LANSING — The House Committee on Families and Veterans considered two bills Tuesday, put forward by state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) and state Rep. Angela Rigas (R-Alto), HB 4530 and HB 4531.

The first would change the required time frame for mental health providers to respond to a Child Protective Services, or CPS, records request from 14 to seven days, and the second would increase the amount of training on child abuse and neglect provided to mandatory reporters.

“The goal is to keep children safer by making sure those on the front lines are consistently informed and prepared,” Rigas said.

One case, the 2020 murder of an 11-year-old by his mother who then committed suicide, spurred legislators to create this legislation.

In that case, Pohutsky said, “Although there was one CPS investigation that had already been closed and another that was in process in time of the incident, intervention didn’t occur in time to prevent her from taking her own life and of her child.”

Ryan Speidel, who serves as Michigan’s Child Advocate, elaborated on the details of the case, explaining that when investigators sought records from the mother’s mental health providers — which would have shown that she had expressed homicidal intent towards her son for months — they were blocked from accessing the records which, by law, the providers were required to give.

One issue around this is a lack of awareness among providers as to what they have to provide to investigators, as well as a lack of knowledge by mandated reporters as to when they should be reporting potential child abuse or neglect.

“In speaking with teachers, psychologists, school administrators and various other mandated reporters, it is clear a regular training is needed,” Speidel continued. “These mandated reporters consistently remind me that they want and need more training around the recognition of child abuse injuries. I do believe that if both these bills were signed into law, it will make Michigan that much safer for children.”

State Rep. Carrie Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor) expressed concerns about the balance between protecting children while also protecting therapeutic relationships, citing her own husband’s experience as a trauma therapist.

“To be clear, this changes nothing about when records are requested, when they’re required to be handed over, and although these two bills work hand in hand in terms of making sure that all mandatory reporters, including mental health professionals, have adequate information about their responsibilities,” Pohutsky said, “this doesn’t change anything about the responsibilities of mental health professionals, other than the timeline for turning over records they’re already required to turn over.”

The committee also passed a resolution put forth by state Rep. Douglas Wozniak (R-Shelby Twp.), the committee’s vice chair, calling on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to direct “administrating agencies” to track their efforts to reduce Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs.

A substitute to that bill, proposed by state Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren), which would have included “sudden and unexpected loss of family food assistance” as one of those adverse experiences, did not pass along party lines in the committee, with all seven Republicans passing on their vote.

Wozniak’s resolution was sent to the full House also along party lines, with all four Democrats in the committee voting to pass on that vote.

Another bill, HB 4959, put forth by committee chair state Rep. Kathy Schmaltz (R-Jackson), which adds fees for anyone seeking a license to be a professional guardian or professional conservator, passed along the same party lines — seven votes in favor from the GOP members, and four Democrats passing on their votes.