Florida Parental Alienation Bill
Below is a similar bill in the State of Florida. (Suz Remus is the person to contact there if you can help. She has worked tirelessly to get this passed).
• 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
• Page1 of 2 CODING: Words stricken are deletions;
words underlined are additions. HB 1279-00
FLORIDA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
• 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
• 44 of Health shall revise the requirements for renewal of a license
• 45 to practice psychology, pursuant to s. 490.007, Florida
• 46 Statutes, to require continuing education regarding child
• 47 psychological abuse, including, but not limited to, abuse
• 48 through the use of manipulation or parental alienation.
• 49 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.
HB 1279 2017