One of the most controversial child welfare measures this legislative session has been pared back after meetings Friday to hammer out a compromise.

Rep. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan, met with Richard Anderson, the division director of Child and Family Services, to negotiate key provisions in the bill that Anderson said alarmed child welfare workers.

Specifically, he said it is problematic to remove "threatened physical harm" as a cause for DCFS caseworkers to initiate an investigation.

"We need to be able to at least respond," Anderson said.

The bill also excluded repeated instances of neglect as actionable, but Anderson said the agency needs to be able to step in and ask parents to adjust their behavior.

In the instance of a toddler repeatedly wandering away from home, the agency can work with a parent to correct the behavior to protect the safety of the child, he noted.

"If the child is found in the middle of State Street one night and then again a few months later, the agency can help the parent find ways to prevent that. But it may be that the parent is using drugs and the neglect doesn't stop."

Anderson also was concerned because Harper's measure removed the ability of DCFS to order counseling for children over the objections of parents.

While he said parents do need to be involved in high-end psychiatric treatment that involves medication, parents often object to simple counseling for their children because they are afraid of what the youngsters might reveal.

Anderson said the meeting resulted in an agreement that the bill would be amended to take care of the agency's concerns.

The measure has passed in the House and now awaits approval in the Senate.

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