In emotional and sometimes tearful testimony, several families begged the House Judiciary Committee yesterday to approve Del. Donald B. Elliott's proposals to protect people unfairly accused of child abuse.
But representatives of the Department of Social Services insisted that the current standards are necessary to protect Maryland's children.
"This agency is destroying families across the state," said Daniel Smith, a St. Mary's County resident who testified that his daughter was coerced by a therapist to accuse her father of sexual abuse. "I think you should put everything on hold and reinvent the wheel, because the system is broke," he said.
Mr. Smith and his wife, Judy, said they are still indicated as abusers in the Maryland system even though the case ended in a hung jury. Their child has acknowledged the therapist encouraged her to make the accusation by using hypnosis and dream interpretations.
"In their [DSS'] manual itself, it says denial is proof of guilt," Mr. Smith said. "Social workers say you have to let them in [your home], but if you do, it's the worst mistake you'll ever make."
In Mr. Elliott's bills, DSS would be required either to videotape or audiotape all interviews with suspected child abuse victims and would be forced to reduce from five to two years the amount of time someone is listed as an unsubstantiated abuser before the record is expunged.
In addition, people would be allowed to sue those who file bad faith allegations of child abuse with DSS.
The bills are a continuation of the delegate's fight on behalf of David Hodge and other parents unfairly accused of child abuse who feel traumatized by the system.
Mr. Hodge and his wife were listed as unsubstantiated abusers when their infant son was diagnosed with a broken wrist. Further diagnosis proved the child had a bone infection, but the Department of Social Services continued to list the Hodge family as potential abusers and refused to let them see their case file.
In light of the Hodges' case and families such as the Smiths, Mr. Elliott was successful two years ago in getting legislation passed that created a ruled-out category for abuse, allowed accused abusers to see their files, and instituted hearings before administrative judges for people listed in the DSS data base.
Mr. Hodge and other parents testified yesterday that Mr. Elliott's videotaping bill would help determine whether a child was coerced into making an accusation and would help protect the child from the trauma of repeated interviews.
"There's nothing to get at what actually happened in the interview," said Patricia Adams, who said her 5- and 2-year-old sons were placed in foster care for 6 1/2 months after a social worker alleged abuse. The case eventually was dismissed.
DSS officials testified that requiring taping would be impractical because interviews are done in a variety of settings and children do not always sit still or speak clearly enough to produce a usable tape.
In response to the bad faith allegations bill, DSS officials said they were afraid the proposed legislation might make people more reluctant to report child abuse.
DSS officials did acknowledge, however, that parents who don't have custody of their children sometimes call the office with false accusations against their former spouses.