Bill
HB 5024
HB 5024 updates definitions in Michigan’s Child Protection Law, especially “confirmed sexual exploitation,” aligning terms across child protection, licensing, and penal code contex
Status / procedural history
- Introduced (filed): March 13, 2025. Electronically reproduced: September 18, 2025.
- Sponsors (listed): Reps. Kimberly Edwards, Breen, Steckloff, Witwer, Tsernoglou, Morgan, Rheingans, Price, Young, Hoskins, Weiss, MacDonell, Fitzgerald, Conlin, Mentzer, McKinney, Scott, O'Neal, Wooden, Longjohn.
- Legislative actions: Read a first time and referred to committee (Public Health on 2025-04-03; later referred to Committee on Judiciary on 2025-09-18).
- Tie-bar: HB 5016 (2025) — the bill is linked to related criminal law changes.
Purpose / intent
HB 5024 updates and clarifies numerous defined terms in section 2 of Michigan’s Child Protection Law (1975 PA 238). The principal aim is to revise statutory definitions used by child protective services, licensing agencies, and courts—especially to address how "sexual exploitation" and related misconduct (including prostitution/commercial sexual activity) are described and referenced in child-protection contexts. The bill also aligns several definitions with related statutes (e.g., the Michigan penal code, the adult foster care facility licensing act, and the public health code).
Key provisions / what changes
- Amends section 2 by adding, reorganizing, and clarifying many definitions used throughout the Child Protection Law, including (but not limited to): adult foster care location authorized to care for a child, attorney/lawyer-guardian ad litem, central registry / central registry case, centralized intake, child, child abuse, child neglect, child care organization/provider, child care regulatory agency, children's advocacy center, confirmed case / confirmed serious abuse or neglect, confirmed sexual abuse, and confirmed sexual exploitation.
- Defines “confirmed sexual exploitation” to expressly include allowing, permitting, or encouraging a child to engage in prostitution or a commercial sexual activity, and allowing or engaging in photographing/filming/depicting a child engaged in certain listed sexual acts — with cross-references to Michigan Penal Code sections (MCL 750.520a and MCL 750.145c).
- Cross-references and incorporates definitions from other Michigan statutes (adult foster care licensing act; public health code; penal code).
- Clarifies administrative terms such as “central registry,” “electronic case management system,” “local office file,” “online reporting system,” and the meaning of “expunge.”
Who is affected / likely impacts
- Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and county child protective services: definitions affect investigation thresholds, classification of confirmed cases, recordkeeping, and central registry entries.
- Mandated reporters, child care providers, adult foster care facilities, and child care regulatory agencies: clearer definitions may change reporting obligations and licensing compliance interpretation.
- Children and families: broadened or clarified definitions of sexual exploitation and abuse can affect the scope of investigations, substantiations, and possible placements or protective actions.
- Individuals placed on the central registry: definitional changes may affect inclusion criteria and expungement processes.
- Law enforcement and prosecutors: alignment with penal code definitions may affect coordination between criminal and child-protection proceedings (consistent with the tie-bar to HB 5016).
Next steps / timeline
- Pending committee consideration (House Judiciary, after prior referral to Public Health). Committee hearings, possible amendments, and floor action would follow; enactment would depend on passage in both chambers and the governor’s signature. Because the bill ties to HB 5016, enactment and operational effect may be coordinated with changes in criminal statutes referenced by that bill.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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