Rules create way to get off registry

Maltreatment-list changes in motion

Mischa Martin (left) of the Office of Policy and Legal Services at the state Department of Human Services and Christin Harper, policy unit manager with the Children and Family Services Division, answer lawmakers’ questions Wednesday.
Mischa Martin (left) of the Office of Policy and Legal Services at the state Department of Human Services and Christin Harper, policy unit manager with the Children and Family Services Division, answer lawmakers’ questions Wednesday.

More people accused of child abuse can request removal from the state's maltreatment registry.

But those who gave up or lost parental rights because of certain offenses, or whose actions caused the death of a child, cannot ever request removal from the Child Maltreatment Central Registry.

After a lengthy discussion Wednesday, the Administrative Rules and Regulations Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council reviewed the Department of Human Services' proposed changes to rules governing the registry. The subcommittee took no action to hold up the agency's Monday implementation date.

The committee's review was the final step in a process that has included months of revisions prompted by conversations and compromise between the Human Services Department and concerned stakeholders -- the Commission on Child Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence; the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; Arkansas Children's Hospital; and individuals.

Currently, 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. Additionally, some people accused of certain kinds of sexual abuse cannot request hearings to seek removal from the list.

But that's going to change Monday.

The Child Maltreatment Central Registry covers people accused of various types of child abuse, ranging from neglect to physical abuse, regardless of whether the accused were prosecuted. All that's necessary for placement on the registry is a report filed with Human Services Department investigators that is found to be true.

The list is used in pre-employment screenings by school districts, day care centers, hospitals and other organizations that have children in their care.

In December, the Human Services Department proposed that only those accused of abuses that led to the deaths of children be disqualified from requesting removal from the registry. Initially, only written comments on the proposal were requested.

However, after an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article on the proposal and subsequent increased public interest, the department decided in January to extend the comment period and schedule a public hearing.

The final proposal bars those who have true reports of 18 specific child abuse offenses that also led to the terminations of parental rights from requesting removal from the registry. True reports are a term the agency uses to refer to cases where an investigation determined that the complaint was valid.

The offenses are abuse with a deadly weapon, bone fractures, brain damage/skull fracture, burns/scalding, immersion, inadequate supervision of children less than 6 years old, interfering with a child's breathing, internal injuries, malnutrition, poison/noxious substances, presence of illegal substances in a child at birth, sexual exploitation, oral sex, sexual penetration, shaking a child 3 years old or younger, striking a child with a closed fist, subdural hematoma and suffocation.

Those accused of all other offenses would be allowed to submit applications for removal to a 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, and a representative from the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline.

Christin Harper, policy unit manager with the Children and Family Services Division, reminded the legislative committee Wednesday that requesting removal does not guarantee that an offender's name will be taken off the list.

Harper said 33 names have been removed from the registry in 2014, and 22 who applied have been denied.

The application process begins with the offender submitting a lengthy packet of information that includes, among other things, documentation that the offender has been rehabilitated, clear background checks and no open cases with the agency. People also can be denied removal from the registry based on any pending criminal charges surrounding allegations of abuse.

Those accused of sexual abuse must submit proof of rehabilitation that includes documentation of successful completion of a licensed sexual rehabilitative program and the final assessment received upon discharge.

"Do you believe a sex offender can be rehabilitated?" asked Rep. Andrea Lea, R-Russellville.

Harper replied that "people who have a predetermination of sexual abuse are not necessarily sex offenders."

"I cannot be comfortable with that overarching belief," Lea said.

Harper told committee members that the Child Maltreatment Central Registry -- which was established after a 1974 federal mandate that required all states to maintain child-abuse records -- differs from the Sex Offender Registry maintained by the Arkansas Crime Information Center to track sexual abusers convicted in criminal court.

Rep. Charlotte Douglas, R-Alma, took issue with the fact that abuse victims are not notified when an offender requests removal from the Child Maltreatment Central Registry.

Mischa Martin, assistant deputy counsel for the Office of Policy and Legal Services for the Human Services Department, said the family of the abuse victim is notified when the offender is placed on the registry and is allowed a voice in the initial phases of the process. They are not, however, a part of the review process for removal requests because the hearings by the Child Maltreatment Central Registry Review Team do not allow for testimony from either side.

Rep. Charlene Fite, R-Van Buren, a longtime volunteer for Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, told the committee that she felt that the rules were too restrictive, especially when offenders on the list are not allowed to request removal if their parental rights have been terminated.

Fite told the story of a constituent who is unable to fulfill a dream of being a volunteer firefighter because his parental rights were terminated in what Fite said were unfair circumstances.

"The case to which I refer has no criminal charges and yet parental rights were terminated. He has no recourse at this point," Fite said.

Martin said the investigation and hearing process for those offenders with true findings of abuse allows for frequent input from the abuser and includes an appeal process before the abuser is placed on the registry.

The proposed changes were initiated, Harper told the committee, after members of the Child Maltreatment Central Registry Review Team and other interested parties said the current rules were too restrictive "given that so many different factors that play in child abuse and neglect at the time of the offense."

"People can change for the better with proper treatment and support," Harper said. "We believe more people should have that opportunity."

A section on 08/07/2014

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