Report Title:
Child protection teams
Description:
Establishes child protection teams under the department of human services (DHS). Appropriates funds to provide direct expert medical evaluation and consultation to DHS on cases of reported abuse and neglect that are investigated by DHS.
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1053 |
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TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO CHILD PROTECTION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. In 1998, almost three million child abuse cases were reported to child protective service agencies across the country. This represented a ninety-eight per cent increase in child abuse cases since 1986. Approximately thirty per cent of the victims of severe child abuse were subjected to prior episodes of abuse. In addition, the lack of recognition of abuse has resulted in the unnecessary suffering and death of children.
Between 1996 and 1999, the number of child abuse reports received by the child protective services on Oahu that were investigated increased by forty-five per cent. In Hawaii, state funding has limited the availability of medical consultation in the area of child abuse. Currently, only two groups of children receive child abuse medical evaluations during child protective services investigation:
(1) Seriously injured children who are hospitalized; and
(2) The small number of children who exhibit a history of sexual abuse.
The legislature finds that a child abuse physician examines only three per cent of the children being investigated by child protective services, despite the availability of medical experts in this field. In addition, the lack of medical evaluation often results in injuries being improperly documented or missed altogether.
The purpose of this Act is to enhance child abuse and neglect prevention efforts by:
(1) Establishing child protection teams under the department of human services; and
(2) Appropriating funds to provide direct expert medical evaluation and consultation to the department of human services on cases of reported abuse and neglect that are under investigation by the department.
SECTION 2. Chapter 587, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"PART . CHILD PROTECTION TEAMS
§587- Child protection teams; establishment. (a) The department shall develop, maintain, and coordinate the services of one or more multidisciplinary child protection teams in each county. The teams shall be composed of representatives of school districts and appropriate health, mental health, social service, legal service, and law enforcement agencies. The director of human services shall be responsible for the screening, employment, and termination of child protection team medical directors in each of the counties. Child protection team medical directors shall be responsible for oversight of their respective teams.
(b) The department shall use and convene the teams to supplement the assessment and protective supervision activities of the department.
(c) In all instances in which a child protection team is providing certain services to abused, abandoned, and neglected children, other branches and divisions of the department shall avoid duplicating the provision of those services.
§587- Child protection team; responsibilities. (a) The child protection teams shall support the activities of programs and services of the department and provide services deemed by the teams to be necessary and appropriate to abused, abandoned, and neglected children upon referral.
(b) Any child protection team that examines a child who is the subject of a report shall take, or cause to be taken, photographs of any areas of trauma that is visible on the child. The photographs, or duplicates, shall be provided to the department for inclusion in its investigative file and shall become part of the file.
§587- Child protection team; services. The specialized diagnostic assessment, evaluation, coordination, consultation, and other supportive services that a child protection team shall provide include:
(1) Medical diagnosis and evaluation services, including the provision or interpretation of X-ray and laboratory tests, and related services, as needed, and documentation of the findings and services;
(2) Telephone consultation services in emergencies and other situations;
(3) Medical evaluation related to abuse, abandonment, or neglect, as specified by rules of the department;
(4) Psychological and psychiatric diagnosis and evaluation services for the child or the child's parent or parents, legal custodian or custodians, or other caregivers, or any other individual involved in a child abuse, abandonment, or neglect case, as the team may determine to be necessary;
(5) Expert medical, psychological, and related professional testimony in court cases;
(6) Case staffings to develop treatment plans for children whose cases have been referred to the team. A child protection team may provide consultation with respect to a child who is alleged or is shown to be abused, abandoned, or neglected, which consultation shall be provided at the request of a representative of the department or at the request of any other professional involved with a child or the child's parent or parents, legal custodian or custodians, or other caregivers. In each child protection team case staffing, consultation, or staff activity involving a child, a representative from the department shall attend and participate;
(7) Case service coordination and assistance, including the location of services available from other public and private agencies in the community;
(8) Training services for program and other employees of the department, the department of health, and other medical professionals as is deemed appropriate to enable them to develop and maintain their professional skills and abilities in handling child abuse, abandonment, and neglect cases; and
(9) Educational and community awareness campaigns on child abuse, abandonment, and neglect in an effort to enable citizens more successfully to prevent, identify, and treat child abuse, abandonment, and neglect in the community.
§587- Child protection team; reports. The department shall keep and maintain reports relating to child abuse, abandonment, and neglect under this section. The department shall refer all reports under this section to the child protection teams for medical evaluation and available support services. The reports shall include information on:
(1) Bruises, burns, or fractures in a child of any age;
(2) Injuries to a child's head;
(3) Reported malnutrition of a child and failure of a child to thrive;
(4) Reported medical, physical, or emotional neglect of a child; and
(5) Reports of any family in which one or more children have been pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital or other health care facility, or have been injured and later died, as a result of suspected abuse, abandonment, or neglect, when any sibling or other child remains in the home.
§587- Child protection team; hotline. The department shall establish a hotline for all abuse and neglect cases transmitted for investigation to a child protection team for review. All cases transmitted to a child protection team and which meet the criteria under this part shall be reviewed in a timely manner by a board-certified pediatrician or registered nurse practitioner under the supervision of the pediatrician to determine whether a face-to-face medical evaluation by a child protection team is necessary; provided that a face-to-face medical evaluation is not necessary if it is determined that the child was examined by a physician for the alleged abuse or neglect, and a consultation between the child protection team board-certified pediatrician or nurse practitioner and the examining physician conclude that further medical evaluation is unnecessary.
§587- Interagency agreement. (a) The department and the department of health shall maintain an interagency agreement that establishes protocols for oversight and operations of child protection teams and sexual abuse treatment programs. The directors of human services and health shall be responsible for the screening, employment, and the termination of child protection team medical directors in each county.
(b) The department shall use and convene the team to supplement the assessment and protective supervision activities of the department.
(c) Nothing in this part shall be construed to remove or reduce the duty and responsibility of any person to report pursuant to this chapter, all suspected or actual cases of child abuse, abandonment, neglect, or sexual abuse of a child.
§587- Rules. The department shall adopt rules, in accordance with chapter 91, to administer and implement this part."
SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2001-2002 to provide direct expert medical evaluation and consultation to the department of human services on cases of reported abuse and neglect that are under investigation by the department; provided that the department of human services may contract such services with an appropriate provider that meets the requirements specified under this Act.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of human services for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that section 3 shall take effect on July 1, 2001.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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