Colorado § 25-20.5-402 - Legislative declaration.

§ 25-20.5-402. Legislative declaration.

(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.

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.