Revision: Dec. 26, 2018, 3:05 p.m.
HB 118 - AS INTRODUCED
2019 SESSION
19-0031
05/10
HOUSE BILL 118
SPONSORS: Rep. Berrien, Rock. 18; Rep. Weber, Ches. 1; Rep. Fothergill, Coos 1; Sen. Carson, Dist 14
COMMITTEE: Children and Family Law
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ANALYSIS
This bill requires the department of health and human services to notify a child's primary health care provider of a report of suspected abuse or neglect regarding the child. The bill also permits a child's primary health care provider to access the child's case record if such access is necessary to provide treatment or services or to determine the status of a report under investigation by the department.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
19-0031
05/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nineteen
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Standardized Protocol for the Investigation and Assessment of Child Abuse and Neglect Cases. Amend RSA 169-C:38-a to read as follows:
169-C:38-a Standardized Protocol for the Investigation and Assessment of Child Abuse and Neglect Cases. The department of health and human services and the department of justice shall jointly develop a standardized protocol for the interviewing of victims and the investigation and assessment of cases of child abuse and neglect. The protocol shall seek to minimize the impact on the victim[. The protocol shall also] and shall be designed to protect the rights of all parties affected. The protocol shall specifically address the need to establish safe and appropriate places for interviewing children. The protocol also shall require the department of health and human services to notify the child's primary health care provider that the child is the subject of a report of suspected child abuse or neglect pursuant to RSA 169-C:29.
2 New Subparagraph; Case Record Confidentiality; Primary Health Care Provider Access. Amend RSA 170-G:8-a, II(b) by inserting after subparagraph (4) the following new subparagraph:
(5) The child's primary health care provider.
3 Case Record Confidentiality; Rulemaking; Primary Health Care Provider. Amend RSA 170-G:8-a, III(f) to read as follows:
(f) Access to case records by any person making a report of suspected child abuse or neglect pursuant to RSA 169-C:29 and the child's primary health care provider, provided that such disclosure is limited to information about the status of the report under investigation, or information reasonably required to protect the safety of such person.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2020.