Child fatality review.

WORKING DRAFT
2009
STATE OF
WYOMING
09LSO-0376

HOUSE BILL
NO.
HB0157

Child fatality review.

Sponsored by:
Representative(s) Steward and Esquibel, K. and Senator(s) Landen and Ross

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating
to child fatality reviews; providing for a child fatality and major injury review state team created within the
attorney general's office
; providing for confidentiality of review proceedings; creating protection for review team members and review findings; providing for local review teams to review all cases of preventable child fatalities and major injuries; providing mandatory responsibilities of review teams; providing for coordination between local review teams and the state team; granting rulemaking authority; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of
Wyoming
:

Section 1.

W.S. 9
‑
1
‑
641 through 9
‑
1
‑
646 are created to read:

SUBARTICLE 1
CHILD FATALITY AND MAJOR INJURY REVIEWS

9
‑
1
‑
641.

Definitions.

(a)

For purposes of this
sub
article:

(
i
)

"
Child
"
means a person under eighteen
(18) years of age;

(
ii
)

"Major injury" means sexual abuse or bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death, severe disfigurement, protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ, second or third degree burns, fracture of any bone, subdural hematoma or substantial malnutrition which
appear
s
possibly to have been caused by trauma, suspicious or obscure circumsta
nces or child abuse or neglect;

(
iii
)

"
Preventable death
"
means a death which reasonable medical, social, legal
, psychological
or educational
intervention may have prevented and includes unexpected deaths;

(
iv
)

"
Provider of medical care
"
means a health practitioner who provides, or a facility through which is provided, medical evaluation or treatment, including dental and mental health evalu
ation or treatment;

(
v
)

"State team"
means the
state

c
hild
fatality and major injury review team;

(vi)

"Unexpected death"
includes all child
fatalities which
appear possibly to have been caused by trauma, suspicious or obscure circumstances or child abuse or neglect
;

(vii)

"This subarticle" means W.S. 9
‑
1
‑
641 through 9
‑
1
‑
646
.

9
‑
1
‑
642.

State child fatality and major injury review team.

(a)

There is created within the attorney general's office the state child major injury and fatality review team. The state team shall be composed of the following members appointed by the governor and other than the members in paragraphs (i) through (iv)
of this subsection
shall serve terms of three (3) years:

(i)

T
he
director
of the
d
epartment of
family s
ervices;

(ii)

T
he
d
irector of the
d
epartment of
h
ealth;

(iii)

T
he
state

s
uperintendent of
p
ublic
i
nstruction;

(iv)

T
he
d
irector of the
d
ivision of
c
riminal
i
nvestigation;

(v)

A representative
of
state health department's m
ental
h
ealth and
s
ubstance
a
buse
s
ervices
d
ivision;

(vi)

A
pediatrician with experience in diagnosing and treating child abuse and neglect;

(vii)

A coroner or medical examiner;

(viii)

A representative of the county and prosecuting attorney's association;

(ix)

A representative of a local law enforcement agency;

(x)

A representative of a county public health or local health department;

(xi)

An emergency services provider;

(xii)

A mental health provider;

(xiii)

A member of the judiciary who regularly sits on both criminal and civil cases;

(xiv)

A member of the defense bar;

(xv)

A representative from a school district;

(xvi)

A member of a victim's advocacy group or organization;

(xvii)

A representative of the citizens review panel;

(xviii)

A child advocate or member of a child advocacy organization;

(xix)

A representative of a parent group or organization;

(xx)

T
wo
(2)
members of the public at-large.

(b)

The
mandatory state

team
members may appoint
up to six (6)
other
members
to serve on the
state team
as follows:

(i)

A guardian ad litem;

(ii)

Representatives from
other relevant professions;

(iii)

Tribal representatives;

(iv)

A military representative;

(v)

Temporary members selected for the needs of a particular case.

(c)

State
agency members
and the elected official

designated in paragraphs (a)(i) through (v) of this section
shall serve ex officio and may appoint a designee to serve in their place from their particular departments or agencies who have administrative or program responsibilities
for children and families
.

Each ex officio member shall provide sufficient staff and administrative support to carry out the responsibilities of this
sub
article.

(d)

The governor may remove any member of the
state team
as provided in W.S. 9
‑
1
‑
202.

(e)

A chairman
,
vice-chairman
and secretary
of the
state

team

shall
be elected from among the members by a majori
ty vote of the membership for staggered
term
s
of two
(2)
years.

(
f
)

Meetings of the
state

team

shall
be held at least quarterly.

A majority of the
state

team
constitutes a quorum.

(g
)

Members of the state team
shall not receive compensation for their services, but when actually engaged in the performance of their duties, they shall receive travel expenses, per diem and mileage expenses in the same manner and amount as employees of the
state
.

9
‑
1
‑
643.

Review of preventable child fatalities and major injuries; purpose; duties.

(a)

The purpose of the
state

team
is to decrease the incidence of preventable child
fatalities

and major injuries
by:

(i)

D
eveloping an understanding of the causes and incidence of child
fatalities and major injuries;

(ii)

Recommending and assisting in the
develop
ment of plans for and implementation of
changes within the agencies represented on the
team
which will prevent child
fatalities and major injuries
; and

(iii)

A
dvising the
g
overnor and the
legislature on statutory, policy
and practice changes which will prevent child
fatalities and major injuries
.

(b)

To achieve i
ts purpose, the state team's duties include, but are not limited to
,
the following
:

(i)

Undertaking
annual statistical studies of the incidence and causes of child fatalities
and major injuries
in this
state
.

The s
tudies shall include a summary
of community and public and private agency involvement with the decedents
or victims
and their families before and subsequent to the
fatalities or major injuries
;

(ii)

R
eview
ing
the
circumstances
of the death
or major injury
by sharing information regarding the child and family contained in the records of agencies represented on the
team at the state team's next scheduled meeting
.

The responsibilities for members of the
team
and dates for subsequent meetings regarding the child or family
shall be established at the meeting;

(iii)

D
evelop
ing
a protocol for child fatality
and major injury
reviews;

(iv)

D
evelop
ing
a protocol for the collection of data regarding child
fatalities

and major injuries;

(v)

Developing partnerships with the local review teams.
The
state

team
shall
assist the further development of case reviews by the local teams. If the state team in its works believes that changes to any statute or agency regulation, policy
or procedure
are
needed to decrease the incidence of preventable child
fatalities or major injuries
, the
team
shall take steps to
recommend the
develop
ment
and implement
ation of
these c
hanges to regulations, policies
and procedures and shall include proposals for changes to statutes in the
team'
s annual report;

(vi)

E
xamin
ing
confidentiality and access to information
,

statutes, regulations, policies
and procedures for agencies with responsibilities for children including, but not limited to, health, public welfare, education, social services, mental health, al
cohol and other substance abuse
and law enforcement agencies and determin
ing
whether those
statutes, regulations, policies
or procedures impede the exchange of information necessary to protect children from preventable
fatalities and major injuries
.

If the
state

team
identifie
s a statute, regulation, policy
or procedure that impedes the necessary exchange of information, the
team
shall notify
the relevant state agencies for the

purpose of
develop
ment
and implement
ation of
the
recommended
c
hanges to regulations, policies
and procedures and the
state

team
shall

include proposals for changes to statutes in the
team'
s annual report;

(vii)

D
evelop
ing
and implement
ing
policies and procedures for its own governance and operation;

(viii)

S
ubmit
ting
to the
g
overnor
, the joint judiciary interim committee
and the
joint labor, health and social services interim committee
an annual written report
by October 1 of each year
and any other reports prepared by the
state

team
including, but not limited to, the
state

team'
s findings and recommendations.

Annual reports
shall
be made available to the public.

9
‑
1
‑
644.

Access to information.

(a)

Unless otherwise prohibited by law, u
pon request of the chairman of the
state

team
and as necessary to carry out the
state

team'
s purpose and duties, the
state

team

shall be
provided:

(i)

B
y a provider of medical care, access to information and records regarding a child whose death
or major injury
is being reviewed by the
state

team
, including information on prenatal care;

(ii)

A
ccess to all information and records maintained by any
state
, county or local government agency including, but not limited to, birth certificates,
death certificates,
law enforcement investigation data, county coroner or medical examiner investigation data, parole and probation information and records and information and records of social services and health agencies that provided services to the child or family.

9
‑
1
‑
645.

Confidentiality of records and proceedings.

(a)

Meetings of the
state

team
are closed to the public and are not subject to
W.S. 16
‑
4
‑
401 through 16
‑
4
‑
408
when the
state

team
is discussing individual cases of child
fatalities or major injuries
.

(b
)

Exc
ept as provided in subsection (a
)
of this section
, meetings of the
state

team
are open to the public and subject to
W.S. 16
‑
4
‑
401 through 16
‑
4
‑
408
when the
state

team
is not discussing individual cases of child
fatalities or major injuries
.

(
c
)

Information identifying a deceased child
or child sustaining a major injury, or a family member, guardian
or caretaker of a deceased child
or child sustaining a major injury
, or an alleged or suspected perpetrator of abuse or neglect upon a child
shall
not be disclosed during a public meeting and information regarding the involvement of any agency with the deceased child
or child sustaining a major injury
or
the child's
family
shall
not be disclosed during a public meeting.

(d
)

Nothing in this section
shall
be construed to prevent the
state

team
from requesting the attendance at a
team
meeting of a person who has information relevant to the
team'
s exercise of its purpose and duties.

(
e
)

Except as otherwise provided in this section, a
ll information and records acquired by
and compiled by
the
state

team
in the exercise of its purpose and duties pursuant to this
sub
article are confidential, exem
pt from disclosure under the Wyoming Public Records Act
and may
only
be disclosed as necessary to carry out the
team'
s duties and purpose.

(f
)

Statistical compilations of data which do not contain information that would permit the identification of a person to be ascertained are public records.

(g
)

Reports of the
state

team
which do not contain information that would permit the identification of a person to be ascertained are public
records
.

(h
)

Except as necessary to carry out the
state

team'
s purpose and duties, members of the
team
and persons attending the
team
meeting may not disclose what transpired at a meeting
or
information
disclosed at a meeting except as otherwise allowed under this section or required by law and shall sign a confidentiality agreement at the opening of each meeting.

(j
)

Members of the
state

team
, p
ersons attending a team meeting
and persons who present information to the
state

team

shall
not be required to disclose in any civil or criminal proceeding information presented in or opinions formed as a result of a meeting.

Nothing in this subsection
shall
be construed to prevent a person from testifying to information obtained independently of the
team
or which is public information.

(k
)

Information, documents
and records of the
state

team
are not
subject to subpoena, discovery
or introduction into evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding, exc
ept that information, documents
and records otherwise available from other sources are not immune from subpoena, discovery or introduction into evidence through those sources solely because they were presented during proceedings of the
team
or are maintained by the
team
.

(m
)

Violation of this section is a misdemeanor
punishable by a fine of
not more than five hundred dollars
($500.00),
imprison
ment
for not
more than six (6) months, or both.

9
‑
1
‑
646
.

Local c
hild
fatality and major injury review teams
; creation; composition; duties; records confidential.

(a)

The state team
and local agenc
ies
shall encourage the creation of
local
child
fatality and major injury review

teams
within
each of the fifteen (15) judicial districts of the state
.

The purposes of the
local review

teams
shall be to
review all cases involving a preventable child death or major injury to a child,
to advocate for improved services or procedures for children and to provide
case
information
and recommendations
to the
state

team
.

The
state team may assist local teams in the
promulgat
ion of
reasonable rules and regulations to define the roles and procedures of
local review teams
.

(b)

A
local
review team may
be composed of:

(i)

A member of the district
or prosecuting
attorney
'
s office;

(ii)

A designated representative from the school district or districts within the area served by the
team
;

(iii)

A representative from the local field office of the department of family services;

(iv)

A representative from the county government;

(v)

A representative from
each city and town in the judicial district
;

(vi)

A coroner or medical examiner;

(vii)

A
representative
of a county public health office or local health department;

(viii)

A pediatrician or family practice physician;

(ix)

An emergency services provider;

(x)

A mental health provider;

(
x
i)

Representatives from other relevant professions;

(
x
ii)

Temporary members selected for the needs of a particular case as determined by the
team.

(c)

A
local
review

team
may:

(i)

Assist and coordinate with the
state

team
, the local child protective agency and all available agencies and organizations dealing with children;

(ii)

Identify or develop community resources to serve and advocate for improved services and procedures for children;

(
iii
)

Identify training needs, sponsor training and raise community awareness of child protection issues
;

(
i
v)

Assist and make recommendations of appropriate services in individual cases brought to it by the
state team; and

(v)

Review all incidents within the area served by the review team involving a preventable child death or major injury to a child.

(
d
)

All records and proceedings of the
local review

teams
are
confidential and local team members and proceedings shall have the same protections provided to the state team in W.S.
9
‑
1
‑
645
and the same access to information as the state team in W.S.
9
‑
1
‑
644
.

Section
2
.

This act is effective July 1, 200
9
.

(END)

1
HB0157