NH
Children’s Lobby
Newsletter
January
3, 2002
Children
at Risk
Legislature
Returns
Despite
the important bills affecting children and families this year with which the
legislature must grapple, the most important issue, underlying the majority of
other policy decisions they make, is the state budget. The budget adopted last
June, which runs through June 30, 2003, was inadequate in many regards. It did
not, for example, authorize needed rate increases for services purchased by the
Department of Health and Human Services. This leaves thousands of children at
risk as hundreds of agencies across the state struggle with lack of funding to
provide quality services to abused and neglected children, children with
disabilities, and delinquent children and CHINS (Children in Need of Services).
These problems were compounded when the Governor ordered state agencies to
submit plans to further cut their budgets by 1% this year and 2% beginning July
1.
On
top of these general problems, DHHS, which includes the Division for Children,
Youth and Families is facing its own budget problems. Medicaid provider payments
are running $10 million over budget, and Medicaid revenues (money expected to be
received by DHHS from the Federal Government) may be as much as $30 million
short.
All
of this means that the legislature will be tempted to look at any policy bills
in light of their impact on state expenditures—if we serve fewer children in X
program, will we save money in the short term? There may or may not be specific
legislation, such as a supplemental budget, directly addressing the state’s
budget problem. Advocates will need to be constantly aware of this background as
they assess their own goals and strategies for children and families in
2002.
Challenges
for Child Protection
This year
promises to be one of opportunities and threats for abused and neglected
children. Last fall, the Legislative Budget office issued a strong report on the
state of New Hampshire’s foster family system. It found serious short-comings,
most of which are caused by woefully inadequate resources available to the
Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). The complete audit is available online
at:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/lba/fc_2001p.html:
The monitoring reports in the Eric L. class action lawsuit settlement agreement and DCYF’s own internal quality assurance reports further document the inability of the state’s child protection system to respond appropriately to assure the safety and well-being of abused and neglected children.
This
year’s legislative response to these urgent findings will go a long way to
demonstrating whether New Hampshire is willing and able to make the long-term
commitment necessary to develop a child protection system that truly protects
children.
There
are several bills that address specific issues within the child protection
system, some of which were held over from last year:
·
HB
660 would make it more difficult to place children in foster care by requiring
the state to prove by clear and convincing evidence that a child could not be
served at home (hearings were held last year, the Children & Family Law
Committee is expected to make its recommendation within the next several
weeks)
·
SB
373 provides a rate increase for foster families
·
SB
124 establishes a pilot program in two counties in which some aspects of child
abuse and neglect court hearings would be open to the public (hearings were held
last year, the Children & Family Law Committee is expected to make its
recommendation shortly)
Improvements
in Juvenile Justice
The pendulum may
swing closer toward a restorative justice approach to dealing with juveniles in
trouble with the law. A commission studying the physical plant needs for secure
detention of juveniles is working closely with Joe Diament, the new director of
Youth Development Services to develop plans for renovations of the Youth
Development Center in Manchester and considering whether and how to construct
smaller, regional detention facilities. SB 352 would establish a study committee
to look into the need for regional alternative schools for children at risk. HB
1174 proposes requiring students expelled from school to be offered an
educational opportunity. And HB 179, which is likely to pass the House of Representatives, would
return New Hampshire to the pre-1995 law and which allows the state to treat 17
year olds as delinquents. HB 179 was retained by the Children & Family Law
Committee which should make its recommendation shortly. Advocates are cautiously
optimistic for a favorable recommendation.
Many other bills
covering divorce, early literacy programming, child support and custody, and
education await legislative action. The Children’s Lobby will do its best to
keep you informed.
Legislative
Calendar
Thursday,
Jan. 3
Children
& Family Law, LOB 206
|
1:00
PM |
HB
1266 |
establishing
that the surviving parent becomes guardian of the estate of a minor on the
death of the other parent |
Tuesday,
Jan. 8
Children
& Family Law, LOB 206
|
10:00
AM |
HB
1287 |
committee
to study training needs of attorneys handling domestic relations
cases |
|
11:00
AM |
HB
1301 |
eliminates
no-fault divorces in cases involving minor
children |
House
Judiciary, LOB 208
|
10:00
AM |
HB
1236 |
abolishing
the marital master program |
|
10:00
AM |
HB
1360 |
establishing
5 year terms, training and review requirements for marital
masters |
Wednesday,
Jan. 9
House
Judiciary, LOB 208
|
1:00
PM |
HB
1380 |
requires
parental consent for abortions on girl less than 16 years
old |
House
Finance, LOB 210-211
|
1:00
PM |
HB
1376 |
transfers
$7.8 million of tobacco settlement money from education trust fund to
tobacco use prevention
fund |
Health
and Human Services, LOB 205
|
1:30
PM |
HB
1367 |
expanding
coverage of child lead poisoning control law; reduces blood lead levels
required before action can be
taken |
Tuesday,
Jan. 15
Children
& Family Law, LOB 206
|
10:00
AM |
HB
1173 |
requires
unwed mother to name all potential fathers and notify them within 60 days
of birth |
House
Education, LOB 207
|
2:00
PM |
HB
1174 |
requires
schools to offer educational opportunity for students who have been
expelled |
Public
Institutions, LOB 101
|
1:00
PM |
SB
373 |
increasing
reimbursement rates for foster
families |
Wednesday,
Jan. 16
Senate
Education, State House Rm 105-A
|
1:00
PM |
SB
352 |
committee
to study alternative regional public school programs for children at
risk |
|
1:30
PM |
SB
321 |
clarifying
the right to public education for children of homeless
families |
|
2:00
PM |
SB
354 |
authorizing
foster parents to act as surrogate parents for educationally disabled
children |
Senate
Insurance, LOB 101
|
8:30
AM |
SB
346 |
establishing
committee to study health insurance for child care
workers |
Wednesday,
Jan. 30
Senate
Judiciary, LOB 102
|
10:15
AM |
SB
310 |
relative
to child custody (text
unavailable) |
|
10:30
AM |
SB
337 |
relative
to consent orders in abuse and neglect cases (text
unavailable) |
|
10:45
AM |
SB
338 |
relative
to ex parte orders in domestic case (text
unavailable) |
|
11:00
AM |
SB
359 |
establishes
committee to study statewide network of halfway houses for juvenile
offenders |
Current
information and the text of bills, when available, can be obtained at the
Legislature’s Website:
http://gencourt.state.nh.us
99
Hanover St., PO Box 448, Manchester, NH 03105
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