republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2021/sb-301.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Child services oversight."
description: "Establishes the interim study committee on child services (committee). Provides that the committee: (1) shall review the annual reports submitted by local child fatality review teams and by the statewide child fatality review committee and shall report to the legislative council regarding the committee's review of the reports; and (2) may make recommendations regarding changes in policy or statutes to improve child safety; in addition to reporting to the legislative council regarding any other issue assigned to the committee by the legislative council. Provides that a local child fatality committee may meet at the call of members of the local child fatality committee other than the county prosecutor for purposes of the first meeting of the local child fatality committee. Requires the summary information included in the department's annual report regarding child fatalities to indicate, with regard to a child fatality that was the result of abuse or neglect, whether the child was a ward of the department at the time of the event that led to the child's death. Requires the department to provide the annual report to the committee. Urges the legislative council to assign the following topics to the committee, or to another appropriate study committee, for study during the 2021 legislative interim: (1) Amending the Indiana Code to provide for a structured, limited, confidential process by which members of the general assembly may, in the regular course of legislative duties, individually request and view reports and other materials regarding cases of child abuse or neglect and child fatalities resulting from abuse or neglect, while protecting personally identifying information and confidentiality. (2) The child fatality review process, including recommendations from the department and the state department of health with regard to improving reporting and data collection. Requires a local child fatality review committee that has not held its first meeting as of the effective date of the bill to hold its first meeting not later than December 31, 2021."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 301"
citation: "Indiana SB 301 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CHILDREN AND MINORS generally", "CHILDREN AND MINORS", "Department of Child Services", "LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL; LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY", "STUDY COMMITTEES"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dale DeVon", "Erin Houchin", "Jon Ford", "Ronald Grooms"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 28
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-04-29"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a3e76d18-78f1-49bb-b5f9-e3281cc97926"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2021/bills/senate/301"
source_hash: "0a3494ca95a8cd40d96b3e5e8c4c4e531003c61c51d855a453537d7adefca1a7"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana SB 301 (2021) — Child services oversight.

Establishes the interim study committee on child services (committee). Provides that the committee: (1) shall review the annual reports submitted by local child fatality review teams and by the statewide child fatality review committee and shall report to the legislative council regarding the committee's review of the reports; and (2) may make recommendations regarding changes in policy or statutes to improve child safety; in addition to reporting to the legislative council regarding any other issue assigned to the committee by the legislative council. Provides that a local child fatality committee may meet at the call of members of the local child fatality committee other than the county prosecutor for purposes of the first meeting of the local child fatality committee. Requires the summary information included in the department's annual report regarding child fatalities to indicate, with regard to a child fatality that was the result of abuse or neglect, whether the child was a ward of the department at the time of the event that led to the child's death. Requires the department to provide the annual report to the committee. Urges the legislative council to assign the following topics to the committee, or to another appropriate study committee, for study during the 2021 legislative interim: (1) Amending the Indiana Code to provide for a structured, limited, confidential process by which members of the general assembly may, in the regular course of legislative duties, individually request and view reports and other materials regarding cases of child abuse or neglect and child fatalities resulting from abuse or neglect, while protecting personally identifying information and confidentiality. (2) The child fatality review process, including recommendations from the department and the state department of health with regard to improving reporting and data collection. Requires a local child fatality review committee that has not held its first meeting as of the effective date of the bill to hold its first meeting not later than December 31, 2021.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0301/versions/SB0301.05.ENGH)
2. **Engrossed Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0301/versions/SB0301.03.ENGS)
3. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0301/versions/SB0301.06.ENRH)
4. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0301/versions/SB0301.01.INTR)
5. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0301/versions/SB0301.04.COMH)
6. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0301/versions/SB0301.02.COMS)

## Sponsors

- Dale DeVon — primary (person)
- Erin Houchin — primary (person)
- Jon Ford — primary (person)
- Ronald Grooms — primary (person)
- Ann Vermilion — cosponsor (person)
- Eric Koch — coauthor (person)
- Fady Qaddoura — coauthor (person)
- J.D. Ford — coauthor (person)
- Jean Leising — coauthor (person)
- Linda Rogers — coauthor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — coauthor (person)
- Ryan Lauer — cosponsor (person)
- Stacey Donato — coauthor (person)
- Susan Glick — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-11** Authored by Senator Houchin
- **2021-01-11** First reading: referred to Committee on Family and Children Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-02-15** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-18** Senator Ford Jon added as second author
- **2021-02-18** Senator Grooms added as third author
- **2021-02-18** Senators Koch, Donato, Ford J.D., Qaddoura added as coauthors
- **2021-02-22** Senator Randolph added as coauthor
- **2021-02-22** Amendment #2 (Houchin) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-failure, amendment-passage`
- **2021-02-22** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-02-23** Senators Glick and Rogers added as coauthors
- **2021-02-23** Cosponsors: Representatives Vermilion A and Lauer
- **2021-02-23** House sponsor: Representative DeVon
- **2021-02-23** Senator Leising added as coauthor
- **2021-02-23** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 186: yeas 47, nays 0 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-24** Referred to the House
- **2021-03-04** First reading: referred to Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-01** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-04-12** Amendment #2 (DeVon) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-failure, amendment-passage`
- **2021-04-12** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-04-13** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 436: yeas 92, nays 0 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-14** Returned to the Senate with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-14** Motion to concur filed
- **2021-04-15** Senate concurred in House amendments; Roll Call 446: yeas 42, nays 0 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-20** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2021-04-21** Signed by the Speaker
- **2021-04-26** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2021-04-29** Public Law 148
- **2021-04-29** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a3e76d18-78f1-49bb-b5f9-e3281cc97926`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).