HB 1647-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2012 SESSION
05/09
HOUSE BILL 1647-FN
AN ACT requiring the department of health and human services to license supervised visitation centers.
COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration
This bill requires the department of health and human services to license supervised visitation centers.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
12-2216
05/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
AN ACT requiring the department of health and human services to license supervised visitation centers.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Subdivision; Supervised Visitation Centers. Amend RSA 170-E by inserting after section 50 the following new subdivision:
170-E:51 Supervised Visitation Centers; License Required.
I. No person shall establish, maintain, or operate a supervised visitation center without a license issued by the department of health and human services under this subdivision.
II. The commissioner of the department of health and human services shall adopt rules under RSA 541-A relative to the following:
(a) License application, issuance, and renewal procedures.
(b) License revocation and suspension procedures.
(c) Grounds for license revocation and suspension.
(d) Qualifications, experience, and training of supervised visitation center providers and staff.
(e) Safety and security procedures, including child - staff ratios.
(f) Conflict of interest standards and procedures.
(g) Maintenance and disclosure of records, including confidentiality policies.
(h) Legal obligations and responsibilities of supervised visitation center providers.
(i) Grievance procedures.
(j) Quality standards relative to maintaining positive and appropriate parent-child interactions and relationships.
III. License application, issuance, and renewal fees shall be established by the commissioner by rule under RSA 541-A and shall be based on administrative costs associated with the licensing and regulation of supervised visitation centers.
IV. The department of health and human services shall solicit information and testimony from visitation centers, mothers’ groups, father’s groups, judges, family law practitioners, children’s advocacy groups, domestic violence prevention groups, groups advocating legal reform to reduce false allegations of domestic violence, abuse, and neglect, and members of the general public in developing the rules required under this section.
V. Any person who establishes, maintains, or operates a supervised visitation center without first having obtained a license therefor shall be guilty of a misdemeanor for a natural person and a felony for any other person.
VI. The commissioner may apply for, receive, and accept money from any source for the purpose of establishing and administering the supervised visitation center licensing program required by this section.
VII. A list of all supervised visitation centers licensed by the department health and human services shall be available on the state website.
VIII. Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the court from ordering supervised visitation with an employee of the department of health and human services, a private mental health professional, or any other third party as designated in a court order.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2013.
LBAO
12-2216
12/22/11
HB 1647-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT requiring the department of health and human services to license supervised visitation centers.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Health and Human Services states this bill will increase state revenue and expenditures by an indeterminable amount. There will be no fiscal impact on county or local revenues and expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department states this bill would make it responsible for licensing supervised visitation centers. The cost to administer the program will depend on the number of facilities licensed and the provisions of the administrative rules. The Department assumes a portion of the costs would be offset by license application, issuance and renewal fees, and donations. The Department is not able to estimate the number of facilities that would seek to be licensed, what requirements may be included in the administrative rules, or how much would be collected in fees and donations.