§ 25-20.5-402 — Legislative declaration

Colorado § 25-20.5-402

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 25: Public
• Art.: Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment

Text

(1) The general assembly hereby
finds and declares that protection of the health and welfare of the children of this
state is an important goal of the citizens of this state, and the injury and death of
infants and children are serious public health concerns that require legislative
action. The general assembly further finds that the prevention of child abuse,
neglect, and fatalities is a community responsibility; that professionals from
disparate disciplines have responsibilities to children and have expertise that can
promote the safety and well-being of children; and that multidisciplinary reviews of
child abuse, neglect, and fatalities can lead to a greater understanding of the
causes of, and methods of preventing, child abuse, neglect, and fatalities.

(2) It is, therefore, the intent of the general assembly in enacting this part 4
to establish state and local multidisciplinary, multi-agency child fatality prevention
review teams. The purpose of these teams is:

(a) For local or regional review teams, to review specific cases of child
fatalities in the team's service area that occur from birth through seventeen years
of age and involve unintentional injury, violence, motor vehicle incidents, child
abuse or neglect, sudden unexpected infant death, suicide, or undetermined causes
and to provide the state with individual case findings to develop a community
approach to the systemic issues surrounding child fatalities;

(b) For the state review team, to review the individual case findings of the
local and regional review teams and to create a report based on those findings to
make specific recommendations regarding systemic trends across the state that
may help prevent future child fatalities;

(c) To help the people of Colorado understand the incidence and causes of
child fatalities and therefore encourage public action to prevent further child
fatalities;

(d) To identify services provided by public, private, and nonprofit agencies to
children and their families that are designed to prevent, and that are effective in
preventing, child fatalities;

(e) To identify gaps or deficiencies that may exist in the delivery of services
provided by public, private, and nonprofit agencies to children and their families
that are designed to prevent child fatalities; and

(f) To make recommendations for, act as a catalyst for, and implement any
changes to laws, rules, and policies that will support the safe and healthy
development of the children in this state and prevent future child fatalities.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2005: Entire part added, p. 974, � 1, effective June 2. L. 2013: Entire section amended, (SB 13-255), ch. 222, p. 1029, � 2, effective May 14.