House panel approves plan to create child abuse reporting working group, with questions on membership and speed

Chair Wood convened the House Human Services Committee to take up Senate Bill S239, which would create a child abuse and neglect reporting working group to review and recommend updates to the state’s mandatory reporting rules and related policy. The bill tasks the group with developing findings and any legislative recommendations for the House Human Services Committee and other relevant committees.

The working group is framed as a ‘‘front-end’’ review aimed at modernizing who is required to report suspected child abuse or neglect and what information is collected before the Department for Children and Families (DCF) accepts a report. Michelle Miles, legislative counsel for the judiciary team, told the committee the bill’s focus is ‘‘rules and policy regarding mandatory reporting of abuse and neglect of a child’’ and stressed it is distinct from Act 154, which shapes DCF’s internal intake and investigative procedures.

Under the bill’s text, the group would include officials such as the director of the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), executive staff from the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services, representatives of domestic-violence and victim-services networks, the attorney general or designee, the chief administrative judge (or designee), two DCF Family Services Division members, the executive director (or designee) of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, and the Vermont Child, Youth and Family Advocate. The measure also requires the group to consult with a set of stakeholders — including child advocacy centers, state’s attorneys and sheriffs, the Vermont Children’s Alliance, Voices for Vermont Children, Disability Rights Vermont, medical partners (for example UVM’s Child SAFE), and individuals with lived experience.

Senator Gulick, who reported the bill to the committee, said the idea originated with the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services and emphasized the laws governing mandatory reporting have not been substantially updated since the 1990s. Gulick recommended adding a designee from the Office of Racial Equity to the working group.

Several committee members urged clearer representation from the medical community and schools. One member noted pediatricians, emergency departments and school employees produce a large share of reports and recommended either adding representatives from those sectors to the working group or ensuring they are listed explicitly among consulted stakeholders. Representative Cole pressed for an obvious, accessible vehicle for adults with lived experience to share their testimony, suggesting that the committee consider elevating some lived-experience roles from consultants to voting members of the group.

Members also questioned the schedule. The bill directs the working group to convene its first meeting by Aug. 15 and deliver a written report before Jan. 15 of the following year. One legislator said that timeline — roughly five months to develop recommendations — risks rushing work on a complex federal and state compliance landscape (including CAPTA obligations) and recommended monthly meetings or a longer timeline to avoid misalignment with federal requirements and existing review panels.

Chair Wood and counsel said DCF will provide technical, legal and administrative support and that five members constitute a quorum. The bill, as amended in Senate Health & Welfare, also instructs the working group to follow CAPTA minimums, avoid duplicative effort by leveraging existing task forces, and consider best practices from other states.

The committee planned to take testimony on S239 and to hear from DCF about Act 154 and related reports. No votes or formal amendments were recorded in the transcript excerpt; members said they expected to continue drafting membership and charge details during mark-up and testimony.