Senate committee hears split testimony on H.657 over definitions, restraint limits and transport rules

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee heard hours of testimony April 24 on H.657, a bill that would change how the Department for Children and Families (DCF) treats unaccompanied minors and regulates restraints, seclusion and transportation.

Chair opened the session and said the committee would focus on provisions in H.657 relating to services for youth and the department's authority to certify unaccompanied minors. Testimony brought into relief two fault lines: one over the bill’s definitions and certification process for youth without parental support, and another over a transport provision that would bar use of waist‑chain restraints for children 12 and younger.

Renee McInness, policy analyst for the Vermont Family Alliance, urged the committee to narrow the statutory definition of ‘unaccompanied minor.’ McInness asked lawmakers to remove the phrase “lack of financial support” from the abandonment standard, saying financial hardship does not always reflect parental incapacity to consent. She also asked the committee to clarify when foster care is “deemed inappropriate,” and to move responsibility for standardized certification forms from a named contractor to DCF. “We would request some further definition there,” McInness said, calling for safeguards so…