Creating a work group relating to child fatality protocol and alleged child abuse

child fatality protocol and alleged child abuse. The bill directs the department of human services to convene a work group of state and local agencies who have experience and expertise in cases involving child fatalities and alleged child abuse. The work group shall develop a protocol for responding to the scene of the death of a child that constitutes a death affecting the public interest that may involve alleged child abuse. The work group shall consider all of the following in developing a protocol: all involvement with the family of the child shall be conducted in a nonaccusatory manner; written information shall be provided to the family explaining the legal requirements for an investigation; the department shall provide an advocate to assist the family; the family shall be allowed to have an advocate of their choosing present; any interview of a minor child as a witness to a child death shall be conducted in a trauma-sensitive, developmentally appropriate manner which aligns with nationally recognized, evidence-based forensic interview protocols; if a minor child living in the same home as the child who died is removed from the home and placed in the care of a temporary caretaker, the temporary caretaker shall sign a statement stating that the temporary caretaker agrees to be responsible for the child or children; and if an autopsy of the deceased child indicates that the deceased child’s cause of death was not related to child abuse and the department determines that the deceased child’s home is safe for any child who was removed from the home and subsequently placed in the temporary care of a caretaker to return to the family, the child shall be returned to the family. from the office of the state medical examiner. The bill provides that the department shall submit its findings and recommendations in a final report to the general assembly by November 15, 2021.