HB 1565

AN ACT relative to defining certain forms of psychological injury in the child protection act.

SPONSORS: Rep. I. Pratt, Ches 5; Rep. J. Brown, Straf 17; Rep. C. Moore, Merr 19; Rep. Richardson, Ches 12; Rep. Pilliod, Belk 3; Sen. Pignatelli, Dist 13; Sen. Wheeler, Dist 21

This bill adds definitions for certain forms of psychological injury to the provisions of the child protection act.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT relative to defining certain forms of psychological injury in the child protection act.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

I. This bill is intended to clarify the definition of psychological abuse and neglect as already included in the child protection act. Community surveys have indicated that the public is concerned about psychological maltreatment in particular and its short and long-term effects on children. Indeed, psychological or emotional injury may be the most pervasive and destructive form of maltreatment towards children. Nonetheless, such cases may receive less frequent intervention than do cases involving physical or sexual abuses of children due to the lack of clarity now present in the child protection act, limiting identification and intervention by the judiciary, as well as by mandated reporters, for the ultimate benefit of children and their caregivers. Therefore, the general court finds it necessary that the legislature address this problem by clarifying the definition of "psychologically injured" as described in RSA 169-C:3, II-a.

II. Empirical evidence supports a specific definition of psychological injury and harm. There has been established a significant connection between psychological or emotional injury and attachment disorders or social maladjustment including: deficits in cognitive ability, problem-solving, and academic difficulties, affective-behavioral problems, including increased aggressive or antisocial behaviors, self-injurious behaviors, and anxiety disorders. Impairment may extend through adulthood and affect the victim's ability to function or maintain relationships in the home, workplace, or society.

2 Child Protection Act; Definition of Psychologically Injured Amended. Amend RSA 169-C:3, II (c) to read as follows:

(c) Psychologically injured [~~so that said child exhibits symptoms of emotional problems generally recognized to result from consistent mistreatment or neglect~~] as defined in paragraph II-a of this section; or

3 New Paragraph; Child Protection Act; Definition of Psychologically Injured Added. Amend RSA 169-C:3 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:

II-a.(a) "Psychologically injured" means harm to the mental or emotional faculties of the child which substantially damages or impacts the child's ability to function within established ranges of normal growth and development accepted by academic and medical disciplines. Such harm to a child's cognitive and emotional capacities may be caused by habitual and harmful behaviors which may include, but are not limited to: acts of emotional neglect, verbal or emotional assault, extreme or close confinement, and exploitation or corruption, which are defined as follows:

(A) Inadequate nurturance or affection which may include marked inattention, passive rejection to the child's need for affection, emotional support, attention, competence, or nonorganic failure to thrive.

(B) Chronic or extreme spouse abuse or exposure to domestic violence as defined in RSA 173-B.

(C) Permitted drug or alcohol abuse which may include the encouraged or permitted use of alcohol or drugs where the parent or guardian has been informed of the problem and has failed to intervene, or

(D) Other maladaptive behavior which may include severe assaultiveness, chronic delinquency, truancy, shoplifting, panhandling, or begging, which occur under circumstances where the parent or guardian should have been aware of the existence and seriousness of the problem and failed to intervene.

(2) "Verbal or emotional assault" means patterns of belittling, denigrating, scapegoating, or other nonphysical forms of overtly hostile treatment as well as threats of other forms of maltreatment including threats of physical or sexual harm, abandonment, or threats to harm the child's significant attachments.

(3) "Extreme or close confinement" means any act which closely or tortiously confines the child in an enclosed space, including binding a child to a chair or other object, or confining a child to a closet, enclosure, or locked room for excessive periods of time.

(4) "Exploitation or corruption" means acts which encourage or coerce a child into delinquent or criminal behaviors including ingestion or sale of controlled substances, child prostitution, pornography, theft, or other criminal behavior.

(b) Psychological abuse or neglect may be deemed to result from the denial of appropriate medical, educational, or mental health treatment when it is established that such treatment is determined to be necessary to prevent psychological or physical harm and where the denial of such treatment is not due to lack of financial means of the parent or guardian. For the purposes of this paragraph, a parent or guardian who denies certain medical or mental health treatment for a child on the basis of the parent's or guardian's religious beliefs shall not be deemed to be psychologically injuring the child.

(c) Upon a founded report of sexual or physical abuse, there shall be a presumption of psychological injury to the child. However, sexual or physical abuse shall not be a prerequisite to a finding of psychological injury.

AN ACT relative to defining certain forms of psychological injury in the child protection act.

The Department of Health and Human Services states this bill will increase state general fund and county expenditures and state restricted revenue by an indeterminable amount in FY 2000 and in each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local revenue or on local expenditures.

The Department indicates that the definitional change of the term "psychologically injured" may result in an increased number of cases brought by the Department involving psychological injury. The Department is not able to estimate the increase in the number of cases. The potential increase in county expenditures would reflect 25% of the cost of court ordered services. Federal participation may be available in some of the cases.