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Current Status Bill Number:View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.1047 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:20000119 Primary Sponsor:Holland All Sponsors:Holland, Moore, Rankin, Ryberg and Hutto Drafted Document Number:l:\s-jud\bills\holland\jud0061.dhh.doc Residing Body:House Current Committee:Judiciary Committee 25 HJ Date of Last Amendment:20000323 Subject:Child fatalities, Child Fatality Advisory Committee; Minors, State Law Enforcement Division, Minors, investigation cases History Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved ______ ________ ______________________________________ _______ ____________ House 20000329 Introduced, read first time, 25 HJ referred to Committee Senate 20000328 Read third time, sent to House Senate 20000323 Amended, read second time Senate 20000322 Committee report: Favorable with 11 SJ amendment Senate 20000119 Introduced, read first time, 11 SJ referred to Committee Versions of This Bill Revised on March 22, 2000 - Word format Revised on March 23, 2000 - Word format
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ADOPTED
March 23, 2000
S. 1047
Introduced by Senators Holland, Moore, Rankin, Ryberg and Hutto
S. Printed 3/23/00--S.
Read the first time January 19, 2000.
TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-5915, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE PURPOSES AND DUTIES OF THE STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION'S DEPARTMENT OF CHILD FATALITIES, SO AS TO GIVE THE DEPARTMENT THE AUTHORITY TO CLOSE A CHILD-FATALITY CASE IF A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND CORONER DETERMINE AFTER AN INVESTIGATION THAT THE CAUSE OF DEATH IS FROM NATURAL CAUSES, AND TO MAKE OTHER REVISIONS TO THE SECTION; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-5920, RELATING TO THE PURPOSES AND DUTIES OF THE STATE CHILD FATALITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE, SO AS TO GIVE THE COMMITTEE THE DUTY TO PROMOTE AND ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND SAFETY COUNCILS; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-5950, RELATING TO THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF MEETINGS OF THE CHILD FATALITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE, SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF MEETINGS OF THE LOCAL COUNCILS; AND TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-5960, RELATING TO THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION AND RECORDS OF THE CHILD FATALITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE, SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION AND RECORDS OF THE LOCAL COUNCILS.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 20-7-5915 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-5915. (A) The purpose of the department is to expeditiously investigate child deaths in all counties of the State.
(B) To achieve its purpose, the department shall:
(1) upon receipt of a report of a child death from the county coroner or medical examiner, as required by Sections 17-5-140 and 17-5-265 as provided in Sections 17-5-140 and 17-5-265, investigate and gather all information on the child fatality. The coroner or medical examiner immediately shall may request an autopsy if SLED determines that an autopsy is necessary. The autopsy, which must be performed as soon as possible by a pathologist with forensic training as soon as possible. The forensic pathologist shall must inform the department of the findings within forty-eight hours of completion of the autopsy. If the autopsy reveals the cause of death to be pathological or an unavoidable accident, the case must be closed by the department. If, after investigation by law enforcement and the coroner's office, the cause of death is determined by the coroner to be from natural causes, the case must be closed by the department. If the autopsy reveals physical or sexual trauma, suspicious markings, or other findings that are questionable or yields no conclusion to the cause of death, the department immediately shall begin an must continue its investigation;
(2) request assistance of any other local, county, or state agency to aid in the investigation;
(3) upon receipt of additional investigative information, request the coroner to reopen a case if necessary for another coroner's inquest;
(4) upon receipt of the notification required by item (1), review agency records for information regarding the deceased child or family. Information available to the department pursuant to Section 20-7-5930 and information which is public under Chapter 4, Title 30, the Freedom of Information Act, must be made available as needed to by the county coroner or medical examiner and county department of social services;
(5) report the activities and findings related to a child fatality to the State Child Fatality Advisory Committee;
(6) develop a protocol for child fatality reviews;
(7) develop a protocol for the collection of data regarding child deaths as related to Sections 17-5-140 and 17-5-265 and provide training on the use of protocol to local professionals delivering services to children, county coroners and medical examiners, and law enforcement agencies, and local professionals delivering services to children on the use of the protocol;
(8) study the operations of local investigations of child fatalities, including the statutes, regulations, policies, and procedures of used by the agencies involved with children's services and child death investigations;
(9) examine confidentiality and access to information statutes, regulations, policies, and procedures for agencies with responsibilities for children, including, but not limited to, health, public welfare, education, social services, mental health, alcohol and other substance abuse, and law enforcement agencies and determine whether those statutes, regulations, policies, or procedures impede the exchange of information necessary to protect children from preventable deaths. If the department identifies a statute, regulation, policy, or procedure that impedes the necessary exchange of information, the department shall notify the committee and the agencies serving on the committee; and the committee shall include proposals for changes to statutes, regulations, policies, or procedures in the committee's annual report;
(10) develop a Forensic Pathology Network available to coroners and medical examiners for prompt autopsy findings;
(11) submit to the Governor and the General Assembly, an annual report and any other reports prepared by the department, including, but not limited to, the department's findings and recommendations; and
(12) promulgate regulations necessary to carry out its purposes and responsibilities under this article."
SECTION 2. Section 20-7-5920 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-5920. (A) The purpose of the State Child Fatality Advisory Committee is to decrease the incidences of preventable child deaths by:
(1) developing an understanding of the causes and incidences of child deaths;
(2) developing plans for and implementing changes within the agencies represented on the committee which will in order to prevent child deaths; and
(3) advising the Governor and the General Assembly on statutory, policy, and practice changes which will in order to prevent child deaths.
(B) To achieve its purpose, the committee shall:
(1) meet with the department no later than one month two months after the case is closed by the department receives notification by the county medical examiner or coroner pursuant to Section 17-5-140 or 17-5-265 to review the investigation of the death;
(2) undertake annual statistical studies of the incidences and causes of child fatalities in this State. The studies shall must include an analysis of community and public and private agency involvement with the decedents and their families before and subsequent to the deaths;
(3) the committee shall consider training, including cross-agency training, consultation, technical assistance needs, and service gaps. If the committee determines that changes to any statute, regulation, policy, or procedure is are needed to decrease the incidence of preventable child deaths, the committee shall include proposals for changes to statutes, regulations, policies, and procedures in the committee's annual report;
(4) educate the public regarding the incidences and causes of child deaths, the public role in preventing these deaths, and specific steps the public can undertake to prevent child deaths. The committee shall enlist the support of civic, philanthropic, and public service organizations in performing the committee's education duties;
(5) develop and implement policies and procedures for its own governance and operation;
(6) submit to the Governor and the General Assembly, an annual written report and any other reports prepared by the committee, including, but not limited to, the committee's findings and recommendations. Annual reports must be made available to the public. ; and
(7) promote and encourage the development of local Children's Health and Safety Councils or similar organizations for children. The local councils and organizations shall work in collaboration with the committee and shall be independent of the Department of Child Fatalities. The purpose of these councils and organizations is to reduce the incidence of child deaths. The local councils and organizations shall review intentional and unintentional injuries occurring within the community. The local councils and organizations and the state committee shall exchange information, meet jointly, and attend training sessions together for the purpose of implementing a comprehensive network throughout the State and achieving the goals set forth in subsections (B)(2), (B)(3), (B)(4), (B)(5), and (B)(6). The local councils and organizations must adhere to the confidentiality requirements in Sections 20-7-5950 and 20-7-5960."
SECTION 3. Section 20-7-5950 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-5950. (A) Meetings of the committee and department, and meetings of the local councils and organizations developed pursuant to Section 20-7-5920(B)(7), are closed to the public and are not subject to Chapter 4, Title 30, the Freedom of Information Act, when the committee, and the department, or local councils or organizations are discussing individual cases of child deaths.
(B) Except as provided in subsection (C), meetings of the committee or local councils or organizations are open to the public and subject to the Freedom of Information Act when the committee or local councils or organizations is are not discussing individual cases of child deaths.
(C) Information identifying a deceased child or a family member, guardian, or caretaker of a deceased child, or an alleged or suspected perpetrator of abuse or neglect upon a child may must not be disclosed during a public meeting, and information regarding the involvement of any agency with the deceased child or family may must not be disclosed during a public meeting.
(D) Violation A person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, a person must be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than six months, or both."
SECTION 4. Section 20-7-5960 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-5960. (A) All information and records acquired by the committee, and by the department, or the local councils or organizations developed pursuant to Section 20-7-5920(B)(7), in the exercise of their purposes and duties pursuant to this article are confidential, exempt from disclosure under Chapter 4, Title 30, the Freedom of Information Act, and only may be disclosed as necessary to carry out the committee's, and the department's, and the local councils' and organizations' duties and purposes.
(B) Statistical compilations of data which do not contain information that would permit the identification of a person to be ascertained are public records.
(C) Reports of the committee, and the department, or local councils or organizations which do not contain information that would permit the identification of a person to be ascertained are public information.
(D) Except as necessary to carry out the committee's, and the department's, and local councils' and organizations' purposes and duties, members of the committee, and the department, local councils and organizations, and persons attending their meeting meetings may not disclose what transpired at a meeting which is not public under Section 20-7-5940 and may not disclose information, the disclosure of which is prohibited by this section.
(E) Members of the committee, or a local council or organization, persons attending a committee meeting or meeting of a local council or organization, and persons who present information to the committee or a local council or organization may not be required to disclose in any civil or criminal proceeding information presented in or opinions formed as a result of a meeting, except that information available from other sources is not immune from introduction into evidence through those sources solely because it was presented during proceedings of the committee, or department, or a local council or organization or because it is maintained by the committee, or department, or a local council or organization. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to prevent a person from testifying to information obtained independently of the committee or a local council or organization or that which is public information.
(F) Information, documents, and records of the committee, and the department, or a local council or organization are not subject to subpoena, discovery, or the Freedom of Information Act, except that information, documents, and records otherwise available from other sources are not immune from subpoena, discovery, or the Freedom of Information Act through those sources solely because they were presented during proceedings of the committee, or department, or a local council or organization or because they are maintained by the committee, or department, or a local council or organization.
(G) Violation A person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, a person must be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both."
SECTION 5. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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