HB 890

Family Law - Child Abuse and Neglect Investigations ('Know Before They Knock' Family Right to Notice Act)

Sponsor: Charlotte Crutchfield (District 19)Committee: JudiciarySubject: Family LawStatus: Hearing 2/19 at 1:00 p.m. (as of Sep 4, 2026)

What this bill does

Official synopsis

Requiring a certain on-site interview following a report of suspected child abuse to be with the child's parent or guardian rather than the child's caretaker; and requiring a local department of social services or a law enforcement agency to provide a certain notice to a parent or legal guardian of a child at a certain time during an investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect.

AI analysis is off. Set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY to enable summaries, pros and cons, and questions.

Analysis reads the bill text, the fiscal note, and the witness list. It is generated by Claude and reviewed by nobody, so check the source documents before you rely on it.

Testimony (31)

MGA witness list

FAV 17FavorableUNF 13UnfavorableINFO 1Information only

Position	Witness	Organization	Testimony
FAV	Spaccasi, Olivia	ACLU-MD	Written (PDF)
FAV	Steckel, Abigail	Civil Rights Corps	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	mcmillan, joyce	JMAC (Just Making a Change for Families)	Oral
FAV	Phillips, N.Scott	Legislative Black Caucus of MD	Written (PDF)
FAV	Martinez, Ashanti	MD Legislative Latino Caucus	Written (PDF)
FAV	Vora, Amee	Maryland Legal Aid	Written (PDF)
FAV	Hawkins, Christina	Maryland Office of the Public Defender	Written (PDF)
FAV	Crutchfield, Charlotte	Office of Delegate Charlotte Crutchfield	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Villamar, Maria Nenutzka	Office of the Public Defender	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Khalfani, Natasha	Office of the Public Defender Maryland	Oral
FAV	Van Horn, Elizabeth	Self	Written (PDF)
FAV	Trivedi, Shanta	University of Baltimore, Sayra & Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children & The Courts	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Jones, Dana	Women Legislators of MD	Written (PDF)
FAV	Amanuel, Yanetlobbyist	Individual	Oral
FAV	Delegate Crutchfield, Delegate Crutchfieldlegislator	Individual	Oral
FAV	Dortch, Amber	Individual	Oral
FAV	Tibbals, Trudy	Individual	Position only
UNF	Stine, Jennifer	CASA of Baltimore County, Inc.	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	D'Alessandro, Alison	Center for Hope	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Philip, Diana	Coalition to Protect Maryland's Children	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Lane, Wendy	Coalition to Protect Maryland's Children (CPMC)	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Carpenter, Lindsey	Frederick County State's Attorney's Office	Written (PDF)
UNF	Wakefield, Esq., Darlene	Law Offices Darlene A. Wakefield, P.A.	Written (PDF)
UNF	diTargiani, Elizabeth	Legal Guardian Angels	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Jackson, Samiralobbyist	MD Police Chiefs Assoc. and MD Sheriffs Assoc.	Written (PDF)
UNF	Calabrese, Michael	Maryland State's Attorney's Association	Oral
UNF	Feinstein, Debbie	Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office	Written (PDF)
UNF	Proctor, Karessa	NASW Maryland	Written (PDF)
UNF	Handley, Grant	Town of North East	Written (PDF)
UNF	Buchanan, Mary Jo	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
INFO	Brown-Burnett, Gloria	Department of Human Services	Written (PDF)

Organizations on record

ACLU-MDFAV 1

CASA of Baltimore County, Inc.UNF 1

Center for HopeUNF 1

Civil Rights CorpsFAV 1

Coalition to Protect Maryland's ChildrenUNF 1

Coalition to Protect Maryland's Children (CPMC)UNF 1

Department of Human ServicesINFO 1

Frederick County State's Attorney's OfficeUNF 1

JMAC (Just Making a Change for Families)FAV 1

Law Offices Darlene A. Wakefield, P.A.UNF 1

Legal Guardian AngelsUNF 1

Legislative Black Caucus of MDFAV 1

Maryland Legal AidFAV 1

Maryland Office of the Public DefenderFAV 1

Maryland State's Attorney's AssociationUNF 1

MD Legislative Latino CaucusFAV 1

MD Police Chiefs Assoc. and MD Sheriffs Assoc.UNF 1

Montgomery County State's Attorney's OfficeUNF 1

NASW MarylandUNF 1

Office of Delegate Charlotte CrutchfieldFAV 1

Office of the Public DefenderFAV 1

Office of the Public Defender MarylandFAV 1

SelfFAV 1

Town of North EastUNF 1

University of Baltimore, Sayra & Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children & The CourtsFAV 1

Women Legislators of MDFAV 1

Registered lobbyists who testified

FAVAmanuel, YanetRegistered for: ACLU of Maryland

UNFJackson, SamiraMD Police Chiefs Assoc. and MD Sheriffs Assoc.Registered for: Critical Response Group; Dell Technologies Inc.; Empower; Forward Financing; HDR Engineering, Inc.; Maryland Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs…