, in some cases, prospective service providers to access case summaries within specified timelines.