The Arkansas Department of Human Services has begun soliciting public comments on a proposal that would allow people accused of child abuse to request removal from the state’s Child Maltreatment Central Registry - unless the abuse led to the death of a child.
The Arkansas Child Maltreatment Central Registrywas established after a 1974 federal mandate that required all states to maintain child-abuse records. School districts, day cares, hospitals and other organizations that have children in their care use the registry in pre-employment screenings.
A criminal-court conviction is not required to get a person’s name on the registry. All that’s necessary is a filed report that Human Services Department investigators find to be true.
Those accused of child abuse stay on the list - in some cases permanently - even if they are found innocent in a criminal court or the charges are dropped. And individuals accused of some kinds of sexual abuse cannot even request hearings to seek removal from the list.
The Human Services De-partment registry differs from the Sex Offender Registry maintained by the Arkansas Crime Information Center to track sexual abusers convicted in criminal court. The Child Maltreatment Central Registry covers people accused of various types of child abuse, ranging from neglect to physical abuse, regardless of whether the accusations were prosecuted.
Children and Family Services Division Director Cecile Blucker said the Child Maltreatment Central Registry Review Team began discussing the name-removal proposal in September and requested that changes be made because it “came to believe that the current rules were simply too restrictive.”
She added that the division also had requests from legislators and other stakeholders to revisit the procedures.
“The world of child welfare is not black and white. There are many different factors that play into child neglect and abuse (e.g., the offender’s age, mental health, drug use, support systems or lack thereof, socioeconomic condition, etc. at the time of the offense). Moreover, after receiving a true determination of child maltreatment, many people then choose to participate in DHS services and make other positive choices in an effort to rebuild their lives,” Blucker said in an email.
“Recognizing that people make mistakes and can turn their lives around in a positive manner, the Child Maltreatment Central Registry Review Team believed that more people should have the opportunity to at least request removal, regardless of the type of child maltreatment.
“In doing so, more people will have the ability to have their names considered for removal from the registry based on the circumstances of the child maltreatment at the time as well as the efforts offenders have made to improve their lives since the time of the true determination of child maltreatment,” she said.
Blucker stressed that the proposed changes make it easier to request a hearing before the committee, but the process of removal from the list is lengthy, and removal is not guaranteed.
In addition, the proposal requires those accused of sexual abuse to provide proofthat they have successfully completed a state-certified sexual-offender treatment program and provide three letters of reference from professionals, employers, spiritual counselors, friends or relatives describing the offender’s rehabilitation.
From December 2012 to November, the registry review team processed 159 requests for removal. Only 88 names were approved for removal from the list.
The five-member team - made up of a Human Services Department attorney, an area director, a supervisor and a program administrator with the Office of Community Services, as well as a representative from the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline - meets once a month to review the cases.
Former state Sen. Randy Laverty, now the Arkansas Rehabilitation Services commissioner, led 2009 legislation to make removal from the Child Maltreatment Central Registry more accessible. He also has had a long career with the Department of Human Services.
Laverty said he was not aware of the proposed changes but that the review team has “an incredibly tough job,” especially with reported sexual abusers being added to the mix.
“It was never my intention on my part that the removal process deal with sexual abuse at all,” he said. “You don’t accidentally commit sexual abuse.You can accidentally spank a child too hard, but it’s a whole different deal when you’re talking about sexual abuse.”
Laverty added that lack of a criminal conviction should never be a reason alone to take someone’s name off the list because a case dropped on a technicality does not mean that a person is innocent.
“If you have absolutely no recourse and you’re innocent, that is a travesty. In sexual-abuse cases, particularly those that are [repeat] predators, these are some of the most devious, manipulative people you can imagine on the face of the Earth,” Laverty said.
“But there are innocent people who are accused of it. The way the system is, if you are accused, you are guilty. I would favor giving those people an opportunity to apply to be removed. It’s going to be a tougher job for DHS. I can see where they’re coming from. As long as it’s not an automatic removal, I have confidence in them.”
Phillis Harrington, founder of Break the Silence-SpeakOut America - a Little Rock nonprofit dedicated to preventing sexual abuse of children - said she has mixed feelings about the proposed changes. The group exists to help children, she said, but it does not want to persecute innocent people.
“If they’re found innocent and they’re still on the list, that’s horrible. They can’t get a job anywhere, and their lives are ruined,” she said. “But if they didn’t put that name on the list, what if that person goes out and abuses more children before anybody goes to court?”
Max Snowden, executive director of the Arkansas Commission on Child Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence, said he has discussed the proposed changes with his staff.
Snowden said he could not make an official commission statement. But he and the staff are troubled by a requirement in current policy - that remains in the new proposal - that in order to apply for removal from the list an accused person must, among other things, remain free from additional allegations for one year. That’s simply too short of a time, he said.
“Based on research and studies, when offenders get caught, it is generally not their first time. It’s probably not their one and only offense. You might be offering this to a long-term offender who has never been discovered,” he said.
The deadline to submit written objections or comments about the registry proposal to the Human Services Department is Jan. 14.
The commission does not have a meeting scheduled until Jan. 17. But Snowden said he will call a special meeting of the executive committee to address the potential policy change and draft a letter.
Snowden expressed displeasure that the Human Services Department is not holding a public meeting to hear input, but is instead seeking only written comments.
“I think it is always good to get public input,” he said.
Blucker said the Administrative Procedures Act does not require the Human Services Department to hold a public hearing but only to publish a notice of rule-making, which was published last week in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
“The Division welcomes input and seriously considers comments that are received. In the past, changes have beenmade to policies and procedures based on feedback received through this public comment process. That said, DCFS is open to exploring the option of holding a public hearing, if one is requested,” Blucker said.
A woman who identified herself as Lora Morgan, but said that was not her real name because she wanted to protect the identity of her son, is the executive director of Time after Time. The Russellville organization fights for changes in legislation on behalf of sex offenders. The group - which has about 300 sexual offenders from Arkansas in its membership - also offers offenders assistance in finding jobs, housing and counseling.
Morgan said that permanent, lifelong registries like the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Central Registry place a life sentence on offenders who already have served their time in the criminal-justice system.
Morgan’s son became a convicted sex offender four years ago after his college roommate reported him to authorities for watching child pornography. He did not deny his guilt and has served his sentence, Morgan said.
“He is 24. His life is ruined. He can’t go to college. He can’t get a job. He is forever on the registry. How do you expect him to succeed in life if you keep putting barriers in front of him?” Morgan said. “Should my son be punished for what he did? Yeah. But at the same time, how about getting him some help? Did he get any help in prison? No.”
The registries, Morgan said, do more than just punish the sexual abuser; they alsovictimize their families.
“Our mission statement is we want the public to be safe. We don’t want another victim out there any more than the public wants a victim, but there is a better way. The way we’re going right now is not working,” she said.
“It is making more families suffer than it is helping. A lot of times, people forget that a sex offender can be married and have kids. Their address is now public knowledge. The kids are being bullied in school. A husband who could work can’t find a job because he can’t pass a background check. It’s making it harder for more families than it is protecting.”
Morgan took the reins of Time After Time after its founder, Robert Combs, retired. Combs, who lives in Little Rock, said he was heartened by the changes proposed by the Human Services Department.
The 60-year-old grandfather of three was caught in a child-pornography sting 10 years ago by the North Little Rock Police Department. Combs was working as a museum director and college professor in Korea when he traveled to Little Rock to make contact with a woman involved in a child-pornography ring.
After serving a five-year prison sentence, he said, he found it nearly impossible to re-create a life.
“I was living under the Broadway Bridge. Not only was I homeless and alone, I was wearing a scarlet letter,” Combs said.
Combs minces no words in saying that he deserved his sentence, but he said he believes the registries like the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Central Registry can harm more than it can help.
“It doesn’t do any good for the public to know. It is statistically insignificant. Your children are safer with someone who is on the registry than someone who has never been convicted,” he said, citing Bureau of Justice Statistics that say only 5.3 percent of convicted sex abusers reoffend.
Morgan said there are no laws or registries that will protect a child more than parents will. However, registries of abuse allegations create double jeopardy for her son and others like him and do not prevent child abuse.
“My son will always be a felon. That, I have a hard time with. I wish there was some way you could go five years without getting in trouble, then they get [their] record expunged. It should depend on the crime,” Morgan said. “But when you’re 20 years old, and you can never see the light at the end of the tunnel, then what do you have to live for?”
Written comments must be submitted to the Department of Human Services’ Policy Unit no later than Jan. 14. The proposed changes are available for review at the Division of Children and Family Services, Policy Unit, fifth floor, Donaghey Plaza South, Seventh and Main streets in Little Rock. They can also be viewed online at ardhs.sharepointsite.net/CW under “Notice of Rule Making.”
The proposed effective date is March 3, pending approval by legislative committees.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/22/2013