10-7109.

§10-7109.


    A.  The Department of Human Services may provide information to a
person or agency that provides professional services such as medical
examination of or therapeutic intervention with a victim of abuse or
neglect.  This information may include, but is not limited to:
    1.  The investigative determination; or
    2.  The services offered and provided.
    B.  The Department shall forward to any hospital or any
physician, including, but not limited to, doctors of medicine and
dentistry, licensed osteopathic physicians, residents and interns,
reporting the abuse or neglect of a child pursuant to Section 7103 of
this title, information including the investigative determination,
the services offered or provided, and such other information deemed
necessary by the Department.  Such information shall be entered and
maintained in the child's medical records.
    C.  1.  The Department of Human Services shall forward to the
school principal of the school in which a child is enrolled making a
child abuse report pursuant to Section 7103 of this title a summary
of any confirmed report of sexual abuse or severe physical abuse of
the Department concerning the child.  The summary shall include a
brief description of the circumstances of sexual abuse or serious
physical abuse, the name of the parent or person responsible for the
child's health or welfare, and the name of a Department employee who
serves as a contact person regarding the case.
    2.  The Department shall not release data that would identify the
person who made the initial child abuse or neglect report, other than
an employee of the Department, or who cooperated in a subsequent
investigation unless a court of competent jurisdiction orders release
of the information for good cause shown.
    3.  The school principal shall forward to the receiving school
all confirmed reports of sexual abuse and severe physical abuse
received from the Department whenever a child transfers from one
school district to another, and shall notify the Department of the
child's new school, and address, if known.
    4.  Records maintained and transmitted pursuant to this section
shall be confidential and shall be maintained and transmitted in the
same manner as Special Education records or other such records,
pursuant to Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes.  Access to such
records may be made available by the principal or designee to a
person designated to assist in the treatment of or with services
provided to the child.  Such records shall be destroyed when the
student reaches eighteen (18) years of age.
    D.  The transmission of and access to such records shall not
constitute a waiver of confidentiality.
    E.  It shall be unlawful pursuant to the Oklahoma Child Abuse
Reporting and Prevention Act for the Commission for Human Services,
or any employee working under the direction of the Department of
Human Services, any other public officer or employee, or any court-
appointed special advocate to furnish or permit to be taken off of
the records any information therein contained for commercial,
political or any other unauthorized purpose.
    F.  Any person to whom disclosure is made shall not disclose to
any other person reports or other information obtained pursuant to
this section.
    G.  The Department shall submit the summary of confirmed sexual
abuse or severe physical abuse of a child on forms developed by the
Department.  Such forms shall contain a warning that the information
contained therein is confidential and may only be released to a
person designated by the principal to assist in the treatment of or
with services provided to a child.



10-7110.  Multidisciplinary team - Intervention in reports of abuse -
Duties.

    A.  By July 1, 1997, in coordination with the Child Abuse
Training and Coordinating Council, each district attorney's district
shall be responsible for convening a meeting of a coordinated
multidisciplinary team, if such a team is not already in existence.
If the district attorney's office is unwilling or unable to convene
the meeting, the meeting shall be convened by one of the other
entities listed in subsection B of this section.  If it is feasible
to establish such a team, the lead agency shall be chosen by the
members of the team.  The team shall intervene in reports involving
sexual abuse or severe physical abuse and neglect in order to make
responsible efforts to minimize the number of interviews necessary
with a child-victim.
    B.  The coordinated multidisciplinary team may include, but need
not be limited to:
    1.  Mental health professionals licensed pursuant to the laws of
this state or licensed professional counselors;
    2.  Police officers or other law enforcement agents with a role
in, or experience or training in child abuse investigation;
    3.  Medical personnel with experience in child abuse
identification;
    4.  Child protective services workers within the Department of
Human Services;
    5.  Multidisciplinary team coordinators, or a Child Advocacy
Center Director; and
    6.  A district attorney or a designee.
    C.  1.  To the extent that resources are available to each of the
various multidisciplinary child abuse and neglect teams throughout
the state, the functions of the team shall include, but not be
limited to, the following specific functions:
         a.   review investigations, assess service delivery, and
              facilitate efficient and appropriate disposition of
              cases through the criminal justice system,
         b.   develop a written protocol for investigating child
              sexual and serious physical abuse cases and for
              interviewing child abuse victims.  In addition, each
              team shall develop agreements signed by member agencies
              that specify the role of the team,
         c.   increase communication and collaboration among the
              professionals responsible for the reporting,
              investigation, prosecution and treatment of child abuse
              and neglect cases,
         d.   eliminate duplicative efforts in the investigation and
              the prosecution of child abuse cases,
         e.   identify gaps in service or all untapped resources
              within the community to improve the delivery of
              services to the victim and family,
         f.   encourage the development of expertise with discipline-
              specific training and cross-discipline training,
         g.   formalize a case review and case tracking process for
              all or problematic cases of child abuse and neglect,
              and
         h.   standardize investigative procedures for the handling
              of child abuse and neglect cases.
    2.  All investigations of child sexual abuse and serious physical
abuse and interviews of child abuse victims shall be carried out by
appropriate personnel using the protocols and procedures specified in
this section.
    3.  If trained personnel are not available in a timely fashion
and, in the judgment of a law enforcement officer or the Department
of Human Services, there is reasonable cause to believe a delay in
investigation or interview of the child abuse victim could place the
child in jeopardy of harm or threatened harm to a child's health or
welfare, the investigation may 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.
    D.  A multidisciplinary team may enter into an agreement with the
Child Death Review Board within the Oklahoma Commission on Children
and Youth and, in accordance with rules promulgated by the Oklahoma
Commission on Children and Youth, conduct case reviews of deaths and
near deaths of children within the geographical area of that
multidisciplinary team.
    E.  Any multidisciplinary team reviewing deaths and near deaths
of children shall prepare and make available to the public, on an
annual basis, a report containing a summary of the activities of the
team relating to the review of the deaths and near deaths of children
and a summary of the extent to which the state child protection
system is coordinated with foster care and adoption programs and
whether the state is efficiently discharging its child protection
responsibilities.  The report shall be completed no later than
December 31 of each year.
    F.  Nothing in this section shall preclude the use of:
    1.  Hospital or treatment-based team reviews for client-specific
purposes; and
    2.  Teams in existence prior to July 1, 1995, and coordination of
such teams.
    G.  Such multidisciplinary service team shall have full access to
any service or treatment plan and any personal data known to the
Department which is directly related to the implementation of this
section.