S.F. No. 2355 Summary

• Expands the crime of female genital mutilation to include parents, guardians, or caregivers who knowingly allow the procedure on a minor, in addition to those who perform it.

• Requires the Minnesota Commissioner of Health to conduct education, prevention, and outreach activities in communities practicing female circumcision, excision, or infibulation, informing them of health risks, criminal penalties, and potential loss of child custody.

• Adds female genital mutilation violations to the definition of "egregious harm" that can justify termination of parental rights and eliminates the requirement for reasonable efforts at reunification.

• Allows law enforcement to take a child into immediate custody when there is probable cause to believe a violation of the female genital mutilation statute has occurred.

• Makes violations of the female genital mutilation statute effective August 1, 2017, and applies to violations committed on or after that date.