Summary of Child Abuse Legislation and comments of Delegate Kathleen Dumais Maryland House Delegate Kathleen Dumais provided the following summary of child abuse legislation and offered her opinions on each piece of legislation. House Bill 823 was withdrawn. The Judicial Proceedings Committee killed the Senate version of the bill, Senate Bill 412. Although I support the measure's underlying intent of mandating the timely reporting of child abuse, I had serious reservations about its potential for undermining the integrity of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I hope that in a future session a bill is drafted that achieves the aim of protecting children without undermining the sanctity of the confessional. House Bill 550, entitled Family Law - Reporting of Out-of-State Child Abuse, achieved passage. In its final form, the legislation requires reporting of child abuse that is alleged to have occurred outside of Maryland to a victim currently under age 18 who lives outside Maryland. This improves our current law, which does not require reporting suspected abuse that occurred outside of Maryland regarding a child victim who lives outside Maryland. I believe this measure is an important first step, and I voted in its favor. I know that many child advocates are disappointed that the measure's final form requires that the victim still be under the age of 18 in order for the reporting requirement to kick in. Nevertheless, I believe this compromise was necessary in order to achieve this important first step in requiring the reporting of out-of-state abuse regardless of whether the victim lives in Maryland or elsewhere. The House Judiciary Committee issued an unfavorable report on Senate Bill 195. This bill would have made it a misdemeanor for a health practitioner, police officer, educator, or human services worker, acting in a professional capacity, to fail to report suspected abuse or neglect. I voted with the majority of my Committee against the bill. Although I understand the proponent's contention that criminal sanctions must be in place in order for reporting laws to be taken seriously, I respectfully disagree. Professional standards and sanctions already exist, providing a powerful incentive to report. Criminalizing failure to report could have unintended consequences. Might it create a climate in which over-reporting would occur, thus harming innocent people? Innocent individuals harmed might include children who had not actually experienced abuse but would suffer if a family unit were compromised as a result of such over- reporting. Moreover, the meaning of "acting in a professional capacity" was not clear to me. Would a volunteer lay religious educator be subject to criminal sanctions? If so, could this have a chilling effect on those considering answering a call to serve children in such a capacity? Finally, since reporting is confidential, I was very concerned about the bill's impact on this aspect of the process. Would this discourage reporting? Of equal concern, could it undermine confidentiality? These questions were not satisfactorily addressed this year and need to be reviewed. Senate Bill 68, entitled Civil Actions - Child Sexual Abuse - Statute of Limitations, provides that a civil suit arising from alleged sexual abuse to a minor must be filed within seven years of the alleged victim's eighteenth birthday. House Bill 165 also addressed this issue. I voted in favor of extending the statute of limitations, which currently runs out when the alleged victim reaches 21 years old. Again, many advocates hoped the deadline for filing would have been extended even further, but I believe this is a meaningful first step.