AN ACT Relating to child abuse; and amending RCW 26.44.020.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. Section 1, chapter 142, Laws of 1988 and RCW 26.44.020 are each amended to read as follows:

For the purpose of and as used in this chapter:

(1) "Court" means the superior court of the state of Washington, juvenile department.

(2) "Law enforcement agency" means the police department, the prosecuting attorney, the state patrol, the director of public safety, or the office of the sheriff.

(3) "Practitioner of the healing arts" or "practitioner" means a person licensed by this state to practice podiatry, optometry, chiropractic, nursing, dentistry, osteopathy and surgery, or medicine and surgery or to provide other health services. The term "practitioner" shall include a duly accredited Christian Science practitioner: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That a person who is being furnished Christian Science treatment by a duly accredited Christian Science practitioner shall not be considered, for that reason alone, a neglected person for the purposes of this chapter.

(4) "Institution" means a private or public hospital or any other facility providing medical diagnosis, treatment or care.

(5) "Department" means the state department of social and health services.

(6) "Child" or "children" means any person under the age of eighteen years of age.

(7) "Professional school personnel" shall include, but not be limited to, teachers, counselors, administrators, child care facility personnel, and school nurses.

(8) "Social service counselor" shall mean anyone engaged in a professional capacity during the regular course of employment in encouraging or promoting the health, welfare, support or education of children, or providing social services to adults or families, including mental health, drug and alcohol treatment, and domestic violence programs, whether in an individual capacity, or as an employee or agent of any public or private organization or institution.

(9) "Psychologist" shall mean any person licensed to practice psychology under chapter 18.83 RCW, whether acting in an individual capacity or as an employee or agent of any public or private organization or institution.

(10) "Pharmacist" shall mean any registered pharmacist under the provisions of chapter 18.64 RCW, whether acting in an individual capacity or as an employee or agent of any public or private organization or institution.

(11) "Clergy" shall mean any regularly licensed or ordained minister, priest or rabbi of any church or religious denomination, whether acting in an individual capacity or as an employee or agent of any public or private organization or institution.

(12) "Child abuse or neglect" shall mean the injury, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child by any person under circumstances which indicate that the child's health, welfare, and safety is harmed thereby and shall include an injury to the health of a child caused by the mother's abuse of a controlled substance during pregnancy. An abused child is a child who has been subjected to child abuse or neglect as defined herein: PROVIDED, That this subsection shall not be construed to authorize interference with child-raising practices, including reasonable parental discipline, which are not proved to be injurious to the child's health, welfare, and safety: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That nothing in this section shall be used to prohibit the reasonable use of corporal punishment as a means of discipline. No parent or guardian shall be deemed abusive or neglectful solely by reason of the parent's or child's blindness, deafness, developmental disability, or other handicap.

(13) "Child protective services section" shall mean the child protective services section of the department.

(14) "Adult dependent persons not able to provide for their own protection through the criminal justice system" shall be defined as those persons over the age of eighteen years who have been found legally incompetent pursuant to chapter 11.88 RCW or found disabled to such a degree pursuant to said chapter, that such protection is indicated: PROVIDED, That no persons reporting injury, abuse, or neglect to an adult dependent person as defined herein shall suffer negative consequences if such a judicial determination of incompetency or disability has not taken place and the person reporting believes in good faith that the adult dependent person has been found legally incompetent pursuant to chapter 11.88 RCW.

(15) "Sexual exploitation" includes: (a) Allowing, permitting, or encouraging a child to engage in prostitution by any person; or (b) allowing, permitting, encouraging, or engaging in the obscene or pornographic photographing, filming, or depicting of a child for commercial purposes as those acts are defined by state law by any person.

(16) "Negligent treatment or maltreatment" means an act or omission which evidences a serious disregard of consequences of such magnitude as to constitute a clear and present danger to the child's health, welfare, and safety.

(17) "Developmentally disabled person" means a person who has a developmental disability defined in RCW ((~~71.20.016~~)) 71A.10.020.

(18) "Child protective services" means those services provided by the department designed to protect children from child abuse and neglect and safeguard the general welfare of such children and shall include investigations of child abuse and neglect reports, including reports regarding child care centers and family child care homes, and the development, management, and provision of or referral to services to ameliorate conditions which endanger the welfare of children, the coordination of necessary programs and services relevant to the prevention, intervention, and treatment of child abuse and neglect, and services to children to ensure that each child has a permanent home. In determining whether protective services should be provided, the department shall not decline to provide such services solely because of the child's unwillingness or developmental inability to describe the nature and severity of the abuse or neglect.

(19) "Malice" or "maliciously" means an evil intent, wish, or design to vex, annoy, or injure another person. Such malice may be inferred from an act done in willful disregard of the rights of another, or an act wrongfully done without just cause or excuse, or an act or omission of duty betraying a willful disregard of social duty.