A first 'Parker Jensen' bill advances
 

A first 'Parker Jensen' bill advances

By Jacob Santini
The Salt Lake Tribune

The first of the so-called "Parker Jensen" bills -- proposals
aiming to rework how the state's Division of Child and Family Services
(DCFS) does business -- gained approval Friday.
The medical neglect exemption bill, sponsored by Sen. Dave Thomas,
R-South Weber, was approved by a 5-2 vote by the Senate Health and
Human Services Committee and is now headed to the full Senate for a
vote.
Under the bill, DCFS would have to prove a parent is not a
"reasonable, prudent and fit caregiver" before initiating medical
procedures for a child against the parent's wishes.
It was the third time the committee had discussed the bill -- in
its first hearing the committee didn't vote and the proposal was
defeated on its second try. Thomas has modified the bill four times.
The current version is "the early contender for the Lazarus bill,"
said Sen. Ron Allen, D-Stansbury Park.
The bill is up for at least one more re-writing, though. As a
condition of approval, lawmakers asked Thomas to resolve concerns from
DCFS over how to investigate allegations of medical neglect if the
bill is approved.
"I don't know how to implement this," said Richard Anderson, the
DCFS director. "The emphasis now is if the child has a need, not if
the parent is fit to make that decision."
But Thomas said his bill allows caseworkers to investigate whether
a child's medical needs are being neglected. Coupled with that
investigation, caseworkers would need to study the parents' competency
to make a medical decision.
Neither of the two is being done now, Thomas said, because most
medical neglect claims hinge on the opinion of a physician and ignores
the wishes of the parents, who may want a second opinion or who wish
to seek alternative medical options.
The bill will cost the state another $130,000 to pay for those
investigations.
In Parker Jensen's case, DCFS and the state's Guardian ad Litem
Office (GAL) sought to force the then 12-year-old boy to undergo
chemotherapy last summer. The controversy peaked when Jensen's parents
were charged with kidnapping for fleeing to Idaho with their children
to avoid the treatment.
By September, the state backed off, arguing forced treatment
wouldn't be successful without family support. Jensen is reportedly
cancer free and receiving alternative treatment.
Lawmakers this session have filed 30 bills dealing with the
state's child protection system. A number of the more significant
bills -- including proposals that call for restructuring the GAL's
office, giving parents the option of a jury trial before their rights
are terminated and an omnibus bill that redefines what child abuse is
-- have yet to be made public.
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Feb/02072004/utah/136643.asp
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