Amend the bill by striking out all of sections 1 to 5.
Amend the bill by inserting after section 6 the following:
‘Sec. 7. 22 MRSA §4008, sub-§7 is enacted to read:
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 8 (page 2, lines 27 to 41 and page 3, lines 1 to 9 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 8. 22 MRSA §4033, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 733, §18, is amended to read:
Amend the bill in section 10 in subsection 3-A in the 2nd line (page 3, line 26 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "his" and inserting the following: ' his the child's'
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 12 (page 4, lines 5 to 19 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 12. 22 MRSA §4033, sub-§6 is enacted to read:
Amend the bill by inserting after section 13 the following:
‘Sec. 14. 22 MRSA §4034, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2001, c. 696, §26, is further amended to read:
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.
SUMMARY
This amendment deletes from the bill sections 1 through 5, which change the confidentiality provisions of the child protective statutes, and instead adds a new administrative hearing process to give parents, custodians and legal guardians an opportunity to seek a review of the discretionary denial of access to information in child protection records. The hearing must be conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services under the Maine Administrative Procedure Act. The parents, custodians and legal guardians can appeal the decision of the hearing officer as a final agency action.
This amendment strikes out section 8 of the bill, which addresses notice about a request for a preliminary protection order, and replaces it with language that clarifies that, when the department gives notice that it will be seeking a preliminary protection order, the notice does not include the time and place when the petition will be presented to a judge, but must include the court in which the counsel for the parents, legal guardian or custodians may file motions, including motions to modify or vacate any preliminary protection order that is issued. This amendment also requires that the information provided to the court explaining why notice is not required must include a sworn statement detailing a sufficient factual basis either that the child would suffer serious harm during the time needed to notify the parents, legal guardian or custodians or that prior notice would increase the risk of serious harm to the child or the petitioner. This amendment clarifies that failure to provide the required notice, after a good faith attempt to do so, does not constitute grounds for denial of a preliminary protection order.
This amendment amends section 10 to make current law gender-neutral.
This amendment deletes section 12, which provides for a new expedited process for dissolving or modifying a preliminary protection order, and instead amends the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 4034, subsection 4 to allow the summary preliminary hearing to be expedited upon request by the parent's counsel. Upon counsel's request, the court may conduct the summary preliminary hearing, the first hearing opportunity available after the preliminary protection order is issued, as expeditiously as the court determines the interests of justice require.
This amendment retains the language in current law that provides that, if the department has not been able to serve a parent, custodian or legal guardian before the scheduled summary preliminary hearing, the parent, custodian or legal guardian may request a subsequent summary preliminary hearing within 10 days after the parent, custodian or legal guardian receives the petition.
This amendment clarifies that when notice is required to be given to a legal guardian of a child, the department is required to provide notice to all of the child's legal guardians that are known to the department.