Pennsylvania House Bill HB1607

Pennsylvania 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 6/16/25
• Refer: 6/16/25

Caption

In child protective services, further providing for definitions, for reporting procedure, for disposition of complaints received, for responsibility for investigation, for access to information in Statewide database, for information in Statewide database and for release of information in confidential reports.

Summary

HB1607 amends Pennsylvania’s Child Protective Services law to create a specific framework for reports involving military families. The bill adds definitions for “military family,” “service member,” and the Department of Defense Family Advocacy Program, and it requires child abuse reports to indicate whether they concern a military family when that information is known. It also directs county agencies, law enforcement, and the Department of Human Services to share that designation during intake and database review so the appropriate military Family Advocacy Program representatives can be notified. The bill further requires the department to notify both the Commonwealth’s Family Advocacy Program representative and the representative for the relevant military installation when a report concerns a military family. It also allows those representatives to access otherwise confidential report information in those cases, and it instructs county agencies to coordinate with Family Advocacy Program representatives when assessing children in need of other protective services. The act would take effect one year after enactment.

Impact

HB1607 would amend Title 23 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes by adding military-family-specific procedures to the child abuse reporting, investigation, database, and confidentiality provisions. It would expand the information collected in reports and stored in the Statewide database, create a mandatory notification pathway to military Family Advocacy Program officials, and authorize those officials to receive confidential report information when the case involves a military family. The practical effect is to integrate military support systems into Pennsylvania’s child protective services process for cases involving service members, their spouses, or their children.

Sentiment

The available record shows no committee transcript, vote tally, or recorded floor debate, so there is no direct evidence of support or opposition from discussion. Based on the bill’s text, the measure appears procedural and targeted rather than controversial, focusing on coordination between state child welfare authorities and military family support systems. In the absence of recorded votes or testimony, the overall sentiment cannot be measured precisely, but the bill appears to be presented as an administrative improvement to handling military-family cases.

Contention

The main policy issue raised by the bill’s structure is the added sharing of child abuse report information with military Family Advocacy Program representatives, which implicates confidentiality and interagency coordination. Potential points of concern could include privacy of confidential reports, the scope of military involvement in state child welfare matters, and whether the added reporting designation could create extra administrative burden for county agencies and law enforcement. No specific opponents or supporters are identified in the available materials, and no formal controversy is documented.