06 LC 29
2119
Senate
Bill 442
By:
Senators Moody of the 56th, Carter of the 13th, Meyer von Bremen of the 12th,
Kemp of the 46th, Weber of the 40th and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 7 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to parent and child relationship generally, so as to change certain provisions
relating to reporting of child abuse; to provide for related matters; to provide
for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
7 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to parent and
child relationship generally, is amended by striking paragraph (2) of subsection
(c) and subsection (e) of Code Section 19-7-5, relating to reporting of child
abuse, and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
∀(2)
If a person is required to report abuse pursuant to this subsection because that
person attends to a child pursuant to such
persońs
duties as a member of the staff of a hospital, school, social agency, or similar
facility, that person shall notify the person in charge of the facility, or the
designated delegate thereof, and the person so notified shall report or cause a
report to be made in accordance with this Code section. A staff member who
makes a report to the person designated pursuant to this paragraph shall be
deemed to have fully complied with this subsection.
Under no
circumstances shall any person in charge of such hospital, school, agency, or
facility, or the designated delegate thereof, to whom such notification has been
made exercise any control, restraint, modification, or make other change to the
information provided by the reporter, although each of the aforementioned
persons may be consulted prior to the making of a report and may provide any
additional, relevant, and necessary information when making the
report.∀
∀(e)
An oral report shall be made
as soon as
possible
immediately,
but in no case later than 24 hours from the time there is reasonable cause to
believe a child has been abused, by
telephone or otherwise and followed by a report in writing, if requested, to a
child welfare agency providing protective services, as designated by the
Department of Human Resources, or, in the absence of such agency, to an
appropriate police authority or district attorney. If a report of child abuse
is made to the child welfare agency or independently discovered by the agency,
and the agency has reasonable cause to believe such report is true or the report
contains any allegation or evidence of child abuse, then the agency shall
immediately notify the appropriate police authority or district attorney. Such
reports shall contain the names and addresses of the child and the
child́s
parents or caretakers, if known, the
child́s
age, the nature and extent of the
child́s
injuries, including any evidence of previous injuries, and any other information
that the reporting person believes might be helpful in establishing the cause of
the injuries and the identity of the perpetrator. Photographs of the
child́s
injuries to be used as documentation in support of allegations by hospital
staff, physicians, law enforcement personnel, school officials, or staff of
legally mandated public or private child protective agencies may be taken
without the permission of the
child́s
parent or
guardian;
provided, however, that any photograph taken pursuant to this Code section
shall, if reasonably possible, be taken in a manner which shall not reveal the
identity of the subject. Such photograph
shall be made available as soon as possible to the chief welfare agency
providing protective services and to the appropriate police
authority.∀
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its
becoming law without such approval.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.