MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division A
By: Senator(s) Boyd
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-351, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DELETE THE AUTHORITY OF ANY PERSON OR AGENCY TO MAKE A WRITTEN REPORT TO THE YOUTH COURT INTAKE UNIT; TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES TO MAKE THE INTAKE REPORT; TO PROVIDE THAT THE REPORT MAY BE ORAL; TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-353, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE CERTAIN MANDATORY REPORTERS TO MAKE A REPORT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT TRAINING FOR TRIAGE PROCEDURES FOR RECEIVING REPORTS; TO PRESCRIBE A TIMEFRAME FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES TO MAKE A REPORT TO THE YOUTH COURT; TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-357, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; TO AMEND SECTIONS 43-20-17, 43-21-257, 43-21-261 AND 43-21-907, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE AN INTERNAL REFERENCE TO SECTION 43-21-353 IN CONFORMITY TO THE AMENDMENTS MADE TO THAT SECTION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 43-21-351, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-351. (1) * * * The Department of
Child Protection Services may make a written or oral report to the
intake unit alleging facts sufficient to establish the jurisdiction of the
youth court. The report shall bear a permanent number that will be assigned by
the court in accordance with the standards established by the Administrative
Office of Courts pursuant to Section 9-21-9(d), and shall be preserved until
destroyed on order of the court.
(2) There shall be in each youth court of the state an intake officer who shall be responsible for the accurate and timely entering of all intake and case information into the Mississippi Youth Court Information Delivery System (MYCIDS) for the Department of Human Services - Division of Youth Services, truancy matters, and the Department of Child Protection Services. It shall be the responsibility of the youth court judge or referee of each county to ensure that the intake officer is carrying out the responsibility of this section.
(3) Each intake officer shall receive, at a minimum, six (6) hours of annual training on MYCIDS provided by the Mississippi Judicial College. The required training under this subsection shall be in addition to technical training provided by the Mississippi Supreme Court MYCIDS Information Technology Department.
(4) The Mississippi Judicial College, in conjunction with the Administrative Office of Courts, shall develop training materials on MYCIDS:
(a) To ensure the accurate and timely entrance of all intake and case information throughout the state by intake officers;
(b) To ensure that youth court judges are equipped to oversee the functions of each intake officer.
(5) The provisions of this section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2026.
SECTION 2. Section 43-21-353, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-353. (1) Any
attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse, psychologist, social
worker, family protection worker, family protection specialist, child
caregiver, minister, law enforcement officer, public or private school employee
or any other person having reasonable cause to suspect that a child is a
neglected child, an abused child, or a victim of commercial sexual exploitation
or human trafficking shall cause * * *
a report to be made immediately by telephone or otherwise * * * to the
Department of Child Protection Services * * *.
(2) The Department of Child Protection Services shall develop and implement triage procedures for accepting, documenting, and assigning reports under this section. The procedures established by the department shall include the following:
(a) The department shall advise the youth court intake unit within seventy-two (72) hours of the report being assigned for investigation or within twenty-four (24) hours of a child being removed from a home, which intake unit shall promptly comply with Section 43-21-357.
(b) In the course of an investigation, at the initial time of contact with the individual(s) about whom a report has been made under this Youth Court Act or with the individual(s) responsible for the health or welfare of a child about whom a report has been made under this chapter, the Department of Child Protection Services shall inform the individual of the specific complaints or allegations made against the individual. Consistent with subsection (4), the identity of the person who reported his or her suspicion shall not be disclosed at that point. Where appropriate, the Department of Child Protection Services shall additionally make a referral to the youth court prosecutor.
(c) Upon receiving a report that a child has been sexually abused, is a victim of commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking or has been burned, tortured, mutilated or otherwise physically abused in such a manner as to cause serious bodily harm, or upon receiving any report of abuse that would be a felony under state or federal law, the Department of Child Protection Services shall immediately notify the law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred. Within forty-eight (48) hours, the department must notify the appropriate prosecutor and the Statewide Human Trafficking Coordinator. The department shall have the duty to provide the law enforcement agency all the names and facts known at the time of the report; this duty shall be of a continuing nature. The law enforcement agency and the department shall investigate the reported abuse immediately and shall file a preliminary report with the appropriate prosecutor's office within twenty-four (24) hours and shall make additional reports as new or additional information or evidence becomes available. The department shall advise the clerk of the youth court and the youth court prosecutor of all cases of abuse reported to the department under this subsection (2)(c) within seventy-two (72) hours and shall update such report as information becomes available. In addition, if the Department of Child Protection Services determines that a parent or other person responsible for the care or welfare of an abused or neglected child maintains active duty status within the military, the department shall notify the applicable military installation family advocacy program that there is an allegation of abuse or neglect that relates to that child.
( * * *3) Any report shall contain the names
and addresses of the child and his parents or other persons responsible for his
care, if known, the child's age, the nature and extent of the child's injuries,
including any evidence of previous injuries, any other information that might
be helpful in establishing the cause of the injury, and the identity of the
perpetrator.
( * * *4) The Department of Child Protection
Services shall maintain a statewide incoming wide-area telephone service or
similar service for the purpose of receiving reports of suspected cases of
child abuse, commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking * * *.
( * * *5) Reports of abuse, neglect and
commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking made under this chapter and
the identity of the reporter are confidential except when the court in which
the investigation report is filed, in its discretion, determines the testimony
of the person reporting to be material to a judicial proceeding or when the
identity of the reporter is released to law enforcement agencies and the
appropriate prosecutor pursuant to subsection (1). Reports made under this
section to any law enforcement agency or prosecutorial officer are for the
purpose of criminal investigation and prosecution only and no information from
these reports may be released to the public except as provided by Section 43-21-261.
Disclosure of any information by the prosecutor shall be according to the
Mississippi Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court Procedure. The identity
of the reporting party shall not be disclosed to anyone other than law
enforcement officers or prosecutors without an order from the appropriate youth
court. Any person disclosing any reports made under this section in a manner
not expressly provided for in this section or Section 43-21-261 shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties prescribed by Section 43-21-267.
Notwithstanding the confidentiality of the reporter's identity under this
section, the Department of Child Protection Services may disclose a reporter's
identity to the appropriate law enforcement agency or prosecutor if the
department has reason to suspect the reporter has made a fraudulent report, and
the Department of Child Protection Services must provide to the subject of the
alleged fraudulent report written notification of the disclosure.
( * * *6) All final dispositions of law
enforcement investigations described in subsection (1) of this section shall be
determined only by the appropriate prosecutor or court. All final dispositions
of investigations by the Department of Child Protection Services as described
in subsection (1) of this section shall be determined only by the youth court.
Reports made under subsection (1) of this section by the Department of Child
Protection Services to the law enforcement agency and to the district
attorney's office shall include the following, if known to the department:
(a) The name and address of the child;
(b) The names and addresses of the parents;
(c) The name and address of the suspected perpetrator;
(d) The names and addresses of all witnesses, including the reporting party if a material witness to the abuse;
(e) A brief statement of the facts indicating that the child has been abused, including whether the child experienced commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking, and any other information from the agency files or known to the family protection worker or family protection specialist making the investigation, including medical records or other records, which may assist law enforcement or the district attorney in investigating and/or prosecuting the case; and
(f) What, if any, action is being taken by the Department of Child Protection Services.
( * * *7) In any investigation of a report
made under this chapter of the abuse or neglect of a child as defined in
Section 43-21-105(l) or (m), the Department of Child Protection Services may
request the appropriate law enforcement officer with jurisdiction to accompany
the department in its investigation, and in such cases the law enforcement
officer shall comply with such request.
( * * *8) Anyone who willfully violates any
provision of this section shall be, upon being found guilty, punished by a fine
not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or by imprisonment in jail not
to exceed one (1) year, or both.
( * * *9) If a report is made directly to the
Department of Child Protection Services that a child has been abused or
neglected or experienced commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking in
an out-of-home setting, a referral shall be made immediately to the law
enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction the abuse occurred and the department
shall notify the district attorney's office and the Statewide Human Trafficking
Coordinator within forty-eight (48) hours of such report. The Department of
Child Protection Services shall investigate the out-of-home setting report of
abuse or neglect to determine whether the child who is the subject of the
report, or other children in the same environment, comes within the jurisdiction
of the youth court and shall report to the youth court the department's
findings and recommendation as to whether the child who is the subject of the
report or other children in the same environment require the protection of the
youth court. The law enforcement agency shall investigate the reported abuse
immediately and shall file a preliminary report with the district attorney's
office within forty-eight (48) hours and shall make additional reports as new
information or evidence becomes available. If the out-of-home setting is a
licensed facility, an additional referral shall be made by the Department of
Child Protection Services to the licensing agency. The licensing agency shall
investigate the report and shall provide the department, the law enforcement
agency and the district attorney's office with their written findings from such
investigation as well as that licensing agency's recommendations and actions taken.
( * * *10) If a child protective
investigation does not result in an out-of-home placement, a child protective
investigator must provide information to the parent or guardians about
community service programs that provide respite care, counseling and support
for children who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation or human
trafficking, voluntary guardianship or other support services for families in
crisis.
SECTION 3. Section 43-21-357, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-357. (1) After
receiving a report, the youth court intake unit shall promptly make a
preliminary inquiry to determine whether the interest of the child, other
children in the same environment or the public requires the youth court to take
further action. As part of the preliminary inquiry, the youth court intake
unit may request or the youth court may order the Department of Child
Protection Services, the Department of Human Services - Division of Youth
Services, any successor agency or any other qualified public employee to make
an investigation or report concerning the child and any other children in the
same environment, and present the findings thereof to the youth court intake
unit. * * *
If it appears from the preliminary inquiry that the child or other children in
the same environment are within the jurisdiction of the court, the youth court
intake unit shall recommend to the youth court:
(a) That the youth court take no action;
(b) That an informal adjustment be made;
(c) That the Department of Child Protection Services monitor the child, family and other children in the same environment;
(d) That the child is warned or counseled informally;
(e) That the child be referred to the youth court intervention court; or
(f) That a petition be filed.
(2) The youth court shall then, without a hearing:
(a) Order that no action be taken;
(b) Order that an informal adjustment be made;
(c) Order that the Department of Child Protection Services monitor the child, family and other children in the same environment;
(d) Order that the child is warned or counseled informally;
(e) That the child be referred to the youth intervention court; or
(f) Order that a petition be filed.
(3) If the preliminary inquiry discloses that a child needs emergency medical treatment, the judge may order the necessary treatment.
SECTION 4. Section 43-20-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-20-17. Information in
the possession of the licensing agency concerning the license of individual
child care facilities may be disclosed to the public, except such information
shall not be disclosed in such manner as to identify children or families of
children cared for at a child care facility. Nothing in this section shall
affect the agency's authority to release findings of investigations into
allegations of abuse pursuant to either Section 43-21-353( * * *9) or Section 43-21-257.
SECTION 5. Section 43-21-257, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-257. (1) Unless otherwise provided in this section, any record involving children, including valid and invalid complaints, and the contents thereof maintained by the Department of Human Services or the Department of Child Protection Services, or any other state agency, shall be kept confidential and shall not be disclosed except as provided in Section 43-21-261.
(2) The Office of Youth Services shall maintain a state central registry containing the number and disposition of all cases together with such other useful information regarding those cases as may be requested and is obtainable from the records of the youth court. The Office of Youth Services shall annually publish a statistical record of the number and disposition of all cases, but the names or identity of any children shall not be disclosed in the reports or records. The Office of Youth Services shall adopt such rules as may be necessary to carry out this subsection. The central registry files and the contents thereof shall be confidential and shall not be open to public inspection. Any person who discloses or encourages the disclosure of any record involving children from the central registry shall be subject to the penalty in Section 43-21-267. The youth court shall furnish, upon forms provided by the Office of Youth Services, the necessary information, and these completed forms shall be forwarded to the Office of Youth Services. The Department of Human Services and its employees are exempt from any civil liability as a result of any action taken pursuant to the compilation or release of information on the central registry under this section and any other applicable section of this code, unless determined that an employee has willfully and maliciously violated the rules and administrative procedures of the department pertaining to the central registry or any section of this code. If an employee is determined to have willfully and maliciously performed such a violation, said employee shall not be exempt from civil liability in this regard.
(3) The Department of Child Protection Services shall maintain a state central registry on neglect and abuse cases containing (a) the name, address and age of each child, (b) the nature of the harm reported, (c) the name and address of the person responsible for the care of the child, and (d) the name and address of the substantiated perpetrator of the harm reported. "Substantiated perpetrator" shall be defined as an individual who has committed an act(s) of sexual abuse or physical abuse that would otherwise be deemed as a felony or any child neglect that would be deemed as a threat to life. A name is to be added to the registry only based upon a criminal conviction or an adjudication by a youth court judge or court of competent jurisdiction, ordering that the name of the perpetrator be listed on the central registry. The central registry shall be confidential and shall not be open to public inspection. Any person who discloses or encourages the disclosure of any record involving children from the central registry without following the rules and administrative procedures of the department shall be subject to the penalty in Section 43-21-267. The Department of Child Protection Services and its employees are exempt from any civil liability as a result of any action taken pursuant to the compilation or release of information on the central registry under this section and any other applicable section of this code, unless determined that an employee has willfully and maliciously violated the rules and administrative procedures of the department pertaining to the central registry or any section of this code. If an employee is determined to have willfully and maliciously performed such a violation, said employee shall not be exempt from civil liability in this regard.
(4) The Mississippi State Department of Health may release the findings of investigations into allegations of abuse within licensed day care centers made under the provisions of Section 43-21-353(8) to any parent of a child who is enrolled in the day care center at the time of the alleged abuse or at the time the request for information is made. The findings of any such investigation may also be released to parents who are considering placing children in the day care center. No information concerning those investigations may contain the names or identifying information of individual children.
The Department of Health
shall not be held civilly liable for the release of information on any
findings, recommendations or actions taken pursuant to investigations of abuse
that have been conducted under Section 43-21-353( * * *9).
SECTION 6. Section 43-21-261, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-261. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, records involving children shall not be disclosed, other than to necessary staff or officials of the youth court, a guardian ad litem appointed to a child by the court, or a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer who may be assigned in a dependency, abuse or neglect case, except pursuant to an order of the youth court specifying the person or persons to whom the records may be disclosed, the extent of the records which may be disclosed and the purpose of the disclosure. Such court orders for disclosure shall be limited to those instances in which the youth court concludes, in its discretion, that disclosure is required for the best interests of the child, the public safety, the functioning of the youth court, or to identify a person who knowingly made a false allegation of child abuse or neglect, and then only to the following persons:
(a) The judge of another youth court or member of another youth court staff;
(b) The court of the parties in a child custody or adoption cause in another court;
(c) A judge of any other court or members of another court staff, including the chancery court that ordered a forensic interview;
(d) Representatives of a public or private agency providing supervision or having custody of the child under order of the youth court;
(e) Any person engaged in a bona fide research purpose, provided that no information identifying the subject of the records shall be made available to the researcher unless it is absolutely essential to the research purpose and the judge gives prior written approval, and the child, through his or her representative, gives permission to release the information;
(f) The Mississippi Department of Employment Security, or its duly authorized representatives, for the purpose of a child's enrollment into the Job Corps Training Program as authorized by Title IV of the Comprehensive Employment Training Act of 1973 (29 USCS Section 923 et seq.). However, no records, reports, investigations or information derived therefrom pertaining to child abuse or neglect shall be disclosed;
(g) Any person pursuant to a finding by a judge of the youth court of compelling circumstances affecting the health, safety or well-being of a child and that such disclosure is in the best interests of the child or an adult who was formerly the subject of a youth court delinquency proceeding;
(h) A person who was
the subject of a knowingly made false allegation of child abuse or neglect
which has resulted in a conviction of a perpetrator in accordance with Section
97-35-47 or which allegation was referred by the Department of Child Protection
Services to a prosecutor or law enforcement official in accordance with the
provisions of Section 43-21-353( * * *5).
Law enforcement agencies may disclose information to the public concerning the taking of a child into custody for the commission of a delinquent act without the necessity of an order from the youth court. The information released shall not identify the child or his address unless the information involves a child convicted as an adult.
(2) Any records involving children which are disclosed under an order of the youth court or pursuant to the terms of this section and the contents thereof shall be kept confidential by the person or agency to whom the record is disclosed unless otherwise provided in the order. Any further disclosure of any records involving children shall be made only under an order of the youth court as provided in this section.
(3) Upon request, the parent, guardian or custodian of the child who is the subject of a youth court cause or any attorney for such parent, guardian or custodian, shall have the right to inspect any record, report or investigation relevant to a matter to be heard by a youth court, except that the identity of the reporter shall not be released, nor the name of any other person where the person or agency making the information available finds that disclosure of the information would be likely to endanger the life or safety of such person. The attorney for the parent, guardian or custodian of the child, upon request, shall be provided a copy of any record, report or investigation relevant to a matter to be heard by a youth court, but the identity of the reporter must be redacted and the name of any other person must also be redacted if the person or agency making the information available finds that disclosure of the information would be likely to endanger the life, safety or well-being of the person. A record provided to the attorney under this section must remain in the attorney's control and the attorney may not provide copies or access to another person or entity without prior consent of a court with appropriate jurisdiction.
(4) Upon request, the child who is the subject of a youth court cause shall have the right to have his counsel inspect and copy any record, report or investigation which is filed with the youth court or which is to be considered by the youth court at a hearing.
(5) (a) The youth court prosecutor or prosecutors, the county attorney, the district attorney, the youth court defender or defenders, or any attorney representing a child shall have the right to inspect and copy any law enforcement record involving children.
(b) The Department of Child Protection Services shall disclose to a county prosecuting attorney or district attorney any and all records resulting from an investigation into suspected child abuse or neglect when the case has been referred by the Department of Child Protection Services to the county prosecuting attorney or district attorney for criminal prosecution.
(c) Agency records made confidential under the provisions of this section may be disclosed to a court of competent jurisdiction.
(d) Records involving children shall be disclosed to the Division of Victim Compensation of the Office of the Attorney General upon the division's request without order of the youth court for purposes of determination of eligibility for victim compensation benefits.
(6) Information concerning an investigation into a report of child abuse or child neglect may be disclosed by the Department of Child Protection Services without order of the youth court to any attorney, physician, dentist, intern, resident, nurse, psychologist, social worker, family protection worker, family protection specialist, child caregiver, minister, law enforcement officer, or a public or private school employee making that report pursuant to Section 43-21-353(1) if the reporter has a continuing professional relationship with the child and a need for such information in order to protect or treat the child.
(7) Information concerning an investigation into a report of child abuse or child neglect may be disclosed without further order of the youth court to any interagency child abuse task force established in any county or municipality by order of the youth court of that county or municipality.
(8) Names and addresses of juveniles twice adjudicated as delinquent for an act which would be a felony if committed by an adult or for the unlawful possession of a firearm shall not be held confidential and shall be made available to the public.
(9) Names and addresses of juveniles adjudicated as delinquent for murder, manslaughter, burglary, arson, armed robbery, aggravated assault, any sex offense as defined in Section 45-33-23, for any violation of Section 41-29-139(a)(1) or for any violation of Section 63-11-30, shall not be held confidential and shall be made available to the public.
(10) The judges of the circuit and county courts, and presentence investigators for the circuit courts, as provided in Section 47-7-9, shall have the right to inspect any youth court records of a person convicted of a crime for sentencing purposes only.
(11) The victim of an offense committed by a child who is the subject of a youth court cause shall have the right to be informed of the child's disposition by the youth court.
(12) A classification hearing officer of the State Department of Corrections, as provided in Section 47-5-103, shall have the right to inspect any youth court records, excluding abuse and neglect records, of any offender in the custody of the department who as a child or minor was a juvenile offender or was the subject of a youth court cause of action, and the State Parole Board, as provided in Section 47-7-17, shall have the right to inspect such records when the offender becomes eligible for parole.
(13) The youth court shall notify the Department of Public Safety of the name, and any other identifying information such department may require, of any child who is adjudicated delinquent as a result of a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Law.
(14) The Administrative Office of Courts shall have the right to inspect any youth court records in order that the number of youthful offenders, abused, neglected, truant and dependent children, as well as children in need of special care and children in need of supervision, may be tracked with specificity through the youth court and adult justice system, and to utilize tracking forms for such purpose.
(15) Upon a request by a youth court, the Administrative Office of Courts shall disclose all information at its disposal concerning any previous youth court intakes alleging that a child was a delinquent child, child in need of supervision, child in need of special care, truant child, abused child or neglected child, as well as any previous youth court adjudications for the same and all dispositional information concerning a child who at the time of such request comes under the jurisdiction of the youth court making such request.
(16) The Administrative Office of Courts may, in its discretion, disclose to the Department of Public Safety any or all of the information involving children contained in the office's youth court data management system known as Mississippi Youth Court Information Delivery System or "MYCIDS."
(17) The youth courts of the state shall disclose to the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) any youth court records in order that the number of youthful offenders, abused, neglected, truant and dependent children, as well as children in need of special care and children in need of supervision, may be tracked with specificity through the youth court and adult justice system, and to utilize tracking forms for such purpose. The disclosure prescribed in this subsection shall not require a court order and shall be made in sortable, electronic format where possible. The PEER Committee may seek the assistance of the Administrative Office of Courts in seeking this information. The PEER Committee shall not disclose the identities of any youth who have been adjudicated in the youth courts of the state and shall only use the disclosed information for the purpose of monitoring the effectiveness and efficiency of programs established to assist adjudicated youth, and to ascertain the incidence of adjudicated youth who become adult offenders.
(18) In every case where an abuse or neglect allegation has been made, the confidentiality provisions of this section shall not apply to prohibit access to a child's records by any state regulatory agency, any state or local prosecutorial agency or law enforcement agency; however, no identifying information concerning the child in question may be released to the public by such agency except as otherwise provided herein.
(19) In every case of child abuse or neglect, if a child's physical condition is medically labeled as medically "serious" or "critical" or a child dies, the confidentiality provisions of this section shall not apply. In such cases, the following information may be released by the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services: the cause of the circumstances regarding the fatality or medically serious or critical physical condition; the age and gender of the child; information describing any previous reports of child abuse or neglect investigations that are pertinent to the child abuse or neglect that led to the fatality or medically serious or critical physical condition; the result of any such investigations; and the services provided by and actions of the state on behalf of the child that are pertinent to the child abuse or neglect that led to the fatality or medically serious or critical physical condition.
(20) Any member of a foster care review board designated by the Department of Child Protection Services shall have the right to inspect youth court records relating to the abuse, neglect or child in need of supervision cases assigned to such member for review.
(21) Information concerning an investigation into a report of child abuse or child neglect may be disclosed without further order of the youth court in any administrative or due process hearing held, pursuant to Section 43-21-257, by the Department of Child Protection Services for individuals whose names will be placed on the central registry as substantiated perpetrators.
(22) The Department of Child Protection Services may disclose records involving children to the following:
(a) A foster home, residential child-caring agency or child-placing agency to the extent necessary to provide such care and services to a child;
(b) An individual, agency or organization that provides services to a child or the child's family in furtherance of the child's permanency plan to the extent necessary in providing those services;
(c) Health and mental health care providers of a child to the extent necessary for the provider to properly treat and care for the child;
(d) An educational institution or educational services provider where the child is enrolled or where enrollment is anticipated to the extent necessary for the school to provide appropriate services to the child;
(e) Any state agency or board that administers student financial assistance programs. However, any records request under this paragraph shall be initiated by the agency or board for the purpose determining the child's eligibility for student financial assistance, and any disclosure shall be limited to the verification of the child's age during the period of time in which the child was in the department's legal custody; and
(f) Any other state agency if the disclosure is necessary to the department in fulfilling its statutory responsibilities in protecting the best interests of the child.
(23) Nothing in this section or chapter shall require youth court approval for disclosure of records involving children as defined in Section 43-21-105(u), if the disclosure is made in a criminal matter by a municipal or county prosecutor, a district attorney or statewide prosecutor, pursuant to the Mississippi Rules of Criminal Procedure and the records are disclosed under a protective order issued by the Circuit Court presiding over the criminal matter which incorporates the penalties stated in Section 43-21-267.
(24) The provisions of this section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2026.
SECTION 7. Section 43-21-907, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-907. (1) The licensing agency shall have the following powers and duties, in addition to the other duties prescribed by law:
(a) To adopt the licensing standards set forth by the Juvenile Detention and Alternatives Taskforce's 2014 report;
(b) To promulgate future rules and regulations concerning the licensing and regulation of juvenile detention facilities;
(c) To issue, deny, suspend, revoke, restrict, or otherwise take disciplinary action against juvenile detention facilities;
(d) To provide the training required by the rules and regulations promulgated by the licensing agency to all facility administrators and facility staff; and
(e) To have such other powers as may be required to carry out the provisions of Sections 43-21-901 through 43-21-915.
(2) The licensing agency shall require a criminal records background check and a child abuse registry check for all facility administrators and facility staff of a juvenile detention facility. The Department of Human Services has the authority to disclose to the licensing agency any potential applicant whose name is listed on the Child Abuse Central Registry or has a pending administrative review. That information shall remain confidential.
(3) The licensing agency shall have the authority to exclude individuals or entities for prospective or current employment on the basis of a particular crime or crimes or a substantiated finding of child abuse or neglect.
(4) Information in the
possession of the licensing agency concerning the license of a juvenile
detention facility may be disclosed to the public, but the information shall
not be disclosed in a manner that would identify children detained in the
facility. Nothing in this section affects the agency's authority to release
findings of investigations into allegations of abuse under either Section 43-21-353( * * *9) or Section 43-21-257.
(5) The Mississippi Department of Education is responsible for promulgating rules and regulations related to the education of all children housed in a juvenile detention facility. The Mississippi Department of Education must conduct inspections of the facility's educational services at least annually or more often as deemed necessary. After each inspection, the department must provide the licensing agency with its determination of the facility's compliance with the education provisions. The licensing agency shall use the information in its determination of the facility's eligibility for licensure.
SECTION 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.