2023 Utah Code › Title 80 - Utah Juvenile Code › Chapter 2 - Child Welfare Services › Part 10 - Division and Child Welfare Records › Section 1005 - Classification of reports of alleged abuse or neglect -- Confidential identity of a person who reports -- Access -- Admitting reports into evidence -- Unlawful release and use -- Penalty.

Effective 5/3/2023
80-2-1005.
Classification of reports of alleged abuse or neglect -- Confidential identity of a person who reports -- Access -- Admitting reports into evidence -- Unlawful release and use -- Penalty.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter or Chapter 2a, Removal and Protective Custody of a Child, a report made under Part 6, Child Abuse and Neglect Reports, and any other information in the possession of the division obtained as a result of the report is a private, protected, or controlled record under Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act, and may only be made available to:
(a) a police or law enforcement agency investigating a report of known or suspected abuse or neglect, including members of a child protection team;
(b) a physician who reasonably believes that a child may be the subject of abuse or neglect;
(c) an agency that has responsibility or authority to care for, treat, or supervise a minor who is the subject of a report;
(d) a contract provider that has a written contract with the division to render services to a minor who is the subject of a report;
(e) the subject of the report, the natural parents of the child, and the guardian ad litem;
(f) a court, upon a finding that access to the records may be necessary for the determination of an issue before the court, provided that in a divorce, custody, or related proceeding between private parties, the record alone is:
(i) limited to objective or undisputed facts that were verified at the time of the investigation; and
(ii) devoid of conclusions drawn by the division or any of the division's workers on the ultimate issue of whether or not an individual's acts or omissions constituted any level of abuse or neglect of another individual;
(g) an office of the public prosecutor or the public prosecutor's deputies in performing an official duty;
(h) a person authorized by a Children's Justice Center, for the purposes described in Section 67-5b-102;
(i) a person engaged in bona fide research, when approved by the director of the division, if the information does not include names and addresses;
(j) the State Board of Education, acting on behalf of itself or on behalf of a local education agency, as defined in Section 63J-5-102, for the purpose of evaluating whether an individual should be permitted to obtain or retain a license as an educator or serve as an employee or volunteer in a school, limited to information with substantiated or supported findings involving an alleged sexual offense, an alleged felony or class A misdemeanor drug offense, or any alleged offense against the person under Title 76, Chapter 5, Offenses Against the Individual, and with the understanding that the office must provide the subject of a report received under Subsection (1)(k) with an opportunity to respond to the report before making a decision concerning licensure or employment;
(k) any individual identified in the report as a perpetrator or possible perpetrator of abuse or neglect, after being advised of the screening prohibition in Subsection (2);
(l) a person filing a petition for a child protective order on behalf of a child who is the subject of the report;
(m) a licensed child-placing agency or person who is performing a preplacement adoptive evaluation in accordance with the requirements of Sections 78B-6-128 and 78B-6-130;
(n) an Indian tribe to:
(i) certify or license a foster home;
(ii) render services to a subject of a report; or
(iii) investigate an allegation of abuse, neglect, or dependency; or
(o) the department or a local substance abuse authority, described in Section 17-43-201, for the purpose of providing substance abuse treatment to a pregnant woman or a parent of a newborn child, or the services described in Subsection 26B-5-211(2)(p).
(2) In accordance with Section 80-2-608 and except as provided in Section 80-2-611, the division and a law enforcement agency shall ensure the anonymity of the person who makes the initial report under Part 6, Child Abuse and Neglect Reports, and any other person involved in the division's or law enforcement agency's subsequent investigation of the report.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, excluding Section 80-3-107, but including this chapter, Chapter 2a, Removal and Protective Custody of a Child, and Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act, if the division makes a report or other information in the division's possession available under Subsection (1)(e) to a subject of the report or a parent of a child, the division shall remove from the report or other information only the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of individuals or specific information that could:
(a) identify the referent;
(b) impede a criminal investigation; or
(c) endanger an individual's safety.
(4) A child-placing agency or person who receives a report from the division under Subsection (1)(m) may provide the report to:
(a) the subject of the report;
(b) a person who is performing a preplacement adoptive evaluation in accordance with Sections 78B-6-128 and 78B-6-130;
(c) to a licensed child-placing agency; or
(d) an attorney seeking to facilitate an adoption.
(5) A member of a child protection team may, before the day on which the child is removed, share case-specific information obtained from the division under this section with other members of the child protection team.
(6)
(a) Except as provided in Subsection (6)(b), in a divorce, custody, or related proceeding between private parties, a court may not receive into evidence a report that:
(i) is provided to the court:
(A) under Subsection (1)(f); or
(B) by a parent of the child after the record is made available to the parent under Subsection (1)(e);
(ii) describes a parent of the child as the alleged perpetrator; and
(iii) is found to be unsubstantiated, unsupported, or without merit.
(b)
(i) After a motion to admit the report described in Subsection (6)(a) is made, the court shall allow sufficient time for all subjects of the record to respond before making a finding on the motion.
(ii) After considering the motion described in Subsection (6)(b)(i), the court may receive the report into evidence upon a finding on the record of good cause.
(7)
(a) A person may not:
(i) willfully permit, or aid and abet, the release of data or information in the possession of the division or contained in the Management Information System in violation of this part or Part 6, Child Abuse and Neglect Reports; or
(ii) if the person is not listed in Subsection (1), request another person to obtain or release a report or other information that the other person obtained under Subsection (1)(k) to screen for potential perpetrators of abuse or neglect.
(b) A person who violates Subsection (7)(a)(i), or violates Subsection (7)(a)(ii) knowing the person's actions are a violation of Subsection (7)(a)(ii), is guilty of a class C misdemeanor.
Amended by Chapter 330, 2023 General Session