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It is the intent of this legislation to mandate the maintenance of an effective child protection team. The Director of the Indian Child Welfare Department shall have responsibility for inaugurating the child protection team.

A. The child protection team shall staff anonymous cases (no names, addresses, or identifiers mentioned) and make recommendations regarding the diagnostic, prognostic and treatment services being offered to the child or family in connection with the reported abuse.

B. At each meeting, each member of the child protection team shall be provided with necessary information in the case(s) to be considered.

C. The public shall not be permitted to attend those portions of child protection team meetings concerned with mandatory team discussions of public and private agencies’ responses to each report of child abuse and neglect being considered by the team, as well as the team’s recommendations related to public agency responses. In all its discussions, the team shall not disclose the names or addresses and identifying information relating to the children, families or informants in those cases.

D. At the beginning of the discussion of each case, a designated team member shall state the following information, arrived at by consensus of the team: Whether the case involves mild, moderate or severe abuse or neglect; whether the child is an infant, a toddler, a pre-school or school aged child or a teenager and the sex of the child. In no case shall the informant’s name or other identifying information about the informant be revealed. The team shall also state whether the child was hospitalized and whether the child’s medical records were checked.

E. At this session and immediately after any sessions at which a child abuse or neglect case is discussed, the child protection team shall review the responses of public and private agencies to each report of child abuse or neglect, shall state whether such responses were timely adequate and in compliance with provisions of this chapter and shall report information relating to any inadequate responses, specifically indicating the public and private agencies involved.

F. After this mandatory discussion of agency responses, the child protection team shall consider identifying details of the case being discussed, to discuss confidential reports, including but not limited to, the reports of physicians and psychiatrists, or when the members of the team desire to act as an advisory body concerning the details of treatment or evaluation programs.

G. At the child protection team’s next regularly scheduled meeting, or at the earliest possible time, the team shall report whether the lapses and inadequacies discovered earlier in the child protection system have been corrected.

H. The child protection team shall make a report of its recommendations to the Osage Nation Trial Court and the Indian Child Welfare Department with suggestions for further action. Osage Nation, state and federal agencies may cooperate in meeting the requirements of this subsection.

I. Each member of the team shall be appointed by the agency represented. At the behest of the Osage Nation Congress, a representative of the child protection team shall be selected and serve on the team.

J. The Director of the Indian Child Welfare Department or a designee thereof shall be deemed to be the coordinator of the child protection team.

K. The coordinator shall insure that all difficult cases of child abuse are discussed with the child protection team. The coordinator shall make and complete, within ninety (90) days of a child protection team review, a report to the Judge regarding the recommendations of the child protection team in a particular case. It is the responsibility of the Indian Child Welfare Department to report to the federal registry when necessary or required.