JEFFERSON CITY, Mo – All types of emotional stories flooded the House Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities Committee during the debate over House Bill 1849.
The bill creates a tiered system for the active child abuse offenders registry operated by the Children’s Division in the Department of Social Services. There would be three tiers. The first is for the worst offenders – sexual abusers, the worst physical abuse, and multiple offenders; the people on this list would never be eligible to be removed. The second tier is for some violent offenders and requires a term on the list of 10 years. The last tier is the main concern of the bill’s cosponsor, Rep. Rory Ellinger, D-University City. That tier is for one-time and unsubstantiated offenses. People on this list can appeal the listing after five years.
Currently, if people are ever questioned as abusers, they remain on the list forever, creating problems for employment specifically with teaching or nursing positions.
“People are having their children taken away by the Children’s Division way too often,” Ellinger said. “It’s state kidnapping.”
St. Louis County Family Court Project Executive Director Kathleen DuBois talked about cases where people had proven to rehabilitate themselves and were even allowed custody by DFS only their position on the list kept them from getting a job. Specifically, there was a nurse who could not go back to nursing. She cited another case of a grandmother who had been ruled to have committed abuse, even though Dubois said her daughter called social services after being locked in her room, 16 years prior – she could not get custody of her grandchildren and they went into foster care.
Lobbyist Kerry Messer serves on a child abuse and neglect review board. He lobbies on behalf of the Missouri Family network.
“A lot of cases are nothing more than he said she said,” Messer added. “The ones we really hare, person is guilty of the letter of the law – a person who taking care of too many kids and then something happens. I believe if we had a tiered system we would be able to take in all the facts.”
Joe Ortworth was representing the Missouri Family Council.
“There are unsubstantiated cases that can be on the registry for five years,” he said.
Rep. Genise Montecillo, D-St. Louis, was quick to counter with her own stories. Montecillo worked as a teacher for 25 years and had seen terrible child abuse first hand. She brought up a case where a person was cleared of an original charge of abuse but then went back and abused a child again. She cited a case where a grandparent took custody of children and the abuse was bad enough that the child died.
“I don’t want these people to teach my children,” she said. “I don’t want to put other people’s children at risk. Our No. 1 priority should be that children are safe.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Kathy Conway, R-St. Charles, said the bill would not keep information out of DFS reach. People would be removed from the public registry but not the registry DFS uses. Ellinger added that the children’s division has the power to determine the standards for each tier.
“This doesn’t change any law,” Conway said.
Rep. Sue Meredith, D-St. Louis, had a different dispute with the bill. She said she works with children on a regular basis and she had never heard of the registry. Both the bills sponsors were in favor of an amendment to promote public awareness of the registry.
Missouri KidsFirst Executive Director Emily van Schenkhof offered tentative support for the bill, although she was testifying in opposition. She said the events of repeated, violent abuse occur way more often than false accusations. However, she believes Conway and Ellinger have the best interest of children at heart.
She suggested an informal amendment to the bill eliminating the second tier. Just two tiers would give less room for the worst offenders to try to work the system.
Ellinger has been working on similar legislation to this bill for about two years. He was inspired by his work as a Legal Aid Attorney. He feels the registry as currently constituted preys upon the poorest populations in the state, fueling a cycle of poverty that keeps people unemployed.
Children, Families and People with Disabilities Chairman, Rep. Jeff Grisamore, R-Lee’s Summitt, praised Ellinger’s aim to bring forth a bipartisan piece of legislation.
“You got a Republican sponsor and three of the most conservative lobbyists in the building to testify in favor,” Grisamore said.
No action was taken in committee on Tuesday. Ellinger believes an amended bill will pass out of committee soon and pass out of the house.
