Senate Bill 1214 will provide the protection necessary to ensure that confidential information shared by DCF and law enforcement agencies will not be released until it is first reviewed by a court to ensure its relevancy to a legal proceeding. This will guarantee that information about family members or other matters that are not legally relevant will not become public knowledge. The Department of Children and Families supports SB 1214. Previously team members have been reluctant to share information in their possession for fear it would become available to any attorney representing an alleged perpetrator, or any other attorney of record, without the ordinary judicial oversight regarding requests for evidence.
Confidentiality is critical to making teams work on behalf of abused children.
Office of the Child Advocate of the State of Connecticut, Linda Pierce Prestley , supports SB 1214 which amends the current statute, because it deletes the provision that requires the disclosure of confidential information to all counsel . Frederick B. Berrien,MD of Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center supports SB 1214. because it will permit the teams to work with the protection of confidentiality while permitting the courts to review any information which is pertinent to the disposition of the case. Elizabeth A. Donohue, Psy.D. of the Child Guidance Clinic of Greater Waterbury supports SB 1214. Without the protection of confidentiality, important information may be lost, which could alter the course of an investigation or the treatment of an abused child. Child Sexual Abuse Response Team of Lower Fairfield County supports SB 1214 which modifies the language and will allow multidisciplinary teams to work together as originally planned.