The Vermont Senate has endorsed a wide-ranging bill to enhance child protection a year after the first of two toddlers deaths shook the state.
By a 28-0 vote, with two absent, the Senate gave preliminary approval to the measure on Wednesday.
The bill creates a new 10-year felony for a person who fails to protect a child when they know or should know the child is in danger
A person who feared harm to themselves if they reported would have a defense against prosecution.
The bill, up for final action Thursday, also seeks to strengthen special investigative units and the family services division of the Department for Children and Families, ...the state agencies on the front lines of child protection.
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