DHR Transparency and Due Process Bill Working Group To Meet

The Alabama House Children and Senior Advocacy Committee Working Group for HB340 is scheduled to meet Tuesday, April 8th at 10:30 AM in Room 601 of the State House.

The Working Group will be live-streamed on the Alabama Legislature webpage HERE.

HB340, the DHR Transparency and Due Process Notification Act, would require the Department of Human Resources (DHR) to notify a parent(s) or other individual with legal custody of a child that he or she is under investigation by DHR. It would also require the Department to provide the parent or other individual under investigation with a written explanation of his or her due process rights associated with the investigation. It would further require that certain family preservation services be offered before a child is removed from the home, and establish uniform state-wide rules and policies consistent with the act.

HB340 was introduced by State Representative Kenneth Paschal (R-Pelham). It has the support of the Alabama Republican Party’s State Executive Committee and the Alabama Federation of Republican Women, both of whom have passed resolutions in its support. It has been opposed by DHR Commissioner Nancy Buckner, who previously told the Committee that “children will die if this bill passes.”