Latest news with #HouseBill1412
Indianapolis Star
05-05-2025
- Indianapolis Star
New law requires police to investigate child abuse reporting failures at institutions
Show Caption New law requires police to investigate if schools, gyms and other facilities failed to report child abuse allegations against staff members and volunteers. The legislation initially included tougher penalties for failing to report, but the Senate scrapped that provision. Everyone in Indiana is required to report suspected child abuse, but prosecutions are rare. Gov. Mike Braun has signed into law a measure intended to improve the reporting of child abuse in Indiana, although it's scaled back from its original form. The new state law requires law enforcement to investigate whether a failure to report has occurred when there is an allegation of abuse or neglect against a staff member or volunteer of a school, gym, day care, hospital or other institution. The law also restricts who can delegate their duty to report. The measure, House Bill 1412, was introduced by Rep. Becky Cash, R-Zionsville. It was inspired in large part by IndyStar's 2016 investigation of USA Gymnastics, the sport's national governing body that is headquartered in Indianapolis. That investigation uncovered allegations against national team doctor Larry Nassar and found that USA Gymnastics failed to report concerns about sexual abuse of its athletes to authorities. "It was clear that despite being mandated reporters in the state of Indiana, these reports had not been made, and many young lives were devastated," Cash said while introducing the legislation earlier this year. "A question remains: If we are all mandated reporters, where was the fallout for those who knowingly failed to make the reports?" The initial version of the legislation would have toughened penalties for employees or volunteers of institutions who fail to report abuse, but that language was removed in the Senate. As a result, failing to report remains a class B misdemeanor, which carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a $1,000 fine. Sen. Tyler Johnson, R-Leo, is the lawmaker who proposed removing the stiffer penalties. As a foster parent and an emergency room doctor, he said he takes concerns about child abuse seriously. But he said he wanted to allow lawmakers to gauge the impact of the other changes in the measure before increasing the punishment. "I wanted to be careful about taking it one step at a time," he said. Everyone in Indiana is required by law to immediately report suspect child abuse or neglect to police or the Indiana Department of Child Services, but prosecutions for failing to report are relatively rare. IndyStar found fewer than 30 convictions across the state over a five-year period from 2018 to 2023. Cash noted that although DCS can remove children from dangerous situations, the agency doesn't have any criminal authority and can't prosecute people. She said she hopes that requiring law enforcement involvement in cases involving allegations of institutional abuse will prevent any reporting failures from falling through the cracks. The new law takes effect on July 1.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Indiana lawmakers pushing for tougher penalties for failing to report child abuse
Indiana lawmakers are considering a measure that would toughen the penalty for failing to report child abuse at schools, gyms, hospitals, daycares and other institutions. House Bill 1412 would make it a class A misdemeanor for employees or volunteers to knowingly fail to report child abuse or neglect to police or the Indiana Department of Child Services. Repeat violators would face a level six felony. The change would result in a higher maximum sentence of a year in prison and a $5,000 fine, or 2.5 years and $10,000 for repeat offenders. The maximum sentence under current law is six months and $1,000. The bill would also require law enforcement to investigate whether an institution failed to report abuse when the alleged abuser is a staff member, coach or volunteer. The measure, introduced by state Rep. Becky Cash, R-Zionsville, is intended to address the kind of high-profile failures that allowed widespread abuse in USA Gymnastics and other organizations. "The country watched in horror as we learned that not only had some of our most elite gymnasts been horrifically abused, but that the cover up was pervasive and widespread," Cash said during a recent hearing on the bill. "As these stories played out, we learned that USA Gymnastics, based out of Indiana, had not only failed to make reports, but had actually told coaches and gymnasts that they would handle the accusations themselves." She was referencing a scandal that an IndyStar investigation first exposed in 2016. Reporters found that the sport's national governing body failed to report concerns about the sexual abuse of its athletes to authorities. The failures included a five-week delay in reporting longtime USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, who has since been accused of abusing hundreds of athletes. "It was clear that despite being mandated reporters in the state of Indiana, these reports had not been made, and many young lives were devastated," Cash said. "A question remains: If we are all mandated reporters, where was the fallout for those who knowingly failed to make the reports?" In Indiana, where USA Gymnastics is headquartered, the law requires anyone who has "reason to believe" that a child has been abused or neglected to "immediately" report it police or the Department of Child Services. However, nobody from the organization was ever prosecuted under the law. USA Gymnastics isn't the only institution to receive scrutiny over its abuse reporting practices. IndyStar investigations have also uncovered reporting failures at schools and residential youth treatment centers. Despite such findings, prosecutions for failing to report abuse are relatively uncommon. IndyStar found fewer than 30 convictions across the state over a five-year period from 2018 to 2023. The new legislation has received support from child abuse prevention experts and investigators. "The current system can fail children when there's a delay in reporting, an attempt to keep abuse quiet, or when somebody just chooses not to report at all," said Shannon Perry of the Children's Advocacy Center of Southeastern Indiana, an organization that facilitates forensic interviews with children on behalf of law enforcement. Reporting delays can also make it difficult to hold perpetrators accountable, said Dawn Dobyns-Gross, a former investigator with the Tippecanoe County prosecutor's office. "A time lag allows others to destroy evidence, hide child victims and witnesses, or alter crime scenes, significantly hindering our ability to protect children and gather evidence for prosecution," she said. Administrators with IU Health and Riley Hospital for Children have expressed some reservations about the bill because many people on a child's care team may become aware of abuse concerns, including doctors, nurses and social workers. Requiring all of them to report suspected abuse would be inefficient for the hospital and investigators. To address those concerns, lawmakers introduced a change to the bill on Wednesday that would allow the duty to report to be delegated to someone else involved in the child's care as long as both parties document the referral in writing. Cash proposed a similar bill last year, but it failed to advance due to time constraints, she said. This year's measure has received unanimous approval from two House committees and is now headed to the full House. If approved, it will then move to the Senate for consideration. Contact IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at 317-444-6081 or Follow him on X: @IndyStarTony. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana bill would toughen penalties for failing to report child abuse
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bipartisan bills aim to change how Oklahoma schools are graded on chronic absenteeism
Grading public schools based on students' poor attendance has gained bipartisan opposition in the Oklahoma Legislature. Lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle said they support tracking chronic absenteeism rates, but they called it unfair to penalize schools for it. Students are considered chronically absent if they miss 10% or more of the school year. Chronic absenteeism is one of six factors that can impact a school's A-F grade on the Oklahoma State Report Cards. Federal law requires states to track and report chronic absenteeism rates, and at least 36 states use it while grading school performance. The head of the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, proposed replacing chronic absenteeism on state report cards with a climate survey of a school's students, parents and employees. Under Pugh's Senate Bill 711, attendance rates could count as a bonus for a school's A-F grade. Rep. Ellen Pogemiller, D-Oklahoma City, and Rep. Ronny Johns, R-Ada, filed similar legislation in the House with House Bill 1131 and House Bill 1412 to add a school climate survey to state report cards in place of chronic absenteeism. Changing a factor on the report cards requires approval from the U.S. Department of Education. Pugh and Pogemiller said chronic absenteeism is important to measure, but they agreed student attendance is not something districts entirely control. 'Schools aren't in charge of bringing kids to school. Parents are,' Pogemiller said. 'I know that districts across the state are trying their best to address chronic absenteeism and so that still should be a priority, but I don't think they should be evaluated by it on a metric that's so prominent on our state report card.' Chronic absenteeism is worth 10 points on state report cards, the same point value as a high school's graduation rate, the progress of students learning English as a second language and post-secondary opportunities exposure. State testing performance, called academic achievement, carries the heaviest weight in a report card score followed by academic growth, which measures how much state test results have improved. Pugh said it would be more logical for a school's A-F grade to reflect what students, parents, faculty and staff say about how their school is performing and how it could improve. He said poor attendance reflects challenges existing in the broader community, and it's an issue every state is trying to tackle. 'I just feel it's unfair to hold the school district accountable for something that might be a much bigger macro-level problem than just what's happening inside the school district,' Pugh said. Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@ Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and Twitter. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma bill could change schools' grading for chronic absenteeism
