Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement

123 ^rd General Assembly of Ohio

Ohio Legislative Budget Office: a nonpartisan agency providing fiscal research for the Ohio General Assembly

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E-mail: BudgetOffice@LBO.STATE.OH.US ² Internet Web Site:http://www.lbo.state.oh.us/

BILL:	Sub. H.B. 660		DATE:	December 5, 2000
STATUS:	As Reported by House Health, Retirement & Aging		SPONSOR:	Rep. Winkler
LOCAL IMPACT STATEMENT REQUIRED:		No —	Minimal Costs

CONTENTS:

Provides a procedure for deserting a child who is 72 hours old or younger and provides that the person who voluntarily deserts a child does not commit a criminal offense and may not be subject to criminal prosecution

State Fiscal Highlights

STATE FUND		FY 2001	FY 2002			FUTURE YEARS
General Revenue Fund
Revenues	- 0 -			- 0 -	- 0 -
Expenditures	Potential negligible increase			Potential negligible increase	Potential negligible increase

Note: The state fiscal year is July 1 through June 30. For example, FY 2001 is July 1, 2000 - June 30, 2001.

· Under the bill, the Department of Job and Family Services is required to distribute forms and materials to publicize the decriminalization of infant abandonment and create awareness among the target population. Currently, the department produces various public awareness brochures and materials, thus any additional information added to these brochures would result in, at most, a negligible increase.

Local Fiscal Highlights

LOCAL GOVERNMENT		FY 2001		FY 2002		FUTURE YEARS
Municipalities
Revenues	Potential negligible loss		Potential negligible loss		Potential negligible loss
Expenditures	Potential minimal decrease		Potential minimal decrease		Potential minimal decrease

Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.

The bill will most likely result in a decrease in expenditures for a few municipalities as prosecution costs relative to the cases of child endangerment may decrease due to mothers not being subjected to criminal prosecution for such charges. However, since the prevalence of this type of child endangerment appears to be very small, any decrease will be at most minimal.

· The bill may result in a decrease in fine revenue for the few jurisdictions where such a case would otherwise exist. LBO estimates that the magnitude of this annual fine revenue decrease associated with the bill will be negligible as the number of cases involved likely will be small.

Detailed Fiscal Analysis

Provisions of the bill

The bill allows for mothers to give up their newborn babies 72 hours or younger to police, paramedics, or emergency room employees in an anonymous manner. The police officer or hospital employee, on taking possession of the child, is required to notify a public children services agency (PCSA) to assume temporary custody of the child. An emergency hearing will be required for a juvenile court when PCSA files a motion requesting temporary custody of a deserted child and the court must adjudicate the child as a neglected child. Any parent who drops off a newborn at a designated location does not commit a criminal offense and may not be subject to criminal prosecution for the act. However, if the child has been abused or neglected then the parent does not have the right to remain anonymous and does not have immunity from criminal prosecution for the abuse or neglect.

The Director of Job and Family Services is required to promulgate medical information forms and written materials describing services available to assist parents and newborns which must be made available to the parent who voluntarily deserts the child in the manner described in the bill. Additionally, the department is required to distribute forms and materials to designated locations (police stations, PCSAs, and hospitals) that are best able to disseminate the information and materials to the persons who are most in need of them (parents).

Current Law

Under current law, a mother who abandons her child in a public place could be charged with a violation of a duty of care, protection, or support of a child with respect to the offense of child endangerment. The penalty for the offense of child endangerment is a misdemeanor of the first degree, if there is no physical harm to the child.

Prevalence of Infant Abandonment

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports in 1998 that there were 105 infants abandoned in public places nationwide, 33 of them were found dead. That same year, 31,000 babies were either left by mothers in hospitals or taken by child welfare services at birth.

Ohio has no formal tracking system on babies who were abandoned in public places. Ohio’s statistics for 1998 on the number of births to mothers between the ages of 15-19 years old was approximately 20,000; nationwide the number of births for this age group during the same year was approximately 485,000. Assuming this age range accounted for the majority of mothers who abandoned their infants in 1998, then Ohio would have had around 4% (20,000/485,000 = 4.1%) or 4 babies (105 babies nationwide x 4.1%) that were abandoned in public places for that given year.

Currently, twenty-three states are considering similar legislation for alternatives to infant abandonment. Texas was the first state to pass child abandonment laws to legalize “baby drop-offs”, which became effective in 1999. At this point in time, due to the recent implementation and consideration of such legislation, no research exists regarding the impact of this child abandonment legislation.

State Fiscal Effects

Under the bill, the Department of Job and Family Services is required to distribute forms and materials to publicize the decriminalization of infant abandonment and create awareness among the target population. Currently, the department produces various public awareness brochures and materials, thus any additional information added to these brochures, such as infant abandonment alternatives, would result in, at most, a negligible increase in the state GRF expenditures.

Local Fiscal Effect

It is difficult to determine the number of cases statewide in which a mother has been prosecuted under child endangerment, section 2919.22 of the O.R.C. The data that exists on child endangerment does not capture specific cases in which a mother abandoned her baby in a public place. The bill may result in a decrease in expenditures for municipalities, as prosecution costs relative to the cases of child endangerment may decrease due to mothers, under the bill, not being subjected to criminal prosecution for such an act. However, since the prevalence of the specific type of child endangerment is very small, any decrease for a few jurisdictions will be at most minimal. The bill may result in a decrease in fine revenue for the few jurisdictions where such a case would otherwise have occurred. LBO estimates that the magnitude of this annual loss in fine revenue associated with the bill will be negligible as the number of cases involved will be small.

q LBO staff: Amy Frankart, Budget/Policy Analyst

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