House panel passes bipartisan child welfare reporting bill

Bipartisan legislation aimed at strengthening reporting requirements for child abuse complaints passed the House Juvenile Justice Committee Monday.

House Bill 177 says child welfare officials must confirm in writing within 24 hours whenever they receive reports of suspected child abuse from educators. And within five days of completing their investigations, they must disclose in writing to school counselors or principals whether they confirmed the complaints or not.

Georgia school officials have complained their attempts to involve the state Division of Family and Children Services seemed to go nowhere. They said they reported their suspicions and heard nothing back.

Democratic state Rep. David Wilkerson of Austell is sponsoring the legislation. Several Republican state lawmakers have signed onto his measure. Similar legislation won approval in the House last year but failed to clear the Senate.

“What this bill does simply is to kind of close that reporting loop,” Wilkerson told the committee moments before the panel unanimously passed the legislation.

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