Florida Senate - 2017                                    SB 1342
       
       
        
       By Senator Torres
       
       
       
       
       
       15-01243-17                                           20171342__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to child psychological abuse; amending
    3         s. 39.01, F.S.; revising the definition of the term
    4         “harm”; amending s. 39.201, F.S.; revising a provision
    5         relating to mandatory reporting requirements for child
    6         abuse, abandonment, or neglect to include child
    7         psychological abuse; requiring the Board of Psychology
    8         within the Department of Health to revise the
    9         continuing education requirements for renewal of a
   10         license to practice psychology to include child
   11         psychological abuse; providing an effective date.
   12          
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Paragraph (m) is added to subsection (30) of
   16  section 39.01, Florida Statutes, to read:
   17         39.01 Definitions.—When used in this chapter, unless the
   18  context otherwise requires:
   19         (30) “Harm” to a child’s health or welfare can occur when
   20  any person:
   21         (m) Inflicts mental injury, as defined in subsection (42),
   22  on a child through the use of manipulation or psychological
   23  abuse, including, but not limited to, parental alienation, which
   24  creates a significant developmental pathology, personality
   25  disorder pathology, or delusional-psychiatric pathology as
   26  diagnosed by a mental health professional licensed under chapter
   27  490 or chapter 491.
   28         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
   29  39.201, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   30         39.201 Mandatory reports of child abuse, abandonment, or
   31  neglect; mandatory reports of death; central abuse hotline.—
   32         (1)(a) Any person who knows, or has reasonable cause to
   33  suspect, that a child is abused, abandoned, or neglected by a
   34  parent, legal custodian, caregiver, or other person responsible
   35  for the child’s welfare, as defined in this chapter, or that a
   36  child is in need of supervision and care and has no parent,
   37  legal custodian, or responsible adult relative immediately known
   38  and available to provide supervision and care shall report such
   39  knowledge or suspicion to the department in the manner
   40  prescribed in subsection (2). For purposes of the mandatory
   41  reporting requirements in this section, child abuse includes any
   42  harm or mental injury as those terms are defined in s. 39.01.
   43         Section 3. The Board of Psychology within the Department of
   44  Health shall revise the requirements for renewal of a license to
   45  practice psychology, pursuant to s. 490.007, Florida Statutes,
   46  to require continuing education regarding child psychological
   47  abuse, including, but not limited to, abuse through the use of
   48  manipulation or parental alienation.
   49         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.