68th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--1995 Regular Session

NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .

LC 1494

                         House Bill 2592

Sponsored by Representatives COURTNEY, MINNIS, Senator CEASE;
  Representatives ADAMS, BRIAN, BROWN, CARTER, CLARNO, CORCORAN,
  FEDERICI, GORDLY, HAYDEN, JOHNSTON, LEHMAN, LUKE, MANNIX, MEEK,
  MONTGOMERY, NAITO, NORRIS, OAKLEY, PARKS, PIERCY, REPINE,
  ROBERTS, SHIBLEY, STARR, STROBECK, TARNO, UHERBELAU, WATT,
  Senators ADAMS, BAKER, BRADBURY, BRYANT, BUNN, DERFLER, HAMBY,
  HANNON, JOHNSON, LEONARD, LIM, McCOY, MILLER, SORENSON, TIMMS


                             SUMMARY

The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.

  Requires Health Division to establish single comprehensive
tracking and review system for child fatalities. Provides
technical assistance to first responders and fatality teams
through State Technical Assistance Team. Requires local child
fatality review teams and multidisciplinary child abuse teams to
comply with centralized reporting system on child fatalities.

                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to child fatalities; creating new provisions; and
  amending ORS 146.100, 192.690, 418.747 and 418.748.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1.  { + Sections 2 and 3 of this Act are added to and
made a part of ORS chapter 418. + }
  SECTION 2.  { + The Health Division of the Department of Human
Resources shall establish a State Technical Assistance Team for
child fatalities and a single comprehensive tracking and data
collection system on child fatalities. The duties of the State
Technical Assistance Team shall include but are not limited to:
  (1) Providing education, support, consultation and training to
the county multidisciplinary child abuse teams established in ORS
418.747.
  (2) Assisting the county multidisciplinary child abuse teams in
developing interagency agreements to ensure timely sharing of
investigative information.
  (3) Providing assistance with the implementation of the
fatality review processed of the local multidisciplinary child
abuse teams.
  (4) Compiling and analyzing data on child fatalities, serving
as a resource center and identifying strategies for the
prevention of child fatalities.
  (5) Supporting a coordinated multidisciplinary approach to
child fatality investigations to begin immediately upon
notification of a child's death and to accompany the established
review process of the county multidisciplinary teams in order to

provide for a uniform and reliable data base on the factors
surrounding child fatalities. + }
  SECTION 3.  { + The members of any county multidisciplinary
child abuse team, the State Technical Assistance Team for child
fatalities and the State Child Fatality Review Team shall be
exempt from civil and criminal liability in the same manner as is
established in ORS 419B.025. + }
  SECTION 4. ORS 418.747 is amended to read:
  418.747. (1) The district attorney in each county shall be
responsible for developing interagency and multidisciplinary
teams to consist of but not be limited to law enforcement
personnel, Children's Services Division protective service
workers, school officials,  { + emergency medical
technicians, + } health departments and courts, as well as others
specially trained in child abuse, child sexual abuse and rape of
children investigation.
  (2) The teams shall develop a written protocol for
investigation of child abuse cases and for interviewing child
abuse victims. Each team also shall develop written agreements
signed by member agencies that specify the role of each agency,
procedures to be followed to assess risks to the child and
criteria and procedures to be followed when removal of the child
is necessary for the child's safety.
  (3) Each team member and those conducting child abuse
investigations and interviews of child abuse victims shall be
trained in risk assessment, dynamics of child abuse, child sexual
abuse and rape of children, legally sound and age appropriate
interview and investigatory techniques.
  (4) All investigations of child abuse and interviews of child
abuse victims shall be carried out by appropriate personnel using
the protocols and procedures called for in this section. If
trained personnel are not available in a timely fashion and, in
the judgment of a law enforcement officer or division employee,
there is reasonable cause to believe a delay in investigation or
interview of the child abuse victim could place the child in
jeopardy of physical harm, the investigation can proceed without
full participation of all personnel. This authority applies only
for as long as reasonable danger to the child exists. A
reasonable effort to find and provide a trained investigator or
interviewer shall be made.
  (5) Protection of the child is of primary importance.
  (6) Each team shall classify, assess and review cases under
investigation.
  (7) Each multidisciplinary team shall develop policies that
provide for an independent review of investigation procedures of
sensitive cases after completion of court actions on particular
cases. The policies shall include independent citizen input.
Parents of child abuse victims shall be notified of the review
procedure.
  (8) Each team shall establish a local multidisciplinary
fatality review process. The purposes of the review process are
to:
  (a) Coordinate various agencies and specialists to review a
fatality caused by child abuse or neglect;
  (b) Identify local and state issues related to preventable
deaths; and
  (c) Promote implementation of recommendations on the local
level.
  (9) In establishing the review process and carrying out
reviews, the members of the local multidisciplinary team shall be
assisted by the local medical examiner or county health officer
as well as others specially trained in areas relevant to the
purpose of the local team.
  (10) The categories of fatalities reviewed by the
multidisciplinary team include:

  (a) Child fatalities in which child abuse or neglect may have
occurred at any time prior to death or have been a factor in the
fatality;
  (b) Any category established by the local multidisciplinary
team;
  (c) All child fatalities where the child is less than 18 years
of age and there is an autopsy performed by the medical examiner;
and
  (d) Any specific cases recommended for local review by the
  { - statewide interdisciplinary team - }   { + State Child
Fatality Review Team + } established under ORS 418.748.
  (11) The local multidisciplinary team shall develop a written
protocol for review of child fatalities. The protocol shall be
designed to facilitate communication and information between
persons who perform autopsies and those professionals and
agencies concerned with the prevention, investigation and
treatment of child abuse and neglect.
  (12) Within the guidelines, and in a format, established by the
 { - statewide interdisciplinary team - }   { + State Child
Fatality Review Team + } established under ORS 418.748, the local
team shall provide the statewide team with information regarding
child fatalities under subsection (10) of this section.
 { + Local teams shall complete the data forms and respond to all
inquiries as requested by the State Child Fatality Review Team or
the Health Division of the Department of Human Resources. Forms,
reports and appropriate notification shall be completed by the
local teams in accordance with rules adopted by the State Child
Fatality Review Team.  Failure to comply with these reporting
requirements shall jeopardize the funding available to a
multidisciplinary team through the Child Abuse Multidisciplinary
Intervention Account established under ORS 418.746. + }
  (13) The local multidisciplinary team shall have access to and
subpoena power to obtain all medical records, hospital records
and records maintained by any state, county or local agency,
including, but not limited to, police investigations data,
coroner or medical examiner investigative data and social
services records, as necessary to complete the review of a
specific fatality under subsection (8)(a) of this section. All
meetings of the local team relating to the fatality review
process required by subsections (8) to (13) of this section shall
be exempt from the provisions of ORS 192.610 to 192.690. All
information and records acquired by the local team in the
exercise of its duties are confidential and may only be disclosed
as necessary to carry out the purposes of the local fatality
review process.
  SECTION 5. ORS 418.748 is amended to read:
  418.748. (1) The Children's Services Division shall form a
  { - statewide interdisciplinary team - }   { + State Child
Fatality Review Team + } to meet twice a year to review child
fatality cases where child abuse is suspected, identify trends,
make recommendations and take actions involving statewide
issues. { +  The State Child Fatality Review Team shall be the
policymaking body for the state and shall serve in an advisory
role to the State Technical Assistance Team for child fatalities
established in section 2 of this 1995 Act. + }
  (2) The   { - statewide interdisciplinary team - }   { + State
Child Fatality Review Team + } may recommend specific cases to a
local multidisciplinary team for its review under ORS 418.747.
 { +
  (3) The State Child Fatality Review Team shall develop rules to
establish a comprehensive data system on child fatalities and
shall develop by rule a preprinted child fatality review report
form for statewide use by the local multidisciplinary child abuse
teams established in ORS 418.747.


  (4) The State Child Fatality Review Team shall report
biennially to the Legislative Assembly on the findings resulting
from data collection on child fatalities. + }
  SECTION 6. ORS 192.690 is amended to read:
  192.690. (1) ORS 192.610 to 192.690 shall not apply to the
deliberations of the State Board of Parole and Post-Prison
Supervision, the Psychiatric Security Review Board, of state
agencies conducting hearings on contested cases in accordance
with the provisions of ORS 183.310 to 183.550, the review by the
Workers' Compensation Board of similar hearings on contested
cases, meetings of the state lawyers assistance committees, the
local lawyers assistance committees in accordance with the
provisions of ORS 9.545, the  { + county + } multidisciplinary
 { + child abuse + } teams required to review child abuse and
neglect fatalities in accordance with the provisions of  { + ORS
418.746, + } 418.747  { + and 418.748 + }, the peer review
committees in accordance with the provisions of ORS 441.055 and
mediation conducted under sections 2 to 10, chapter 967, Oregon
Laws 1989, or to any judicial proceeding.
  (2) Because of the grave risk to public health and safety that
would be posed by misappropriation or misapplication of
information considered during such review and approval, ORS
192.610 to 192.690 shall not apply to review and approval of
security programs by the Energy Facility Siting Council pursuant
to ORS 469.530.
  SECTION 7. ORS 192.690, as amended by section 14, chapter 967,
Oregon Laws 1989, and section 33, chapter 18, and section 4,
chapter 318, Oregon Laws 1993, is amended to read:
   { +  192.690. + } (1) ORS 192.610 to 192.690 shall not apply
to the deliberations of the State Board of Parole and Post-Prison
Supervision, the Psychiatric Security Review Board, of state
agencies conducting hearings on contested cases in accordance
with the provisions of ORS 183.310 to 183.550, the review by the
Workers' Compensation Board of similar hearings on contested
cases, meetings of the state lawyers assistance committees, the
local lawyers assistance committees in accordance with the
provisions of ORS 9.545, the  { + county + } multidisciplinary
 { + child abuse + } teams required to review child abuse and
neglect   { - fatalities - }  { +  cases + } in accordance with
the provisions of ORS  { + 418.746, + } 418.747  { +  and
418.748 + }  { - , - }  and the peer review committees in
accordance with the provisions of ORS 441.055 or to any judicial
proceeding.
  (2) Because of the grave risk to public health and safety that
would be posed by misappropriation or misapplication of
information considered during such review and approval, ORS
192.610 to 192.690 shall not apply to review and approval of
security programs by the Energy Facility Siting Council pursuant
to ORS 469.530.
  SECTION 8.  { + Nothing in the amendments to ORS 192.690 by
section 7 of this Act affects the provisions of section 17,
chapter 967, Oregon Laws 1989. + }
  SECTION 9. ORS 146.100 is amended to read:
  146.100. (1) Death investigations shall be under the direction
of the district medical examiner and the district attorney for
the county where the death occurs.
  (2) For purposes of ORS 146.003 to 146.165, if the county where
death occurs is unknown, the death shall be deemed to have
occurred in the county where the body is found, except that if in
an emergency the deceased is moved by conveyance to another
county and is dead on arrival, the death shall be deemed to have
occurred in the county from which the body was originally
removed.
  (3) The district medical examiner or a designated assistant
medical examiner for the county where death occurs shall be
immediately notified of:
  (a) All deaths requiring investigation; and
  (b) All deaths of persons admitted to a hospital or institution
for less than 24 hours, although the medical examiner need not
investigate nor certify such deaths.
  (4) No person having knowledge of a death requiring
investigation shall intentionally or knowingly fail to make
notification thereof as required by subsection (3) of this
section.
  (5) The district medical examiner or deputy medical examiner
shall immediately notify the district attorney for the county
where death occurs of all deaths requiring investigation except
for those specified by ORS 146.090   { - (1)(d) to (g) - }
 { + (1)(g) + }.
  (6) All peace officers, physicians, embalmers, supervisors of
penal institutions and supervisors of hospitals or institutions
caring for the ill or helpless shall cooperate with the medical
examiner and shall make notification of deaths as required by
subsection (3) of this section.
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