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Arkansas Senate Bill SB347

Arkansas 2023 Regular Session

Arkansas Senate Bill SB347 Compare Versions

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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2-Act 364 of the Regular Session
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54 State of Arkansas 1
65 94th General Assembly A Bill 2
76 Regular Session, 2023 SENATE BILL 347 3
87 4
98 By: Senator Hester 5
109 By: Representative C. Fite 6
1110 7
1211 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1312 AN ACT TO PROMOTE CH ILD SAFETY WHILE RED UCING CHILD 9
1413 WELFARE AGENCY INVOL VEMENT IN THE LIVES OF ARKANSAS 10
1514 RESIDENTS; TO AMEND AND UPDATE THE LAW R EGARDING 11
1615 DEPENDENCY-NEGLECT AND CHILD MA LTREATMENT; TO AMEND 12
1716 AND UPDATE DEFINITIO NS UNDER THE ARKANSA S JUVENILE 13
1817 CODE OF 1989 AND THE CHILD MALTREATMENT A CT; TO AMEND 14
1918 INVESTIGATION ACCEPT ANCE, ASSIGNMENT, AN D NOTICE 15
2019 PROVISIONS UNDER THE CHILD MALTREATMENT A CT; TO AMEND 16
2120 LANGUAGE REGARDING P ROTECTION PLANS IN T HE CHILD 17
2221 MALTREATMENT ACT; AN D FOR OTHER PURPOSES . 18
2322 19
2423 20
2524 Subtitle 21
2625 TO PROMOTE CHILD SAFETY WHILE REDUCING 22
2726 CHILD WELFARE AGENCY INVOLVEMENT IN THE 23
2827 LIVES OF ARKANSAS RESIDENTS. 24
2928 25
3029 26
3130 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 27
3231 28
3332 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 9 -27-303(37)(A)(iii)-(viii), concerning the 29
3433 definition of "neglect" under the Arkansas Juvenile Code of 1989, are amended 30
3534 to read as follows: 31
3635 (iii) Failure to take reasonable action to protect 32
3736 the juvenile from abandonment, abuse, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or 33
3837 neglect, or parental unfitness when the existence of this condition was known 34
3938 or should have been known, and, if for abuse or neglect, the failure to take 35
4039 reasonable action to protect the juvenile causes the juvenile serious bodily 36 SB347
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4443
4544 injury; 1
4645 (iv) Failure or irremediable inability to provide 2
4746 for the essential and necessary physical, mental, or emotional needs of the 3
4847 juvenile, including failure to provide a shelter that does not pose a risk to 4
4948 the health or safety of the juvenile; 5
5049 (v) Failure to provide for the juvenile's care and 6
5150 maintenance, proper or necessary support, or medical, surgical, or other 7
5251 necessary care; 8
5352 (vi) Failure, although able, to assume 9
5453 responsibility for the care and custody of the juvenile or to participate in 10
5554 a plan to assume the responsibility; 11
5655 (vii) Failure to appropriately supervise the 12
5756 juvenile that results in the juvenile's being left alone: 13
5857 (a) At an inappropriate age, creating a 14
5958 dangerous situation or a situation that puts the juvenile at risk of harm; or 15
6059 (b) In inappropriate circumstances, creating a 16
6160 dangerous situation or a situation that puts the juvenile at risk of harm; 17
6261 (viii) Failure to appropriately supervise the 18
6362 juvenile that results in the juvenile being placed in: 19
6463 (a) Inappropriate inappropriate circumstances, 20
6564 creating a dangerous situation; or 21
6665 (b) A situation that puts the juvenile at risk 22
6766 of harm; or 23
6867 24
6968 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 9 -27-303(53)(D), concerning acts that are 25
7069 considered sexual abuse under the Arkansas Juvenile Code of 1989 when the act 26
7170 is performed by a caretaker to a person younger than eighteen (18) years of 27
7271 age, is amended to add an additional subdivision to read as follows: 28
7372 (vii) Solicitation of sexual intercourse, deviant 29
7473 sexual activity, or sexual contact; 30
7574 31
7675 SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 9 -27-303(53), concerning the definition of 32
7776 "sexual abuse" under the Arkansas Juvenile Code of 1989, is amended to add an 33
7877 additional subdivision to read as follows: 34
7978 (G) Grooming, by a: 35
8079 (i) Person eighteen (18) years o f age or older to a 36 SB347
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8483
8584 person not his or her spouse who is younger than fourteen (14) years of age; 1
8685 or 2
8786 (ii) Caretaker to a person younger than fourteen 3
8887 (14) years of age; 4
8988 5
9089 SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 9 -27-303, concerning the definitions under 6
9190 the Arkansas Juvenile Code of 1989, is amended to add an additional 7
9291 subdivision to read as follows: 8
9392 (67)(A) "Grooming" means to knowingly disseminate to a child 9
9493 thirteen (13) years of age or younger with or without consideration a visual 10
9594 or print medium depicting sexually explicit content with the purpose to 11
9695 entice, induce, or groom the child to engage in the following with a person: 12
9796 (i) Sexual intercourse; 13
9897 (ii) Sexually explicit conduct; or 14
9998 (iii) Deviant sexual activity. 15
10099 (B) As used in subdivision (67)(A) of this section, 16
101100 "disseminate" means to allow to view, expose, furnish, present, sell, or 17
102101 otherwise distribute, including on an electronic device or virtual platform, 18
103102 and is not limited to an act that takes place in the physical presen ce of a 19
104103 child. 20
105104 (C) It is an affirmative defense to an allegation of 21
106105 grooming that the actor is not more than three (3) years older than the 22
107106 victim. 23
108107 24
109108 SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 12 -18-103(14)(A)(iii)-(viii), concerning 25
110109 the definition of "neglect" under the Child Maltreatment Act, are amended to 26
111110 read as follows: 27
112111 (iii) Failure to take reasonable action to protect 28
113112 the child from abandonment, abuse, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or 29
114113 neglect, or parental unfitness when the existence of the condition was known 30
115114 or should have been known , and, if for abuse or neglect , the failure to take 31
116115 reasonable action to protect the juvenile causes the juvenile serious bodily 32
117116 injury; 33
118117 (iv) Failure or irremediable inability to provide 34
119118 for the essential and necessary physical, mental, or emotional needs of the 35
120119 child, including the failure to provide a shelter that does not pose a risk 36 SB347
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124123
125124 to the health or safety of the child; 1
126125 (v) Failure to provide for the child's care and 2
127126 maintenance, proper or necessary support, or medical, surgical, or other 3
128127 necessary care; 4
129128 (vi) Failure, although able, to assume 5
130129 responsibility for the care and custody of the child or to participate in a 6
131130 plan to assume such responsibility; 7
132131 (vii) Failure to appropriately supervise the child 8
133132 that results in the child's being left alone: 9
134133 (a) At an inappropriate age creating a 10
135134 dangerous situation or a situation that puts the child at risk of harm; or 11
136135 (b) In inappropriate circumstances creating a 12
137136 dangerous situation or a situation that puts the child at risk of harm; 13
138137 (viii) Failure to appropriately supervise the child 14
139138 that results in the child's being placed in: 15
140139 (a) Inappropriate inappropriate circumstances 16
141140 creating a dangerous situation; or 17
142141 (b) A situation that puts the child at risk of 18
143142 harm; 19
144143 20
145144 SECTION 6. Arkansas Code § 12 -18-103(20), concerning the definition of 21
146145 "sexual abuse" under the Child Maltreatment Act, is amended to add an 22
147146 additional subdivision to read as follows: 23
148147 (G) Grooming, by a: 24
149148 (i) Person eighteen (18) years of age or older to a 25
150149 person not his or her spouse who is younger than fourteen (14) years of age; 26
151150 or 27
152151 (ii) Caretaker to a person younger than fourteen 28
153152 (14) years of age; 29
154153 30
155154 SECTION 7. Arkansas Code § 12 -18-103, concerning the definitions under 31
156155 the Child Maltreatment Act, is amended to add an additional subdivision to 32
157156 read as follows: 33
158157 (32)(A) "Grooming" means to knowingly disseminate to a child 34
159158 thirteen (13) years of age or younger with or without consideration a visual 35
160159 or print medium depicting sexually explicit content with the purpose to 36 SB347
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164163
165164 entice, induce, or groom the child to engage in the following with a person: 1
166165 (i) Sexual intercourse; 2
167166 (ii) Sexually explicit conduct; or 3
168167 (iii) Deviate sexual activity. 4
169168 (B) As used in subdivision (32)(A) of this section, 5
170169 "disseminate" means to allow to view, expose, furnish, present, sell, or 6
171170 otherwise distribute, including on an electronic device or virtual platform, 7
172171 and is not limited to an act that takes place in the physical presence of a 8
173172 child. 9
174173 (C) It is an affirmative defense to an allegation of 10
175174 grooming that the actor is not more than three (3) years older than the 11
176175 victim. 12
177176 13
178177 SECTION 8. Arkansas Code § 12-18-304(d), concerning acceptance of a 14
179178 report of child maltreatment under the Child Maltreatment Act involving a 15
180179 bruise to a child even if at the time of the report the bruise is not 16
181180 visible, is repealed. 17
182181 (d)(1) The Child Abuse Hotline shall accept a report of child 18
183182 maltreatment involving a bruise to a child even if at the time of the report 19
184183 the bruise is not visible if the bruising occurred: 20
185184 (A) Within the past fourteen (14) days; and 21
186185 (B) As a result of child maltreatment as des cribed under 22
187186 subsections (a)-(c) of this section. 23
188187 (2) However, the report under this subsection shall not be 24
189188 determined to be true unless the existence of the bruise is corroborated. 25
190189 26
191190 SECTION 9. Arkansas Code § 12 -18-304, concerning what reports quali fy 27
192191 for acceptance by the Child Abuse Hotline, is amended to add an additional 28
193192 subsection to read as follows: 29
194193 (h) The Child Abuse Hotline shall accept a report from a medical 30
195194 provider concerning a child eleven (11) years of age or younger if there is 31
196195 documented evidence of the child being pregnant or having a sexually 32
197196 transmitted disease, despite insufficient evidence of child maltreatment. 33
198197 34
199198 SECTION 10. Arkansas Code § 12 -18-506(a), concerning notice of a 35
200199 report made to the Child Abuse Hotline when the a lleged offender is engaged 36 SB347
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204203
205204 in certain activities or employment, is amended to add an additional 1
206205 subdivision to read as follows: 2
207206 (5) The school the alleged offender is enrolled in, if the 3
208207 alleged offender is eighteen (18) years of age or older. 4
209208 5
210209 SECTION 11. Arkansas Code § 12 -18-601(a)(1), concerning procedures 6
211210 followed after the Child Abuse Hotline's acceptance of a report of child 7
212211 maltreatment under the Child Maltreatment Act, is amended to read as follows: 8
213212 (a)(1) If a report of child maltreatment is accepted by the Child 9
214213 Abuse Hotline, an investigation shall be conducted under procedures 10
215214 established by the Department of Human Services unless the report is accepted 11
216215 for triage under subdivision (a)(2)(C) of this section. 12
217216 13
218217 SECTION 12. Arkansas Code § 12-18-601(a)(2)(B)(ii), concerning the 14
219218 circumstances in which a report of child maltreatment is assigned to the 15
220219 Division of Arkansas State Police under the Child Maltreatment Act, is 16
221220 amended to read as follows: 17
222221 (ii) A person, An agency, corporation, or 18
223222 partnership that provides substitute care for a child who is in the custody 19
224223 of the Department of Human Services; or 20
225224 21
226225 SECTION 13. Arkansas Code § 12 -18-601(b)(1)(A), concerning the 22
227226 initiation of an investigation under the Child Ma ltreatment Act after the 23
228227 assignment of a report of child maltreatment, is amended to read as follows: 24
229228 (b)(1)(A) After the assignment of a report of child maltreatment, the 25
230229 investigating agency shall initiate an investigation as provided under this 26
231230 subchapter or follow triage procedures under subdivision (a)(2)(C) of this 27
232231 section. 28
233232 29
234233 SECTION 14. Arkansas Code § 12 -18-601(c)(1), concerning the 30
235234 development and implementation of triage procedures for accepting and 31
236235 documenting reports of child maltreatment of a child not at risk of immediate 32
237236 harm under the Child Maltreatment Act, is amended to read as follows: 33
238237 (c)(1) The Department of Human Services and the Division of Arkansas 34
239238 State Police may develop and implement triage procedures for accepting and, 35
240239 documenting, and assigning reports of child maltreatment of a child not at 36 SB347
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245244 risk of imminent harm . 1
246245 2
247246 SECTION 15. Arkansas Code § 12 -18-710(e)(1), concerning the release of 3
248247 information on a true investigative determination pending due process to the 4
249248 alleged offender under the Child Maltreatment Act, is amended to read as 5
250249 follows: 6
251250 (1) The alleged offender and any person, agency, or potential employer 7
252251 with the written consent of the alleged offender ; 8
253252 9
254253 SECTION 16. Arkansas Code § 12 -18-807(a), concerning the filing of a 10
255254 certified copy of a judicial determination with the Office of Appeals and 11
256255 Hearings, is amended to read as follows: 12
257256 (a) If a court of competent jurisdiction adjudicates a question that 13
258257 is an issue to be determined by the Office of Appeals and Hearings of the 14
259258 Department of Human Services , the prevailing party to the judicial 15
260259 adjudication who is also a party to the administrative adjudication shall 16
261260 file a certified copy of the judicial adjudication with the office. 17
262261 18
263262 SECTION 17. Arkansas Code § 12-18-1001(d)(1) and (2), concerning the 19
264263 implementation of a protection plan under the Child Maltreatment Act, are 20
265264 amended to read as follows: 21
266265 (d)(1) If the department assesses the health and safety of a child and 22
267266 determines that the child cannot safely remain in the care, custody, or 23
268267 control of the legal parent, guardian, or custodian without the 24
269268 implementation of a protection plan an immediate safety plan , the department 25
270269 may implement a protection plan an immediate safety plan that allows the 26
271270 child to remain in his or her place of residence and includes services to 27
272271 address the safety of the child. 28
273272 (2)(A) If a protection plan an immediate safety plan is 29
274273 implemented under subdivision (d)(1) of this section, then the department 30
275274 shall reassess the health and safety of the child within thirty (30) days of 31
276275 the date on which the protection plan immediate safety plan was implemented. 32
277276 (B) If the department determines that a substantial risk 33
278277 of serious harm to the health and safety of the child remains after a 34
279278 reassessment under subdivision (d)(2)(A) of this section is performed, then 35
280-the department shall file a petition for dependency -neglect 36 SB347
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279+the department shall file a petition for dependency -neglect. 36