Bill aims to address false CPS claims

BOISE — Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, introduced legislation Tuesday that would allow for criminal penalties against those who make false reports or allegations of child abuse to Child Protective Services.

Currently, parents can file civil lawsuits against those who make knowingly false reports to CPS against them.

Under Scott’s proposal, which she presented to the House, Rules and Administration Committee, prosecutors may pursue misdemeanor charges against those who falsely report child abuse or do so “with malice.”

“There’s a ton of incidents that are turned in that are really false claims, right now there’s just not a good punishment for that,” Scott told committee members.

It would be optional to pursue criminal charges and civil action would still be an option under the proposed legislation, said Sen. Scott Herndon, R-Sagle. Herndon presented the proposal with Scott to the committee.

Anyone convicted under these new penalties would be subject to a fine up to $1,000, confinement in jail for up to three months, or both the fine and jail time, the proposal states.

Rep. Chris Mathias, D-Boise, questioned the scope of the issue the legislation addresses.

“We’re talking about adding more crimes to the code, so I just want to make sure I’m clear on the problem we’re trying to solve,” Mathias said.

Herndon said there are fewer than 24,000 reports to CPS every year in the state and that “the majority of CPS allegations of neglect and abuse are unsubstantiated.”

The committee voted unanimously to introduce the legislation, although Chairperson Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, asked that the fiscal note be amended to reflect that the bill would have a fiscal impact on local governments.

If these cases were to be brought to county prosecutors, it would take resources to prosecute them and a public defender would potentially need to be assigned if the defendant couldn’t afford their own lawyer.

The legislation will get a bill number and return for a hearing.