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Sub. H. B. No. 438 As Reported by the House Judiciary CommitteeAs Reported by the House Judiciary Committee
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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Representatives Pelanda, Grossman
Cosponsors:
Representatives Stebelton, Hackett, Phillips, Fedor, Buchy, Blair, Celebrezze
A BILL
To amend sections 2151.421, 2151.99, and 3109.51 and
to enact section 3109.81 of the Revised Code to
require persons listed in the statute that governs
reports of known or suspected child abuse or
neglect to notify the county public children
services agency when an attorney in fact under a
document that purports to grant parental rights
requests services from those persons, to require
the agency to investigate the child's placement
with the attorney in fact, and to require the
agency to file a dependency complaint if it
determines that the placement is unsafe for the
child.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 2151.421, 2151.99, and 3109.51 be
amended and section 3109.81 of the Revised Code be enacted to read
as follows:
Sec. 2151.421. (A)(1)(a) No person described in division
(A)(1)(b) of this section who is acting in an official or
professional capacity and knows, or has reasonable cause to
suspect based on facts that would cause a reasonable person in a
similar position to suspect, that a child under eighteen years of
age or a mentally retarded, developmentally disabled, or
physically impaired child under twenty-one years of age has
suffered or faces a threat of suffering any physical or mental
wound, injury, disability, or condition of a nature that
reasonably indicates abuse or neglect of the child shall fail to
immediately report that knowledge or reasonable cause to suspect
to the entity or persons specified in this division. Except as
provided in section 5120.173 of the Revised Code, the person
making the report shall make it to the public children services
agency or a municipal or county peace officer in the county in
which the child resides or in which the abuse or neglect is
occurring or has occurred. In the circumstances described in
section 5120.173 of the Revised Code, the person making the report
shall make it to the entity specified in that section.
(b) Division (A)(1)(a) of this section applies to any person
who is an attorney; physician, including a hospital intern or
resident; dentist; podiatrist; practitioner of a limited branch of
medicine as specified in section 4731.15 of the Revised Code;
registered nurse; licensed practical nurse; visiting nurse; other
health care professional; licensed psychologist; licensed school
psychologist; independent marriage and family therapist or
marriage and family therapist; speech pathologist or audiologist;
coroner; administrator or employee of a child day-care center;
administrator or employee of a residential camp or child day camp;
administrator or employee of a certified child care agency or
other public or private children services agency; school teacher;
school employee; school authority; person engaged in social work
or the practice of professional counseling; agent of a county
humane society; person, other than a cleric, rendering spiritual
treatment through prayer in accordance with the tenets of a
well-recognized religion; employee of a county department of job
and family services who is a professional and who works with
children and families; superintendent, board member, or employee
of a county board of developmental disabilities; investigative
agent contracted with by a county board of developmental
disabilities; employee of the department of developmental
disabilities; employee of a facility or home that provides respite
care in accordance with section 5123.171 of the Revised Code;
employee of a home health agency; employee of an entity that
provides homemaker services; a person performing the duties of an
assessor pursuant to Chapter 3107. or 5103. of the Revised Code;
or third party employed by a public children services agency to
assist in providing child or family related services.
(c) A person listed in division (A)(1)(b) of this section, on
being presented with a document, other than a court order, power
of attorney given to a grandparent under section 3109.52 of the
Revised Code, or caretaker authorization affidavit executed under
section 3109.65 of the Revised Code, as authority for requesting
services for the child, shall comply with section 3109.81 of the
Revised Code.
(2) Except as provided in division (A)(3) of this section, an
attorney or a physician is not required to make a report pursuant
to division (A)(1) of this section concerning any communication
the attorney or physician receives from a client or patient in an
attorney-client or physician-patient relationship, if, in
accordance with division (A) or (B) of section 2317.02 of the
Revised Code, the attorney or physician could not testify with
respect to that communication in a civil or criminal proceeding.
(3) The client or patient in an attorney-client or
physician-patient relationship described in division (A)(2) of
this section is deemed to have waived any testimonial privilege
under division (A) or (B) of section 2317.02 of the Revised Code
with respect to any communication the attorney or physician
receives from the client or patient in that attorney-client or
physician-patient relationship, and the attorney or physician
shall make a report pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section
with respect to that communication, if all of the following apply:
(a) The client or patient, at the time of the communication,
is either a child under eighteen years of age or a mentally
retarded, developmentally disabled, or physically impaired person
under twenty-one years of age.
(b) The attorney or physician knows, or has reasonable cause
to suspect based on facts that would cause a reasonable person in
similar position to suspect, as a result of the communication or
any observations made during that communication, that the client
or patient has suffered or faces a threat of suffering any
physical or mental wound, injury, disability, or condition of a
nature that reasonably indicates abuse or neglect of the client or
patient.
(c) The abuse or neglect does not arise out of the client's
or patient's attempt to have an abortion without the notification
of her parents, guardian, or custodian in accordance with section
2151.85 of the Revised Code.
(4)(a) No cleric and no person, other than a volunteer,
designated by any church, religious society, or faith acting as a
leader, official, or delegate on behalf of the church, religious
society, or faith who is acting in an official or professional
capacity, who knows, or has reasonable cause to believe based on
facts that would cause a reasonable person in a similar position
to believe, that a child under eighteen years of age or a mentally
retarded, developmentally disabled, or physically impaired child
under twenty-one years of age has suffered or faces a threat of
suffering any physical or mental wound, injury, disability, or
condition of a nature that reasonably indicates abuse or neglect
of the child, and who knows, or has reasonable cause to believe
based on facts that would cause a reasonable person in a similar
position to believe, that another cleric or another person, other
than a volunteer, designated by a church, religious society, or
faith acting as a leader, official, or delegate on behalf of the
church, religious society, or faith caused, or poses the threat of
causing, the wound, injury, disability, or condition that
reasonably indicates abuse or neglect shall fail to immediately
report that knowledge or reasonable cause to believe to the entity
or persons specified in this division. Except as provided in
section 5120.173 of the Revised Code, the person making the report
shall make it to the public children services agency or a
municipal or county peace officer in the county in which the child
resides or in which the abuse or neglect is occurring or has
occurred. In the circumstances described in section 5120.173 of
the Revised Code, the person making the report shall make it to
the entity specified in that section.
(b) Except as provided in division (A)(4)(c) of this section,
a cleric is not required to make a report pursuant to division
(A)(4)(a) of this section concerning any communication the cleric
receives from a penitent in a cleric-penitent relationship, if, in
accordance with division (C) of section 2317.02 of the Revised
Code, the cleric could not testify with respect to that
communication in a civil or criminal proceeding.
(c) The penitent in a cleric-penitent relationship described
in division (A)(4)(b) of this section is deemed to have waived any
testimonial privilege under division (C) of section 2317.02 of the
Revised Code with respect to any communication the cleric receives
from the penitent in that cleric-penitent relationship, and the
cleric shall make a report pursuant to division (A)(4)(a) of this
section with respect to that communication, if all of the
following apply:
(i) The penitent, at the time of the communication, is either
a child under eighteen years of age or a mentally retarded,
developmentally disabled, or physically impaired person under
twenty-one years of age.
(ii) The cleric knows, or has reasonable cause to believe
based on facts that would cause a reasonable person in a similar
position to believe, as a result of the communication or any
observations made during that communication, the penitent has
suffered or faces a threat of suffering any physical or mental
wound, injury, disability, or condition of a nature that
reasonably indicates abuse or neglect of the penitent.
(iii) The abuse or neglect does not arise out of the
penitent's attempt to have an abortion performed upon a child
under eighteen years of age or upon a mentally retarded,
developmentally disabled, or physically impaired person under
twenty-one years of age without the notification of her parents,
guardian, or custodian in accordance with section 2151.85 of the
Revised Code.
(d) Divisions (A)(4)(a) and (c) of this section do not apply
in a cleric-penitent relationship when the disclosure of any
communication the cleric receives from the penitent is in
violation of the sacred trust.
(e) As used in divisions (A)(1) and (4) of this section,
"cleric" and "sacred trust" have the same meanings as in section
2317.02 of the Revised Code.
(B) Anyone who knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect
based on facts that would cause a reasonable person in similar
circumstances to suspect, that a child under eighteen years of age
or a mentally retarded, developmentally disabled, or physically
impaired person under twenty-one years of age has suffered or
faces a threat of suffering any physical or mental wound, injury,
disability, or other condition of a nature that reasonably
indicates abuse or neglect of the child may report or cause
reports to be made of that knowledge or reasonable cause to
suspect to the entity or persons specified in this division.
Except as provided in section 5120.173 of the Revised Code, a
person making a report or causing a report to be made under this
division shall make it or cause it to be made to the public
children services agency or to a municipal or county peace
officer. In the circumstances described in section 5120.173 of the
Revised Code, a person making a report or causing a report to be
made under this division shall make it or cause it to be made to
the entity specified in that section.
(C) Any report made pursuant to division (A) or (B) of this
section shall be made forthwith either by telephone or in person
and shall be followed by a written report, if requested by the
receiving agency or officer. The written report shall contain:
(1) The names and addresses of the child and the child's
parents or the person or persons having custody of the child, if
known;
(2) The child's age and the nature and extent of the child's
injuries, abuse, or neglect that is known or reasonably suspected
or believed, as applicable, to have occurred or of the threat of
injury, abuse, or neglect that is known or reasonably suspected or
believed, as applicable, to exist, including any evidence of
previous injuries, abuse, or neglect;
(3) Any other information that might be helpful in
establishing the cause of the injury, abuse, or neglect that is
known or reasonably suspected or believed, as applicable, to have
occurred or of the threat of injury, abuse, or neglect that is
known or reasonably suspected or believed, as applicable, to
exist.
Any person, who is required by division (A) of this section
to report child abuse or child neglect that is known or reasonably
suspected or believed to have occurred, may take or cause to be
taken color photographs of areas of trauma visible on a child and,
if medically indicated, cause to be performed radiological
examinations of the child.
(D) As used in this division, "children's advocacy center"
and "sexual abuse of a child" have the same meanings as in section
2151.425 of the Revised Code.
(1) When a municipal or county peace officer receives a
report concerning the possible abuse or neglect of a child or the
possible threat of abuse or neglect of a child, upon receipt of
the report, the municipal or county peace officer who receives the
report shall refer the report to the appropriate public children
services agency.
(2) When a public children services agency receives a report
pursuant to this division or division (A) or (B) of this section,
upon receipt of the report, the public children services agency
shall do both of the following:
(a) Comply with section 2151.422 of the Revised Code;
(b) If the county served by the agency is also served by a
children's advocacy center and the report alleges sexual abuse of
a child or another type of abuse of a child that is specified in
the memorandum of understanding that creates the center as being
within the center's jurisdiction, comply regarding the report with
the protocol and procedures for referrals and investigations, with
the coordinating activities, and with the authority or
responsibility for performing or providing functions, activities,
and services stipulated in the interagency agreement entered into
under section 2151.428 of the Revised Code relative to that
center.
(E) No township, municipal, or county peace officer shall
remove a child about whom a report is made pursuant to this
section from the child's parents, stepparents, or guardian or any
other persons having custody of the child without consultation
with the public children services agency, unless, in the judgment
of the officer, and, if the report was made by physician, the
physician, immediate removal is considered essential to protect
the child from further abuse or neglect. The agency that must be
consulted shall be the agency conducting the investigation of the
report as determined pursuant to section 2151.422 of the Revised
Code.
(F)(1) Except as provided in section 2151.422 of the Revised
Code or in an interagency agreement entered into under section
2151.428 of the Revised Code that applies to the particular
report, the public children services agency shall investigate,
within twenty-four hours, each report of child abuse or child
neglect that is known or reasonably suspected or believed to have
occurred and of a threat of child abuse or child neglect that is
known or reasonably suspected or believed to exist that is
referred to it under this section to determine the circumstances
surrounding the injuries, abuse, or neglect or the threat of
injury, abuse, or neglect, the cause of the injuries, abuse,
neglect, or threat, and the person or persons responsible. The
investigation shall be made in cooperation with the law
enforcement agency and in accordance with the memorandum of
understanding prepared under division (J) of this section. A
representative of the public children services agency shall, at
the time of initial contact with the person subject to the
investigation, inform the person of the specific complaints or
allegations made against the person. The information shall be
given in a manner that is consistent with division (H)(1) of this
section and protects the rights of the person making the report
under this section.
A failure to make the investigation in accordance with the
memorandum is not grounds for, and shall not result in, the
dismissal of any charges or complaint arising from the report or
the suppression of any evidence obtained as a result of the report
and does not give, and shall not be construed as giving, any
rights or any grounds for appeal or post-conviction relief to any
person. The public children services agency shall report each case
to the uniform statewide automated child welfare information
system that the department of job and family services shall
maintain in accordance with section 5101.13 of the Revised Code.
The public children services agency shall submit a report of its
investigation, in writing, to the law enforcement agency.
(2) The public children services agency shall make any
recommendations to the county prosecuting attorney or city
director of law that it considers necessary to protect any
children that are brought to its attention.
(G)(1)(a) Except as provided in division (H)(3) of this
section, anyone or any hospital, institution, school, health
department, or agency participating in the making of reports under
division (A) of this section, anyone or any hospital, institution,
school, health department, or agency participating in good faith
in the making of reports under division (B) of this section, and
anyone participating in good faith in a judicial proceeding
resulting from the reports, shall be immune from any civil or
criminal liability for injury, death, or loss to person or
property that otherwise might be incurred or imposed as a result
of the making of the reports or the participation in the judicial
proceeding.
(b) Notwithstanding section 4731.22 of the Revised Code, the
physician-patient privilege shall not be a ground for excluding
evidence regarding a child's injuries, abuse, or neglect, or the
cause of the injuries, abuse, or neglect in any judicial
proceeding resulting from a report submitted pursuant to this
section.
(2) In any civil or criminal action or proceeding in which it
is alleged and proved that participation in the making of a report
under this section was not in good faith or participation in a
judicial proceeding resulting from a report made under this
section was not in good faith, the court shall award the
prevailing party reasonable attorney's fees and costs and, if a
civil action or proceeding is voluntarily dismissed, may award
reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the party against whom the
civil action or proceeding is brought.
(H)(1) Except as provided in divisions (H)(4) and (N) of this
section, a report made under this section is confidential. The
information provided in a report made pursuant to this section and
the name of the person who made the report shall not be released
for use, and shall not be used, as evidence in any civil action or
proceeding brought against the person who made the report. Nothing
in this division shall preclude the use of reports of other
incidents of known or suspected abuse or neglect in a civil action
or proceeding brought pursuant to division (M) of this section
against a person who is alleged to have violated division (A)(1)
of this section, provided that any information in a report that
would identify the child who is the subject of the report or the
maker of the report, if the maker of the report is not the
defendant or an agent or employee of the defendant, has been
redacted. In a criminal proceeding, the report is admissible in
evidence in accordance with the Rules of Evidence and is subject
to discovery in accordance with the Rules of Criminal Procedure.
(2) No person shall permit or encourage the unauthorized
dissemination of the contents of any report made under this
section.
(3) A person who knowingly makes or causes another person to
make a false report under division (B) of this section that
alleges that any person has committed an act or omission that
resulted in a child being an abused child or a neglected child is
guilty of a violation of section 2921.14 of the Revised Code.
(4) If a report is made pursuant to division (A) or (B) of
this section and the child who is the subject of the report dies
for any reason at any time after the report is made, but before
the child attains eighteen years of age, the public children
services agency or municipal or county peace officer to which the
report was made or referred, on the request of the child fatality
review board, shall submit a summary sheet of information
providing a summary of the report to the review board of the
county in which the deceased child resided at the time of death.
On the request of the review board, the agency or peace officer
may, at its discretion, make the report available to the review
board. If the county served by the public children services agency
is also served by a children's advocacy center and the report of
alleged sexual abuse of a child or another type of abuse of a
child is specified in the memorandum of understanding that creates
the center as being within the center's jurisdiction, the agency
or center shall perform the duties and functions specified in this
division in accordance with the interagency agreement entered into
under section 2151.428 of the Revised Code relative to that
advocacy center.
(5) A public children services agency shall advise a person
alleged to have inflicted abuse or neglect on a child who is the
subject of a report made pursuant to this section, including a
report alleging sexual abuse of a child or another type of abuse
of a child referred to a children's advocacy center pursuant to an
interagency agreement entered into under section 2151.428 of the
Revised Code, in writing of the disposition of the investigation.
The agency shall not provide to the person any information that
identifies the person who made the report, statements of
witnesses, or police or other investigative reports.
(I) Any report that is required by this section, other than a
report that is made to the state highway patrol as described in
section 5120.173 of the Revised Code, shall result in protective
services and emergency supportive services being made available by
the public children services agency on behalf of the children
about whom the report is made, in an effort to prevent further
neglect or abuse, to enhance their welfare, and, whenever
possible, to preserve the family unit intact. The agency required
to provide the services shall be the agency conducting the
investigation of the report pursuant to section 2151.422 of the
Revised Code.
(J)(1) Each public children services agency shall prepare a
memorandum of understanding that is signed by all of the
following:
(a) If there is only one juvenile judge in the county, the
juvenile judge of the county or the juvenile judge's
representative;
(b) If there is more than one juvenile judge in the county, a
juvenile judge or the juvenile judges' representative selected by
the juvenile judges or, if they are unable to do so for any
reason, the juvenile judge who is senior in point of service or
the senior juvenile judge's representative;
(c) The county peace officer;
(d) All chief municipal peace officers within the county;
(e) Other law enforcement officers handling child abuse and
neglect cases in the county;
(f) The prosecuting attorney of the county;
(g) If the public children services agency is not the county
department of job and family services, the county department of
job and family services;
(h) The county humane society;
(i) If the public children services agency participated in
the execution of a memorandum of understanding under section
2151.426 of the Revised Code establishing a children's advocacy
center, each participating member of the children's advocacy
center established by the memorandum.
(2) A memorandum of understanding shall set forth the normal
operating procedure to be employed by all concerned officials in
the execution of their respective responsibilities under this
section and division (C) of section 2919.21, division (B)(1) of
section 2919.22, division (B) of section 2919.23, and section
2919.24 of the Revised Code and shall have as two of its primary
goals the elimination of all unnecessary interviews of children
who are the subject of reports made pursuant to division (A) or
(B) of this section and, when feasible, providing for only one
interview of a child who is the subject of any report made
pursuant to division (A) or (B) of this section. A failure to
follow the procedure set forth in the memorandum by the concerned
officials is not grounds for, and shall not result in, the
dismissal of any charges or complaint arising from any reported
case of abuse or neglect or the suppression of any evidence
obtained as a result of any reported child abuse or child neglect
and does not give, and shall not be construed as giving, any
rights or any grounds for appeal or post-conviction relief to any
person.
(3) A memorandum of understanding shall include all of the
following:
(a) The roles and responsibilities for handling emergency and
nonemergency cases of abuse and neglect;
(b) Standards and procedures to be used in handling and
coordinating investigations of reported cases of child abuse and
reported cases of child neglect, methods to be used in
interviewing the child who is the subject of the report and who
allegedly was abused or neglected, and standards and procedures
addressing the categories of persons who may interview the child
who is the subject of the report and who allegedly was abused or
neglected.
(4) If a public children services agency participated in the
execution of a memorandum of understanding under section 2151.426
of the Revised Code establishing a children's advocacy center, the
agency shall incorporate the contents of that memorandum in the
memorandum prepared pursuant to this section.
(5) The clerk of the court of common pleas in the county may
sign the memorandum of understanding prepared under division
(J)(1) of this section. If the clerk signs the memorandum of
understanding, the clerk shall execute all relevant
responsibilities as required of officials specified in the
memorandum.
(K)(1) Except as provided in division (K)(4) of this section,
a person who is required to make a report pursuant to division (A)
of this section may make a reasonable number of requests of the
public children services agency that receives or is referred the
report, or of the children's advocacy center that is referred the
report if the report is referred to a children's advocacy center
pursuant to an interagency agreement entered into under section
2151.428 of the Revised Code, to be provided with the following
information:
(a) Whether the agency or center has initiated an
investigation of the report;
(b) Whether the agency or center is continuing to investigate
the report;
(c) Whether the agency or center is otherwise involved with
the child who is the subject of the report;
(d) The general status of the health and safety of the child
who is the subject of the report;
(e) Whether the report has resulted in the filing of a
complaint in juvenile court or of criminal charges in another
court.
(2) A person may request the information specified in
division (K)(1) of this section only if, at the time the report is
made, the person's name, address, and telephone number are
provided to the person who receives the report.
When a municipal or county peace officer or employee of a
public children services agency receives a report pursuant to
division (A) or (B) of this section the recipient of the report
shall inform the person of the right to request the information
described in division (K)(1) of this section. The recipient of the
report shall include in the initial child abuse or child neglect
report that the person making the report was so informed and, if
provided at the time of the making of the report, shall include
the person's name, address, and telephone number in the report.
Each request is subject to verification of the identity of
the person making the report. If that person's identity is
verified, the agency shall provide the person with the information
described in division (K)(1) of this section a reasonable number
of times, except that the agency shall not disclose any
confidential information regarding the child who is the subject of
the report other than the information described in those
divisions.
(3) A request made pursuant to division (K)(1) of this
section is not a substitute for any report required to be made
pursuant to division (A) of this section.
(4) If an agency other than the agency that received or was
referred the report is conducting the investigation of the report
pursuant to section 2151.422 of the Revised Code, the agency
conducting the investigation shall comply with the requirements of
division (K) of this section.
(L) The director of job and family services shall adopt rules
in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement
this section. The department of job and family services may enter
into a plan of cooperation with any other governmental entity to
aid in ensuring that children are protected from abuse and
neglect. The department shall make recommendations to the attorney
general that the department determines are necessary to protect
children from child abuse and child neglect.
(M) Whoever violates division (A) of this section is liable
for compensatory and exemplary damages to the child who would have
been the subject of the report that was not made. A person who
brings a civil action or proceeding pursuant to this division
against a person who is alleged to have violated division (A)(1)
of this section may use in the action or proceeding reports of
other incidents of known or suspected abuse or neglect, provided
that any information in a report that would identify the child who
is the subject of the report or the maker of the report, if the
maker is not the defendant or an agent or employee of the
defendant, has been redacted.
(N)(1) As used in this division:
(a) "Out-of-home care" includes a nonchartered nonpublic
school if the alleged child abuse or child neglect, or alleged
threat of child abuse or child neglect, described in a report
received by a public children services agency allegedly occurred
in or involved the nonchartered nonpublic school and the alleged
perpetrator named in the report holds a certificate, permit, or
license issued by the state board of education under section
3301.071 or Chapter 3319. of the Revised Code.
(b) "Administrator, director, or other chief administrative
officer" means the superintendent of the school district if the
out-of-home care entity subject to a report made pursuant to this
section is a school operated by the district.
(2) No later than the end of the day following the day on
which a public children services agency receives a report of
alleged child abuse or child neglect, or a report of an alleged
threat of child abuse or child neglect, that allegedly occurred in
or involved an out-of-home care entity, the agency shall provide
written notice of the allegations contained in and the person
named as the alleged perpetrator in the report to the
administrator, director, or other chief administrative officer of
the out-of-home care entity that is the subject of the report
unless the administrator, director, or other chief administrative
officer is named as an alleged perpetrator in the report. If the
administrator, director, or other chief administrative officer of
an out-of-home care entity is named as an alleged perpetrator in a
report of alleged child abuse or child neglect, or a report of an
alleged threat of child abuse or child neglect, that allegedly
occurred in or involved the out-of-home care entity, the agency
shall provide the written notice to the owner or governing board
of the out-of-home care entity that is the subject of the report.
The agency shall not provide witness statements or police or other
investigative reports.
(3) No later than three days after the day on which a public
children services agency that conducted the investigation as
determined pursuant to section 2151.422 of the Revised Code makes
a disposition of an investigation involving a report of alleged
child abuse or child neglect, or a report of an alleged threat of
child abuse or child neglect, that allegedly occurred in or
involved an out-of-home care entity, the agency shall send written
notice of the disposition of the investigation to the
administrator, director, or other chief administrative officer and
the owner or governing board of the out-of-home care entity. The
agency shall not provide witness statements or police or other
investigative reports.
(O) As used in this section, "investigation" means the public
children services agency's response to an accepted report of child
abuse or neglect through either an alternative response or a
traditional response.
Sec. 2151.99. (A)(1) Except as otherwise provided in
division (A)(2) of this section, whoever violates division (D)(2)
or (3) of section 2151.313 or division , (A)(4), or (H)(2) of
section 2151.421 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of
the fourth degree.
(2) Whoever violates division (A)(4) of section 2151.421 of
the Revised Code knowing that a child has been abused or neglected
and knowing that the person who committed the abuse or neglect was
a cleric or another person, other than a volunteer, designated by
a church, religious society, or faith acting as a leader,
official, or delegate on behalf of the church, religious society,
or faith, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree if the
person who violates division (A)(4) of this section and the person
who committed the abuse or neglect belong to the same church,
religious society, or faith.
(B) Whoever violates division (D)(1) of section 2151.313 of
the Revised Code is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(C) Whoever violates division (A)(1)(a) of section 2151.421
of the Revised Code shall be punished as follows:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (C)(2) of this
section, the offender is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth
degree.
(2) The offender is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first
degree if the child who is the subject of the required report that
the offender fails to make suffers or faces the threat of
suffering the physical or mental wound, injury, disability, or
condition that would be the basis of the required report when the
child is under the direct care or supervision of the offender who
is then acting in the offender's official or professional capacity
or when the child is under the direct care or supervision of
another person over whom the offender while acting in the
offender's official or professional capacity has supervisory
control.
Sec. 3109.51. As used in sections 3109.52 to 3109.80 3109.81
of the Revised Code:
(A) "Child" means a person under eighteen years of age.
(B) "Custodian" means an individual with legal custody of a
child.
(C) "Guardian" means an individual granted authority by a
probate court pursuant to Chapter 2111. of the Revised Code to
exercise parental rights over a child to the extent provided in
the court's order and subject to the residual parental rights,
privileges, and responsibilities of the child's parents.
(D) "Legal custody" and "residual parental rights,
privileges, and responsibilities" have the same meanings as in
section 2151.011 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3109.81. (A) As used in this section, "service
provider" means any person listed in division (A)(1)(b) of section
2151.421 of the Revised Code.
(B) (1) Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this
section, when an attorney in fact under a document that purports
to grant to a person with whom a child is residing any of the
parent's, guardian's, or custodian's rights and responsibilities
regarding the care, physical control, and custody of the child
requests registration in a school, medical treatment, or other
services for a child and presents the school employee, physician,
or other service provider with the document as authority for
requesting the services, the service provider shall promptly
report the request, in writing, to the public children services
agency of the county in which the child resides. The report shall
include the name and address of the attorney in fact and of the
child, the child's age, and the nature of the services requested.
(2) A service provider is not required to make a report under
division (B)(1) of this section if the document presented appears
to be a valid court order, power of attorney given to a
grandparent under section 3109.52 of the Revised Code, or
caretaker authorization affidavit executed under section 3109.65
of the Revised Code.
(C) On receiving a report made under division (B) of this
section, a public children services agency shall treat the report
as an allegation that the child is a dependent child and shall
investigate the child's temporary placement with the attorney in
fact in accordance with section 5153.16 of the Revised Code and
rules adopted under section 5153.166 of the Revised Code. The
investigation shall include a criminal records check, a check of
court records for any child-related civil proceedings, and a home
safety study.
(D) If a public children services agency, after an
investigation conducted under division (C) of this section,
determines that the temporary placement of the child with the
attorney in fact is unsafe for the child, the agency shall file a
dependency complaint with the juvenile court pursuant to section
2151.27 of the Revised Code.
Section 2. That existing sections 2151.421, 2151.99, and
3901.51 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3. Section 2151.99 of the Revised Code is presented
in this act as a composite of the section as amended by both Am.
Sub. S.B. 17 and Sub. S.B. 137 of the 126th General Assembly. The
General Assembly, applying the principle stated in division (B) of
section 1.52 of the Revised Code that amendments are to be
harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation, finds
that the composite is the resulting version of the section in
effect prior to the effective date of the section as presented in
this act.
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