This week state Senator Julie Rosen introduced Senate File 2283, which would make mandatory some recommendations of the 2015 Governor’s Child Protection Task Force that have not yet been implemented. (One-page summary here.)
These include ending certain practices such as making fact-finding optional, giving parents advance notice of a caseworker’s visit, and interviewing some children in front of their alleged abusers.
The bill also requires the Department of Human Services to:
- Publish monthly data by county including number of reports screened-in and screened-out, and number of times children have been reported to child protection
- Establish common standards for child protection and foster care services, including when to take cases to court and when to remove children from their families
This initiative addresses unfinished Task Force business and deserves our attention.