House backs changes to state foster care

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Spurred by the recent death of a 2-year-old foster child, the state House backed a bill Wednesday that would revamp the way Missouri handles child abuse and neglect cases -- from the first calls to a hot line to the final court decisions.

Supporters said they hoped it would result in fewer children needlessly removed from their homes while simultaneously allowing the state to better address the most serious cases of abuse and neglect.

"This is the reform bill intended to improve the quality of care we provide to children who are in foster care," said House Speaker Catherine Hanaway, who took the unusual step of descending from the dais to handle the bill herself during floor debate.

The House gave first-round approval to the bill by voice vote. Another vote is needed to send the bill to the Senate.

The legislation creates new procedures for determining the legitimacy of hot line tips and sets new deadlines intended to speed up the court custody process for children removed from their parents.

Most of those court proceedings and records would be opened to the public -- a reversal of current state law. And more children's services would be performed through private contractors under the bill.

Employees in the Division of Family Services could be fired or face misdemeanor charges if they violate policies in cases where children die or are seriously injured.

The legislation also mandates checks for criminal records and protective orders for all adults in potential foster homes.

State Rep. Mark Wright, R-Springfield, has said such checks could have saved 2-year-old Dominic James, who died last August after being removed from his mother and placed in foster care.

The boy's foster father, John "Wesley" Dilley, previously had pleaded no-contest to a civil restraining order. Now Dilley is charged with murder for allegedly shaking Dominic violently. Dilley has pleaded innocent.

Dominic was kept in the Dilley home despite concerns by his biological father, Sidney James, and others in the juvenile justice system that he showed signs of abuse.

The legislation is named in Dominic's memory -- a title proposed by Wright, who initially had sought to allow felony prosecution of DFS workers who violated policies in neglect and abuse cases.

"Somebody ought to be in jail when a child dies," said Wright, who agreed to the provision on misdemeanor charges as a compromise with lawmakers who worried tougher penalties could make it hard to hire state case workers.

On a close voice vote, the House rejected another measure backed by Wright and Rep. Curt Dougherty, D-Independence, that would have required hot line tipsters to provide their names and addresses.

Dougherty said he was a divorced single parent for 10 years and had to endure numerous, intrusive visits by state caseworkers responding to unfounded hot line tips made against him.

"While kids such as this Dominic were being murdered, they (state caseworkers) were in my house looking through my refrigerator," Dougherty told colleagues during debate. Requiring callers to identify themselves "would stop those false calls, it would stop that harassment."

Hanaway opposed the amendment, saying it would have had a "chilling effect" on people reporting abuse.

"I am very worried that some cases that would otherwise be reported won't be if we take away anonymity," said Hanaway, R-Warson Woods.

The legislation also contains several provisions not directly related to abused or neglected children. It requires criminal background checks for all school employees hired after Jan. 1 -- from administrators to janitors. Currently, only teachers undergo background checks, which are conducted when they are licensed.

The bill also seeks to address instances in which parents grant the state custody of their children solely to secure mental health care for them. The state's Medicaid insurance for the poor does not pay for residential treatment, but the state must pay for that when children are in its custody.

Under the bill, children currently in state custody solely for mental health care could be returned by a judge to their family's custody and continue receiving care through the Department of Mental Health. But the bill would not make mental health care an entitlement under the Medicaid program.

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Children's Services bill is HB679.

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Missouri Legislature: http://www.moga.state.mo.us