§ 423-A — Child advocacy centers established

§ 423-a. Child advocacy centers established. 1. The office of children\nand family services shall to the greatest extent practicable facilitate\nthe establishment of child advocacy centers in every region of the state\nso that child victims of sexual abuse or serious physical abuse have\nreasonable access to such a center and so that their cases are handled\nin an expert and timely manner, by a coordinated and cooperative effort\nthat minimizes trauma to the children and their non-offending family\nmembers. Child advocacy centers shall be established by either a\ngovernmental entity or a private, nonprofit incorporated agency and\nshall meet the state office of children and family services program\nstandards for child advocacy centers approval and strive to co-locate\nmembers of the local multi-disciplinary team at the child advocacy\ncenter.\n 2. Child advocacy centers may assist in the investigation of child\nabuse and maltreatment cases and shall provide at a minimum for the\nfollowing:\n (a) a comfortable, private setting that is both physically and\npsychologically safe for children;\n (b) sound program, fiscal and administrative practices;\n (c) policies, practices and procedures that are culturally competent;\nfor the purpose of this paragraph "culturally competent" is defined as\nthe capacity to function in more than one culture, requiring the ability\nto appreciate, understand and interact with members of diverse\npopulations within the local community;\n (d) a multidisciplinary investigative team established pursuant to\nsubdivision six of section four hundred twenty-three of this article;\n (e) a written set of interagency protocols for an interdisciplinary\nand coordinated approach to the investigation of child abuse;\n (f) forensic interviews to be conducted in a manner which is neutral\nand fact-finding and coordinated to avoid duplicative interviewing;\n (g) specialized medical evaluation and treatment as part of the\nmultidisciplinary investigative team response, either at the center or\nthrough coordination with and referral to other appropriate treatment\nproviders;\n (h) specialized mental health services as part of the\nmultidisciplinary investigative team response, either at the center or\nthrough coordination with and referral to other appropriate treatment\nproviders;\n (i) victim support and advocacy as part of the multidisciplinary team\ninvestigative team response, either at the center or through\ncoordination with and referral to other appropriate treatment providers;\n (j) a routine interdisciplinary case review process for purposes of\ndecision making, problem solving, systems coordination and information\nsharing concerning case status and services needed by the child and\nfamily;\n (k) a comprehensive tracking system for monitoring case process and\ntracking case outcomes for team members; and\n (l) a process for evaluating its effectiveness and its operation.\n 3. Child advocacy centers may also provide space for medical\nevaluation, therapeutic intervention, support services for child abuse\nvictims and their families, community education about child abuse, and\nany other services the center deems critical to the provision of service\nto child victims and their families and the multidisciplinary\ninvestigation of abuse allegations.\n 4. Any child advocacy center established prior to the effective date\nof this section shall, within six months of the effective date of this\nsection, revise its policies and practices to comply with subdivision\ntwo of this section. No organization shall refer to itself as a child\nadvocacy center unless it complies with this section.\n 5. (a) The files, reports, records, communications, working papers or\nvideotaped interviews used or developed in providing services under this\nsection are confidential. Provided, however, that disclosure may be made\nto members of a multidisciplinary investigative team who are engaged in\nthe investigation of a particular case and who need access to the\ninformation in order to perform their duties for purposes consistent\nwith this section and to other employees of a child advocacy center who\nare involved in tracking cases for the child advocacy center. Disclosure\nshall also be made for the purpose of investigation, prosecution and/or\nadjudication in any relevant court proceeding or, upon written release\nby any non-offending parent, for the purpose of counseling for the child\nvictim.\n (b) Any public or private department, agency or organization may share\nwith a child advocacy center information that is made confidential by\nlaw when it is needed to provide or secure services pursuant to this\nsection. Confidential information shared with or provided to a center\nremains the property of the providing organization.\n (c) The office of children and family services shall have access to\nall records created or maintained by a child advocacy center in order to\ncarry out the responsibilities of that office pursuant to this title.\n