The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Vermont H.213 expands child abuse investigations, adds torture statute, and mandates multidisciplinary agency collaboration
Last action · February 12, 2025: Read first time and referred to the Committee on JudiciarySponsor: Daniel Noyes
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What This Bill Would Do
This bill establishes a specific criminal offense for the torture of a child, expands the investigatory bases for child abuse and neglect assessments to include domestic assaults and offenses committed in a child's presence, and mandates inter-agency collaboration with child advocacy centers and s, effective July 1, 2025.
Law enforcement agencies, social service workers, and state attorneys must coordinate child welfare investigations under expanded legal definitions and mandatory collaborative frameworks, carrying penalties of up to ten years imprisonment for child torture.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Children
Children are subject to expanded investigatory bases, mandatory multi-agency case sharing, and new legal protections regarding child torture.
Department for Children and Families
The Department is mandated to collaborate with external child advocacy centers and multidisciplinary teams during risk evaluations.
Law Enforcement Agencies
Law enforcement agencies receive mandatory reports and share investigatory duties with special investigative units and child advocacy centers.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What constitutes the new crime of torture of a child under the bill?
How does the bill change agency cooperation requirements?
What are the penalties for a conviction of child torture resulting in serious bodily injury?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
1 action- Feb 12, 2025HouseIntroducedRead first time and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Mandatory Inter-Agency Collaboration
The bill shifts departmental duties regarding child advocacy centers and multidisciplinary teams from permissive cooperation to a mandatory legal requirement.
Connected Entities
Sources
legislature.vermont.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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