Pennsylvania HB 1577: An Act amending the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), known as the Human Services Code, in children and youth, providing for ensuring safe and humane institutional practices.

Bill Text

PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 1864 PRINTER'S NO. 2098
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 1577
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY SHUSTERMAN, HOHENSTEIN, HANBIDGE, DOUGHERTY, HILL-
EVANS, KHAN, D. WILLIAMS, SANCHEZ, WARREN, CEPEDA-FREYTIZ,
MAYES, McNEILL, RIVERA AND BOYD, JUNE 6, 2025
AS AMENDED ON SECOND CONSIDERATION, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
JULY 8, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), entitled "An
act to consolidate, editorially revise, and codify the public
welfare laws of the Commonwealth," in children and youth,
providing for ensuring safe and humane institutional
practices.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of June 13, 1967 (P.L.31, No.21), known
as the Human Services Code, is amended by adding a section to
read:
Section 724.1. Ensuring Safe and Humane Institutional
Practices.--(a) The safe and humane care of children in
facilities demands that restrictive procedures, including
chemical restraints, manual restraints, mechanical restraints,
seclusion, exclusion, strip searches and body cavity searches,
only be used as measures of last resort to protect a child from
behavior that poses a serious and immediate risk of physical
harm to self or others.
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(b) To ensure safe and humane institutional practices:
(1) Restrictive procedures, including restrictions on a
child's rights, including the right to a quality education, may
not be used for punishment, retaliation, administrative
convenience, staffing shortages or for any reason other than
securing the immediate physical safety of a child.
(2) Inappropriate use of restrictive procedures shall be
grounds for full investigation, including a criminal
investigation, and license revocation.
(c) The department shall:
(1) Establish standards consistent with the law and
regulations of various departments of the Commonwealth for all
facilities within this Commonwealth that include a prohibition
on:
(i) The use of restrictive procedures unless used as
measures of last resort to protect a child from behavior that
poses a serious and immediate risk of physical harm to the child
or others.
(ii) The restriction of a child's rights, including the
right to privacy, receive mail, make phone calls, have in-person
visitation with family members and receive a quality education.
(iii) Any and all instances of abuse.
(2) Be responsible for the maintenance of safe and humane
care at a facility. The department or its representative shall
have free and full access to the premises and records of a
facility and full opportunity to interrogate or interview any
officer, employe or resident of the facility. The department
shall make routine announced and unannounced daytime and
nighttime inspections of all facilities.
(3) Expeditiously review all allegations of unsafe or
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inhumane care and maintain a public record of confirmed
instances that have occurred in a facility.
(4) Whenever the department, upon inspection, investigation
or complaint, finds a facility in violation of law, or that a
facility has failed to establish, provide or maintain standards
of care required by this section, give immediate written notice
of the violation or failure to the officers charged with
managing the facility. The following procedure shall apply:
(i) The notice shall include a description of the violation
or failure, the corrective action needed and a specified time
frame for making any necessary corrections.
(ii) Upon receipt of the notice, an officer charged with
managing the facility shall comply with the direction of the
department. If the officer charged with managing the facility
fails to comply with the department's direction within the
specified time frame, the department may:
(A) Revoke the facility's license.
(B) Request the Attorney General to institute appropriate
legal proceedings to enforce compliance with the direction.
(C) Withhold any State money available for the facility
until the officer charged with managing the facility complies
with the direction.
(D) Refer the matter for criminal investigation.
(d) The following exceptions apply to this section:
(1) A limited period of cool down or time out for a child is
not considered solitary confinement if the period conforms to
the following:
(i) The child's behavior is creating an imminent risk of
physical harm to self or others and is for a maximum of three
hours, with release of the child as soon as the child has
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regained self-control.
(ii) Support staff, including a social worker, is notified
and made available to the child to assist the child in calming
down.
(iii) Staff closely monitors the child during the period and
maintains physical proximity.
(iv) Restriction beyond three hours is d