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Committee reviews Act 154 changes to substantiation standard, registry rules and expungement process
Summary
Legislative counsel walked the House Human Services Committee through Act 154 (2024), highlighting a move toward a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard for substantiations, extended timelines for administrative review and appeal, new registry rulemaking, and processes for expungement and automatic expungement for juvenile cases.
The House Human Services Committee received a detailed briefing on Act 154, the 2024 law that amended the state’s child protection statute and DCF procedures. Legislative counsel Michelle Miles walked members through how Act 154 changes definitions, investigation procedures, appeal timelines, and registry management.
Miles explained that Act 154 refines the legal standard used when the department substantiates allegations of child abuse or neglect, clarifying language toward a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard (described in discussion as the ‘‘more likely than not’’ standard) in several places. She emphasized this does not shift the burden to the person alleged to have abused or neglected a child; the department retains the burden to prove substantiation by that…
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