Florida Senate - 2018                                    SB 1724
       
       
        
       By Senator Torres
       
       
       
       
       
       15-01661-18                                           20181724__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to child psychological abuse; amending
    3         s. 39.01, F.S.; expanding the definition of the term
    4         “harm” to include the infliction of certain mental
    5         injury on a child; amending s. 39.201, F.S.; revising
    6         a provision relating to mandatory reporting
    7         requirements for child abuse, abandonment, or neglect
    8         to include child psychological abuse; requiring the
    9         Board of Psychology within the Department of Health to
   10         revise the continuing education requirements for
   11         renewal of a license to practice psychology to include
   12         child psychological abuse; providing an effective
   13         date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Paragraph (m) is added to subsection (30) of
   18  section 39.01, Florida Statutes, to read:
   19         39.01 Definitions.—When used in this chapter, unless the
   20  context otherwise requires:
   21         (30) “Harm” to a child’s health or welfare can occur when
   22  any person:
   23         (m) Inflicts mental injury, as defined in subsection (43),
   24  on a child through the use of manipulation or psychological
   25  abuse, including, but not limited to, parental alienation, which
   26  creates a significant developmental pathology, personality
   27  disorder pathology, or delusional-psychiatric pathology, as
   28  diagnosed by a mental health professional licensed under chapter
   29  490 or chapter 491.
   30         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
   31  39.201, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   32         39.201 Mandatory reports of child abuse, abandonment, or
   33  neglect; mandatory reports of death; central abuse hotline.—
   34         (1)(a) Any person who knows, or has reasonable cause to
   35  suspect, that a child is abused, abandoned, or neglected by a
   36  parent, legal custodian, caregiver, or other person responsible
   37  for the child’s welfare, as defined in this chapter, or that a
   38  child is in need of supervision and care and has no parent,
   39  legal custodian, or responsible adult relative immediately known
   40  and available to provide supervision and care shall report such
   41  knowledge or suspicion to the department in the manner
   42  prescribed in subsection (2). For purposes of the mandatory
   43  reporting requirements established under this section, child
   44  abuse includes any harm or mental injury as those terms are
   45  defined in s. 39.01.
   46         Section 3. The Board of Psychology within the Department of
   47  Health shall revise the requirements for renewal of a license to
   48  practice psychology, pursuant to s. 490.007, Florida Statutes,
   49  to require continuing education regarding child psychological
   50  abuse, including, but not limited to, abuse through the use of
   51  manipulation or parental alienation.
   52         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.