Download Zipped Introduced WordPerfect HB0042.ZIP
[Status][Bill Documents][Fiscal Note][Bills Directory]

H.B. 42

             1     

MEDICAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR

             2     
CHILDREN

             3     
2005 GENERAL SESSION

             4     
STATE OF UTAH

             5     
Sponsor: Michael T. Morley

             6     
             7      LONG TITLE
             8      General Description:
             9          This bill prohibits school personnel from making certain medical recommendations for
             10      a minor, including the use of psychotropic drugs, and prohibits consideration of a
             11      petition for removal of a minor, and removal of a minor from parental custody based on
             12      a parent's refusal to consent to the administration of psychotropic drugs.
             13      Highlighted Provisions:
             14          This bill:
             15          .    prohibits school personnel from making certain medical recommendations for a
             16      minor, including the use of psychotropic drugs;
             17          .    prohibits the removal of a minor from parental custody based on a parent's refusal to
             18      consent to the administration of psychotropic drugs; and
             19          .    prohibits the consideration of a petition for removal of a minor from parental
             20      custody based on a parent's refusal to consent to the administration of psychotropic
             21      drugs.
             22      Monies Appropriated in this Bill:
             23          None
             24      Other Special Clauses:
             25          None
             26      Utah Code Sections Affected:
             27      AMENDS:


             28          78-3a-301, as last amended by Chapter 356, Laws of Utah 2004
             29          78-3a-305, as last amended by Chapters 68 and 326, Laws of Utah 2003
             30      ENACTS:
             31          53A-11-603, Utah Code Annotated 1953
             32     
             33      Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
             34          Section 1. Section 53A-11-603 is enacted to read:
             35          53A-11-603. Definitions -- Prohibited recommendations -- Psychotropic drugs --
             36      Exceptions -- Penalties.
             37          (1) As used in this section:
             38          (a) "Federal education law" means:
             39          (i) 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1401 et seq.;
             40          (ii) 20 U.S.C. Sec. 7101 et seq.;
             41          (iii) 29 U.S.C. Sec. 794; and
             42          (iv) 42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.
             43          (b) "School" means a public school.
             44          (2) Except as provided in Subsection (4) or (5), school personnel may not:
             45          (a) recommend to a parent or guardian that a child take or continue to take a
             46      psychotropic drug as a condition for attending school;
             47          (b) require that a child take or continue to take a psychotropic drug as a condition for
             48      attending school;
             49          (c) recommend that a parent or guardian seek or use any of the following:
             50          (i) the administration of any psychotropic medication to a child;
             51          (ii) a psychiatric or psychological treatment for a child; or
             52          (iii) a psychiatric evaluation of a child;
             53          (d) conduct a psychiatric or behavioral health evaluation of a child without the consent
             54      of the child's parent or guardian;
             55          (e) recommend a specific licensed physician, psychologist, or any other health
             56      specialist to a parent or guardian for a child; or
             57          (f) make a child abuse or neglect report to authorities, including the Division of Child
             58      and Family Services, solely on the basis that a parent or guardian refuses to consent to:


             59          (i) the administration of a psychotropic drug to a child;
             60          (ii) a psychiatric, psychological, or behavioral treatment for a child; or
             61          (iii) a psychiatric or behavioral health evaluation of a child.
             62          (3) Nothing in this section may be construed to restrict school personnel from:
             63          (a) communicating information between school personnel regarding a child;
             64          (b) informing a child's parent or guardian of a perceived behavioral problem of the
             65      child, provided that:
             66          (i) an assertion or recommendation is not made in violation of Subsection (2); and
             67          (ii) an attempt is not made to denigrate, criticize, or punish a parent, guardian, or child
             68      for a decision made by the parent or guardian for the child to take, not take, or discontinue to
             69      take a psychotropic drug; or
             70          (c) exercising their authority relating to the placement within the school or readmission
             71      of a child who may be or has been suspended or expelled for a violation of Section
             72      53A-11-904 .
             73          (4) Notwithstanding Subsections (2)(c) and (d), a mental health professional acting in
             74      accordance with Title 58, Chapter 60, Mental Health Professional Practice Act, or licensed
             75      through the State Board of Education, working within the school system may, for the sole
             76      purpose of complying with federal education law:
             77          (a) recommend, but not require, a psychiatric or behavioral health evaluation of a child;
             78          (b) recommend, but not require, psychiatric, psychological, or behavioral treatment for
             79      a child; and
             80          (c) conduct a psychiatric or behavioral health evaluation of a child with the consent of
             81      the child's parent or guardian.
             82          (5) Notwithstanding Subsection (2)(e), a school district may make available to an
             83      interested parent or guardian a list of community resources, which may include mental health
             84      services, provided that the list conspicuously states the following: "This list is provided as a
             85      resource to you. The school neither recommends nor requires that you use this list or any of the
             86      services provided in it. It is for you to decide what services, if any, to access and from whom
             87      you wish to obtain them."
             88          (6) A local school board shall adopt a policy that indicates that a violation of this
             89      section is cause for disciplinary action under Section 53A-8-104 .


             90          Section 2. Section 78-3a-301 is amended to read:
             91           78-3a-301. Court-ordered protective custody of a minor following petition filing
             92      -- Grounds.
             93          (1) After a petition has been filed under Subsection 78-3a-305 (1), if the minor who is
             94      the subject of the petition is not in the protective custody of the division, a court may order that
             95      the minor be removed from the minor's home or otherwise taken into protective custody if the
             96      court finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that any one or more of the following
             97      circumstances exist:
             98          (a) there is an imminent danger to the physical health or safety of the minor and the
             99      minor's physical health or safety may not be protected without removing the minor from the
             100      custody of the minor's parent or guardian;
             101          (b) a parent or guardian engages in or threatens the minor with unreasonable conduct
             102      that causes the minor to suffer emotional damage and there are no reasonable means available
             103      by which the minor's emotional health may be protected without removing the minor from the
             104      custody of the minor's parent or guardian;
             105          (c) the minor or another minor residing in the same household has been physically or
             106      sexually abused, or is considered to be at substantial risk of being physically or sexually
             107      abused, by a parent or guardian, a member of the parent's or guardian's household, or other
             108      person known to the parent or guardian;
             109          (d) the parent or guardian is unwilling to have physical custody of the minor;
             110          (e) the minor has been abandoned or left without any provision for the minor's support;
             111          (f) a parent or guardian who has been incarcerated or institutionalized has not arranged
             112      or cannot arrange for safe and appropriate care for the minor;
             113          (g) a relative or other adult custodian with whom the minor has been left by the parent
             114      or guardian is unwilling or unable to provide care or support for the minor, the whereabouts of
             115      the parent or guardian are unknown, and reasonable efforts to locate the parent or guardian
             116      have been unsuccessful;
             117          (h) the minor is in immediate need of medical care;
             118          (i) (i) a parent's or guardian's actions, omissions, or habitual action create an
             119      environment that poses a threat to the minor's health or safety; or
             120          (ii) a parent's or guardian's action in leaving a minor unattended would reasonably pose


             121      a threat to the minor's health or safety;
             122          (j) the minor or another minor residing in the same household has been neglected;
             123          (k) an infant has been abandoned, as defined in Section 78-3a-313.5 ;
             124          (l) the parent or guardian, or an adult residing in the same household as the parent or
             125      guardian, has been charged or arrested pursuant to Title 58, Chapter 37d, Clandestine Drug Lab
             126      Act, and any clandestine laboratory operation, as defined in Section 58-37d-3 , was located in
             127      the residence or on the property where the minor resided; or
             128          (m) the minor's welfare is otherwise endangered.
             129          (2) (a) For purposes of Subsection (1)(a), if a minor has previously been adjudicated as
             130      abused, neglected, or dependent, and a subsequent incident of abuse, neglect, or dependency
             131      has occurred involving the same substantiated abuser or under similar circumstance as the
             132      previous abuse, that fact constitutes prima facie evidence that the minor cannot safely remain in
             133      the custody of the minor's parent.
             134          (b) For purposes of Subsection (1)(c):
             135          (i) another minor residing in the same household may not be removed from the home
             136      unless that minor is considered to be at substantial risk of being physically or sexually abused
             137      as described in Subsection (1)(c) or Subsection (2)(b)(ii); and
             138          (ii) if a parent or guardian has received actual notice that physical or sexual abuse by a
             139      person known to the parent has occurred, and there is evidence that the parent or guardian
             140      failed to protect the minor, after having received the notice, by allowing the minor to be in the
             141      physical presence of the alleged abuser, that fact constitutes prima facie evidence that the
             142      minor is at substantial risk of being physically or sexually abused.
             143          (3) In the absence of one of the factors described in Subsection (1), a court may not
             144      remove a minor from the parent's or guardian's custody on the basis of:
             145          (a) educational neglect;
             146          (b) mental illness or poverty of the parent or guardian; or
             147          (c) disability of the parent or guardian, as defined in Subsection 57-21-3 (9).
             148          (4) A court or the Division of Child and Family Services may not remove a minor from
             149      the custody of his parent on the basis of the refusal of the parent solely to consent to:
             150          (a) the administration of a psychotropic drug to a child;
             151          (b) a psychiatric, psychological, or behavioral treatment for a child; or


             152          (c) a psychiatric or behavioral health evaluation of a child.
             153          [(4)] (5) A minor removed from the custody of the minor's parent or guardian under
             154      this section may not be placed or kept in a secure detention facility pending further court
             155      proceedings unless the minor is detainable based on guidelines promulgated by the Division of
             156      Juvenile Justice Services.
             157          [(5)] (6) This section does not preclude removal of a minor from the minor's home
             158      without a warrant or court order under Section 62A-4a-202.1 .
             159          Section 3. Section 78-3a-305 is amended to read:
             160           78-3a-305. Petition filed -- Protective orders.
             161          (1) Any interested person may file a petition to commence proceedings in the juvenile
             162      court alleging that a minor is abused, neglected, or dependent. The person shall first make a
             163      referral with the division.
             164          (2) (a) If the child who is the subject of a petition was removed from his home by the
             165      Division of Child and Family Services that petition shall be filed on or before the date of the
             166      initial shelter hearing described in Section 78-3a-306 .
             167          (b) If a petition is requested by the division, the attorney general shall file the petition
             168      within 72 hours of the completion of the investigation and request, excluding weekends and
             169      holidays, if:
             170          (i) the child who is the subject of the requested petition has not been removed from his
             171      home by the division; and
             172          (ii) without an expedited hearing and services ordered under the protective supervision
             173      of the court, the child will likely be taken into protective custody.
             174          (3) The petition shall be verified, and contain all of the following:
             175          (a) the name, age, and address, if any, of the minor upon whose behalf the petition is
             176      brought;
             177          (b) the names and addresses, if known to the petitioner, of both parents and any
             178      guardian of the minor;
             179          (c) a concise statement of facts, separately stated, to support the conclusion that the
             180      minor upon whose behalf the petition is being brought is abused, neglected, or dependent; and
             181          (d) a statement regarding whether the minor is in protective custody, and if so, the date
             182      and precise time the minor was taken into protective custody.


             183          (4) The refusal of a parent to consent to the following may not be the sole basis for a
             184      petition filed pursuant to this section:
             185          (a) the administration of a psychotropic drug to a child;
             186          (b) a psychiatric, psychological, or behavioral treatment for a child; or
             187          (c) a psychiatric or behavioral health evaluation of a child.




Legislative Review Note
    as of 12-2-04 2:42 PM


Based on a limited legal review, this legislation has not been determined to have a high
probability of being held unconstitutional.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel


[Bill Documents][Bills Directory]