The Vermont House gave final approval to a child protection reform bill Friday by a roll call vote of 139-3.
The bill, S.9, makes changes to a wide range of aspects of Vermont’s child protection system.
The House worked on sections that clarify the responsibilities of mandated reporters and systems for monitoring children that have been returned to families after being in state custody. The bill addresses myriad issues, including policies around post-adoption contracts.
Through the legislation, lawmakers also hope to break down structural problems that inhibit communication between the parties involved in a child protection case.
The legislation emerged out of a special committee that met last summer to study the child protection system after the deaths of two young children who had been in contact with the Department for Children and Families.
The bill will likely go to a conference committee between House and Senate lawmakers in the coming weeks as the try to reconcile the differences in the bill as it passed each chamber.
The House removed a section from the Senate bill that established a new crime of failure to protect a child.
