Section 26-16-52

Ad hoc child abuse protection team advisory committee created; composition, duties, etc.; annual report.

Upon October 1, 1985, an ad hoc child abuse protection team advisory committee shall be created and shall consist of the following members: the Governor of the State of Alabama or his designated representative; the Director of the Department of Human Resources; the executive director of the child abuse trust fund; the president of the State Parents Teachers Association; two judges in the State of Alabama that preside over courts exercising juvenile jurisdiction to be selected by the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court; one representative from the Association of County Department of Human Resources county directors to be selected by the Governor; the executive director of the Office of Prosecution Services; the chairman of the Victims Compensation Commission; and two other members selected by the president of the child abuse trust fund.

The committee shall study the operational aspects of multi-disciplinary child protection teams, hereinafter referred to as teams, including both existing teams and those teams to be created pursuant to this article, and shall promulgate guidelines for the reporting or referral of child abuse or neglect cases to the teams. The committee shall present their guidelines within three months after the committee is formed to the Governor.

Upon final approval of such guidelines by the Governor, the teams shall begin organizing and as soon as it is practicable shall begin to carry out their functions.

In order to ensure the effective implementation of these teams, the Director of the Department of Human Resources shall submit a report on the overall operation of these teams to the joint legislative committee on children and youth within 30 days of the beginning of each annual regular session of the Alabama Legislature.

(Acts 1985, No. 85-682, p. 1078, §3.)