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Amend the bill in section 1 in subsection 1 in the 2nd line (page 1, line 5 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "or cause a report to be made" and inserting the following: 'or cause a report to be made'
Amend the bill in section 1 in subsection 1 by striking out all of the last paragraph (page 2, lines 19 to 23 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
 
‘Whenever a person is required to report in a capacity as a member of the staff of a medical or public or private institution, agency or facility, that person immediately shall notify either the person in charge of the institution, agency or facility or a designated agent who then shall cause a report to be made. The staff also may make a report directly to the department.
 
If a person required to report notifies either the person in charge of the institution, agency or facility or the designated agent, the notifying person shall acknowledge in writing that the institution, agency or facility has provided confirmation to the notifying person that another individual from the institution, agency or facility has made a report to the department. The confirmation must include, at a minimum, the name of the individual making the report to the department, the date and time of the report and a summary of the information conveyed. If the notifying person does not receive the confirmation from the institution, agency or facility within 24 hours of the notification, the notifying person immediately shall make a report directly to the department.
 
An employer may not take any action to prevent or discourage an employee from making a report.’
Amend the bill by adding after section 1 the following:
‘Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §4011-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2007, c. 586, §11, is further amended to read:
 
2. Required report to district attorney.   When, while acting in a professional capacity, any person required to report under this section knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been abused or neglected by a person not responsible for the child or that a suspicious child death has been caused by a person not responsible for the child, the person immediately shall report or cause a report to be made to the appropriate district attorney's office.
 
Whenever a person is required to report in a capacity as a member of the staff of a medical or public or private institution, agency or facility, that person immediately shall notify either the person in charge of the institution, agency or facility or a designated agent who then shall cause a report to be made. The staff also may make a report directly to the appropriate district attorney's office.
 
If a person required to report notifies either the person in charge of the institution, agency or facility or the designated agent, the notifying person shall acknowledge in writing that the institution, agency or facility has provided confirmation to the notifying person that another individual from the institution, agency or facility has made a report to the appropriate district attorney's office. The confirmation must include, at a minimum, the name of the individual making the report to the appropriate district attorney's office, the date and time of the report and a summary of the information conveyed. If the notifying person does not receive the confirmation from the institution, agency or facility within 24 hours of the notification, the notifying person immediately shall make a report directly to the appropriate district attorney's office.
 
An employer may not take any action to prevent or discourage an employee from making a report.’
 
SUMMARY
The bill eliminates language allowing mandated reporters of child abuse and neglect to report to an institution, facility or agency rather than directly to the Department of Health and Human Services. This amendment retains the current language and instead requires a mandated reporter, described as the "notifying person," to acknowledge in writing that the mandated reporter has received confirmation that the report has been made by the institution, facility or agency to the department. If the mandated reporter does not receive that confirmation within 24 hours of notifying the institution, facility or agency, the mandated reporter is required to report directly to the department.
The amendment also prohibits an employer from taking any action to prevent or discourage an employee from making a report.
The amendment adds similar requirements for reports that must be made to the appropriate district attorney's office.