Bill Text: CT HB07112 | 2017 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Children's Advocacy Centers.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Passed) 2017-07-10 - Signed by the Governor [HB07112 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2017-HB07112-Introduced.html
General Assembly |
Raised Bill No. 7112 | ||
January Session, 2017 |
LCO No. 4080 | ||
*04080_______KID* | |||
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN |
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Introduced by: |
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(KID) |
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AN ACT CONCERNING CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 17a-106a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2017):
(a) For purposes of this section, "children's advocacy center" means a child-focused, trauma-informed, facility-based program that fosters collaboration between professionals in the fields of law enforcement, child protection, mental health, forensic interviewing, medicine and victim advocacy in interviewing or meeting with children, children's parents, guardians or other caregivers, in order to make decisions regarding the investigation and prosecution of allegations of child abuse or neglect or trafficking, as defined in section 46a-170, of children as well as the safety, treatment and provision of services to alleged victims of child abuse or neglect or trafficking of children.
[(a)] (b) The Commissioner of Children and Families, as department head of the lead agency, and the appropriate state's attorney [may] shall establish multidisciplinary teams for the [purpose] purposes of (1) reviewing particular cases or particular types of cases, [or to coordinate the prevention, intervention and treatment] (2) coordinating the intervention in and prevention of child abuse or neglect or trafficking of children and the treatment of such children in each judicial district, [or to review] (3) reviewing selected cases of child abuse or neglect or [cases involving the trafficking, as defined in section 46a-170, of minor children. The purpose of such multidisciplinary teams is to advance and coordinate] trafficking of children, (4) advancing and coordinating the prompt investigation of suspected cases of child abuse or neglect [, to reduce] or trafficking of children, (5) reducing the trauma [of any child victim] experienced by alleged victims of such abuse or neglect or trafficking and, [to ensure] (6) ensuring the protection and treatment of [the child] such children and their families. The head of the local law enforcement agency or [his or her] such head's designee may request the assistance of the Division of State Police within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection [for] in order to accomplish such purposes.
[(b)] (c) Each multidisciplinary team shall consist of at least one representative of each of the following: (1) The state's attorney of the judicial district of [the] such multidisciplinary team, or such state's attorney's designee; (2) the Commissioner of Children and Families, or the commissioner's designee; (3) the [head] heads of the local or state law enforcement agencies, or [his or her designee] such heads' designees; (4) a health care professional with substantial experience in the diagnosis and treatment of abused or neglected children, who shall be designated by [the] such multidisciplinary team members; (5) a member, where appropriate, of a youth service bureau; (6) a mental health professional with substantial experience in the treatment of abused or neglected children, who shall be designated by [the] such multidisciplinary team members; [and] (7) a forensic interviewer, who shall be designated by such multidisciplinary team members; (8) a victim advocate, who shall be designated by such multidisciplinary team members; and (9) any other appropriate individual with expertise in the welfare of children that the members of [the] such multidisciplinary team deem necessary. Each multidisciplinary team shall select a chairperson. [A] Each multidisciplinary team may invite experts to participate in the review of any case and may invite any other individual with particular information germane to the case to participate in such review, provided the expert or individual shall have the same protection and obligations under subsections [(f) and] (g) to (i), inclusive, of this section as members of [the] such multidisciplinary team.
[(c) The Governor's task force for justice for abused children, through the subcommittee comprised of individuals with expertise in the investigation of child abuse and neglect, shall: (1) Establish and modify standards to be observed by multidisciplinary teams; (2) review protocols of the multidisciplinary teams; and (3) monitor and evaluate multidisciplinary teams and make recommendations for modifications to the system of multidisciplinary teams.]
(d) Children's advocacy centers may assist multidisciplinary teams in the investigation of allegations of child abuse or neglect or trafficking of children. Such centers may assist such multidisciplinary teams by (1) providing safe, child and family-friendly settings that maintain the privacy of children and their families; (2) establishing policies and procedures that are culturally competent; (3) assisting such multidisciplinary teams in ensuring that the support and services provided by such multidisciplinary teams meet national accreditation standards established by the National Children's Alliance; (4) assisting in the development of written protocols for an interdisciplinary and coordinated approach to the investigation of allegations of child abuse or neglect or trafficking of children; (5) providing forensic interviews of children that (A) are conducted by a trained forensic interviewer, (B) are recorded in a digital format, (C) solicit information in an unbiased, fact-finding manner that is culturally sensitive and appropriate for each child's developmental stage, (D) support accurate and fair decision making by such multidisciplinary teams, and (E) may be observed by members of such multidisciplinary teams involved in such investigation whenever possible; (6) providing specialized medical evaluation and treatment, mental health services and support and advocacy services to children at such centers or through coordination with and referral to other appropriate providers of such services; (7) providing regular case review for the purpose of aiding in decision making, problem solving, systems coordination and information sharing concerning the status of cases and the services required by children and their families; (8) providing a comprehensive tracking system for monitoring the progress and outcomes of cases; and (9) participating in an annual evaluation of such multidisciplinary teams' effectiveness and operations, which may include providing a report to the Department of Children and Families, the Governor's task force on justice for abused children, the Connecticut Children's Alliance and the National Children's Alliance.
(e) The Connecticut Children's Alliance, Inc. may (1) coordinate and facilitate the exchange of information among children's advocacy centers; (2) provide technical assistance to municipalities in order to support the establishment, growth and accreditation of children's advocacy centers; (3) educate the public and the General Assembly on the needs of victims of child abuse or neglect or trafficking of children; (4) provide or coordinate multidisciplinary training opportunities that support a comprehensive response to allegations of child abuse or neglect or trafficking of children; (5) conduct annual evaluations of children's advocacy centers and their associated multidisciplinary teams; and (6) submit a report annually to the Governor's task force on justice for abused children and the General Assembly concerning outcomes from each children's advocacy center.
[(d)] (f) All criminal investigative work of [the] multidisciplinary teams shall be undertaken by members of [the team] such multidisciplinary teams who are law enforcement officers and all child protection investigative work of [the] such multidisciplinary teams shall be undertaken by members of [the team] such multidisciplinary teams who represent the Department of Children and Families, provided such representatives [of the department] may coordinate [all] investigative work with such multidisciplinary teams and rely upon information generated by [the team] such multidisciplinary teams in the course of such department's investigations. The protocols, procedures and standards of [the] such multidisciplinary teams shall not supersede the protocols, procedures and standards of the agencies who are [on the multidisciplinary team] represented by members of such multidisciplinary teams.
[(e)] (g) Each multidisciplinary team shall have access to and may copy any record, transcript, document, photograph or other data pertaining to an alleged child victim within the possession of the Department of Children and Families, any public or private medical facility or any public or private health professional provided, in the case of confidential information, the coordinator of [the] such multidisciplinary team, or such coordinator's designee, identifies the record in writing and certifies, under oath, that the record sought is necessary to investigate child abuse or neglect and that [the] such multidisciplinary team will maintain the record as confidential. No person who provides access to or copies of such record upon delivery of certification under this section shall be liable to any third party for such action. [The] Such multidisciplinary team shall not be [deemed to be] a public agency [under] as defined in section 1-200, for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act.
[(f)] (h) No person shall disclose information obtained from a meeting of [the] a multidisciplinary team without the consent of the participant of the meeting who provided such information unless disclosure is ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction or is necessary to comply with the provisions of the Constitution of the state of Connecticut.
[(g)] (i) Each multidisciplinary team shall maintain records of meetings that include, but are not limited to, the name of the alleged victim and perpetrator, the names of the members of [the] such multidisciplinary team and [their] such members' positions, the decision or recommendation of [the] such multidisciplinary team and information regarding support services provided. In any proceeding to gain access to such records or testimony concerning matters discussed at [a meeting] such meetings, the privileges from disclosure applicable to the information provided by each of the participants at [the] such meeting shall apply to all participants.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
July 1, 2017 |
17a-106a |
Statement of Purpose:
To define "children's advocacy center", clarify the purposes of multidisciplinary teams established by the Commissioner of Children and Families, permit such centers to assist multidisciplinary teams in the investigation of allegations of child abuse or neglect or trafficking of children and to permit the Connecticut Children's Alliance, Inc. to provide assistance to such centers.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]