Bill Summary for Bill Number SB13-255

Date: 04/30/2013

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB13-255

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH CARE & HUMAN SERVICES

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Adopt amendment L.005 (Attachment C). The motion p Refer Senate Bill 13-255, as amended, to the Commi	Pass Without Objection PASS

04:50 PM -- Senate Bill 13-255

Representatives Singer and May, co-prime sponsors, presented Senate Bill 13-255 concerning changes to child fatality review teams. The bill requires local public health agencies (LPHAs) to establish local or regional child fatality prevention review teams no later than January 1, 2015. The local review teams are required to review fatalities of children up to the age of 17 and to operate under the supervision of the Department of Public Health and Environment (DPHE). LPHAs may partner with each other to form regional review teams. Local review teams are required to report case findings and make preventative recommendations to public and private agencies responsible for preventing child fatalities, as well as to the DPHE.

Department of Public Health and Environment. The bill makes changes to the membership of the state child fatality review team in the DPHE and specifies that the duties of the DPHE include, among other things:

conducting case specific reviews of child fatalities, if not performed by a local review team; receiving information from local review teams;

monitoring trends in child fatalities and conducting a systemic review of child welfare issues;

coordinating with the Department of Human Services (DHS) concerning the DHS child fatality review process for fatalities involving child abuse and neglect;

administering funding to LPHAs for reviewing child fatalities at the local level;

providing technical assistance and training to local review teams; and

making recommendations on ways to prevent child fatalities and submitting an annual report on child fatality review findings to the Governor and relevant committees of the General Assembly.

Department of Human Services. Under current law, the DHS child fatality review team is responsible for reviewing cases of near fatalities, egregious abuse, and child fatalities involving child abuse and neglect of children who previously received child welfare services. The bill also makes the following changes to the DHS child fatality review process:

extends the look-back period for determining previous involvement with the child welfare system from 2 to 3 years;

defines "previous involvement" to include the provision of any child welfare services;

expands the time period from 30 days to 55 days for the DHS to complete case reviews and submit a confidential, case-specific draft report to counties involved; requires the DHS review team to include system recommendations in its annual report to the General Assembly and the public; and

specifies that any case review information released publicly by the DHS cannot be contrary to the best interest of the child who is the subject of the review and must be consistent with the requirements of federal law.

Representative Singer distributed an informational handout to the committee (Attachment B).

130430 AttachB.pdf

05:00 PM -- Stephanie Villafuerte, representing the Children's Law Center, testified in support of the bill and responded to questions regarding whether all child deaths would be investigated under the bill.

05:05 PM -- Pat Ratliff, representing Colorado Counties, Inc., testified against the bill. She stated that the funding for local and county public health and human services departments is lower than needed to fully comply with the provisions of the bill. Ms. Ratliff responded to questions regarding the current child fatality review process.

05:13 PM -- Jennifer Miles, representing the Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials, testified as neutral on the bill. She stated that the bill adds a new responsibility for local public health departments. Ms. Miles responded to questions regarding the state funding for local health departments.

05:20 PM -- Megan Davis, representing Boulder County, testified as neutral on the bill. She responded to questions regarding the current child fatality review process and whether all child deaths would be reviewed under the bill.

05:28 PM -- Sabrina Byrnes, representing the Office of Colorado's Child Protection Ombudsman, testified in support of the bill. She responded to questions about how fatality review teams respond to child fatalities involving illness or accident.

05:32 PM -- Linda Weinerman, representing the Office of the Child's Representative, testified in support of the bill.

05:36 PM -- Bill Meyer, representing himself, testified in support of the bill.

05:42 PM

Representatives May and Young concluded their presentation on Senate Bill 13-255. Representative Young distributed to the committee and described amendment L.005 (Attachment C).


BILL:	SB13-255
TIME:	05:42:46 PM
MOVED:	Singer
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.005 (Attachment C). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Young
		VOTE
	Conti
	Everett
	Joshi
	Landgraf
	May
	McCann
	Schafer
	Singer
	Stephens
	Tyler
	Wilson
	Young
	Primavera

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

130430 AttachC.pdf


BILL:	SB13-255
TIME:	05:43:15 PM
MOVED:	Singer
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 13-255, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 8-5.
SECONDED:	May
		VOTE
	Conti	No
	Everett	No
	Joshi	No
	Landgraf	No
	May	Yes
	McCann	Yes
	Schafer	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Stephens	Yes
	Tyler	Yes
	Wilson	No
	Young	Yes
	Primavera	Yes

Final YES: 8 NO: 5 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

05:49 PM

The committee adjourned.