Bill Text: CT SB00822 | 2013 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

Connecticut Senate Bill 822 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: An Act Concerning Interviews Of Children By The Department Of Children And Families During Investigations Of Child Abuse And Neglect.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-1)

Status: (Passed) 2013-05-28 - Signed by the Governor [SB00822 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2013-SB00822-Comm_Sub.html


General Assembly		*Raised Bill No. 822*
*January Session, 2013*		LCO No. 2681
		_____SB00822KID___030113____
Referred to Committee on CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)

AN ACT CONCERNING INTERVIEWS OF CHILDREN BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES DURING INVESTIGATIONS OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 17a-101h of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):

Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, any person authorized to conduct an investigation of abuse or neglect shall coordinate investigatory activities in order to minimize the number of interviews of any child and share information with other persons authorized to conduct an investigation of child abuse or neglect, as appropriate. A person reporting child abuse or neglect shall provide any person authorized to conduct an investigation of child abuse or neglect with all information related to the investigation that is in the possession or control of the person reporting child abuse or neglect, except as expressly prohibited by state or federal law. The commissioner shall obtain the consent of parents or guardians or other persons responsible for the care of the child to any interview with a child, except that such consent shall not be required when the department has a documented compelling reason to believe [such parent or guardian or other person responsible for the care of the child or member of the child's household is the perpetrator of the alleged abuse] that seeking such consent would place the child at imminent risk of physical harm. If consent is not required to conduct the interview, such interview shall be conducted in the presence of a disinterested adult unless immediate access to the child is necessary to protect the child from imminent risk of physical harm and a disinterested adult is not available after reasonable search. For purposes of this section, a "documented compelling reason" includes, but is not limited to, criminal conviction information concerning the person or persons alleged to be responsible for such abuse or neglect and previous allegations of abuse or neglect relating to the child or other children residing in the household or relating to family violence.