Montana lawmakers are considering a package of bills to change the state’s response to a decade of growth in child abuse and neglect cases.
The House Judiciary Committee recently heard two bills from Republican Rep. Jennifer Carlson from Manhattan. They came with support from a bipartisan interim committee that spent the past two years studying the issue.
Montana saw the fastest increase of children in foster care of any state in the nation between 2010 and 2019, according to the Annie. E. Casey Foundation.
House Bill 37 would require a warrant for child removals, except in emergencies. It would require peace officers to be present at all removals and would appoint an independent attorney to represent the children in abuse cases, among other stipulations.
Carlson said during the bills’ hearings, the state has to walk a tightrope in this process and should remove children “only when the danger of allowing them to remain in the home outweighs the trauma that we know is caused by removal.”
The ACLU of Montana, several public defenders, parents and the National Association of Counsel for Children spoke in support of the bill. The national association testified that 36 other states already provide independent representation for children in removal proceedings.
Proponents say it would add accountability to the process, expedite proceedings and protect families from undue trauma.
The state health department, which is responsible for handling child abuse and neglects cases, says the policy will make the process more arduous and delay a child’s removal from a dangerous situation.
Nikki Grossberg is division administrator at the health department and spoke in opposition.
“It will only bog down an already overwhelmed system due to the limited resources,” Grossber said.
Volunteers with CASA, the organization that appoints Court Appointed Special Advocate, also spoke in opposition to a provision of the bill that would allow parents to prevent CASAs from accessing information related to a child’s case. They say that would severely hinder their advocacy work.
Other opponents included the Montana County Attorneys Association, the Montana chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Montana Judges Association and the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association.
Carlson’s other bill, House Bill 16, would require that parents get a court hearing within 5 days of their child’s removal. It received widespread support.
Republican Rep. Dennis Lenz from Billings has also introduced a related bill related that would prohibit anonymous reporting of child abuse. He says it aims to prevent frivolous reporting. That proposal failed to advance last session after opponents said it would discourage reporting when a child is in danger.
