GA Code § 19-15-4 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 19 - Domestic Relations|Chapter 15 - Child Abuse|§ 19-15-4. Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel

  There is created the Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel. The panel shall oversee the local child fatality review process and report to the Governor on the incidence of child deaths with recommendations for prevention.   The director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation or his or her designee shall coordinate the work of the panel and shall provide such administrative and staff support to the panel as may be necessary to enable the panel to discharge its duties under this chapter. The panel shall be attached to the Division of Forensic Sciences of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for administrative purposes, and its planning, policy, and budget functions shall be coordinated with those of the Division of Forensic Sciences of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.   The panel shall be composed as follows:   One district attorney appointed by the Governor;   One juvenile court judge appointed by the Governor;   Two citizen members who are not employed by or officers of the state or any political subdivision thereof shall be appointed by the Governor, one of whom shall come from each of the following:   A state-wide child abuse prevention organization; and   A state-wide childhood injury prevention organization;     One forensic pathologist appointed by the Governor;   The chairperson of the Board of Human Services;   The director of the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services;   The director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation;   The chairperson of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council;   A member of the Georgia Senate appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;   A member of the Georgia House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;   A local law enforcement official appointed by the Governor;   A superior court judge appointed by the Governor;   A coroner appointed by the Governor;   The Child Advocate for the Protection of Children;   The commissioner of public health;   The commissioner of behavioral health and developmental disabilities;   A member of the State Board of Education appointed by the Governor; and   The commissioner of early care and learning.     The Governor shall appoint the chairperson of the panel.     All appointed members shall be appointed for terms of two years beginning on July 1 of the year appointed and shall serve until their respective successors are appointed and qualified.   All ex officio members shall serve during the time such persons hold the offices or positions specified therein.   Members of the General Assembly shall serve for terms of office concurrent with their terms of office as members of the General Assembly.   Vacancies in the membership of the panel so appointed shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment for the unexpired term of office.     Members of the panel who are members of the General Assembly shall be compensated for service on the panel from legislative funds in the manner provided for service on interim study committees. Those members of the panel who are not state officials or employees shall receive from funds appropriated or otherwise available to the panel for their services on the panel the same daily expense and travel or mileage allowance authorized for members of the General Assembly for service on interim study committees. The members of the panel who are state officials or employees shall receive no additional compensation for their service on the panel but may be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary travel expenses which shall be payable from the department or agency of which such member is an employee or officer.   The panel shall meet quarterly to review the reports of local review committees and shall meet when requested to do so by the Governor.   The purpose of the panel is to recommend measures to decrease the incidence of child death by undertaking all of the following duties:   Identify factors which place a child at risk for death;   Collect and share information among state agencies which provide services to children and families or investigate child deaths;   Make suggestions and recommendations to appropriate participating agencies regarding improving coordination of services and investigations;   Identify trends relevant to unexpected or unexplained child death;   Investigate the relationship, if any, between child deaths and violence between past or present spouses, persons who are parents of the same child, parents and children, stepparents and stepchildren, foster parents and foster children, or other persons living or formerly living in the same household;   Review each report from local child fatality review committees. The chairperson may call a special meeting of the panel to review any report when the chairperson has concluded the report warrants expedited review and has been requested by the submitting local review committee to make such expedited review;   Provide training and written materials to the local review committees to assist them in carrying out their duties. Such written materials shall include model protocols for the operation of the review committees;   Develop a protocol for child fatality investigations and revise the protocol as needed;   Monitor the operations of local review committees to determine training needs and service gaps. If the panel determines that changes to any statute, regulation, or policy is needed to decrease the risk of child death, it shall propose and recommend such changes in its annual report; and   Develop and implement such procedures and policies as are necessary for its own operation.     By January 1 of each calendar year, the panel shall submit a report to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the chairperson of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the chairperson of the House Committee on Judiciary regarding the prevalence and circumstances of child fatalities in this state; shall recommend measures to reduce such fatalities caused by other than natural causes; and shall address in the report the following issues:   Whether the deaths could have been prevented;   Whether the children were known to any state or local agency;   The actions, if any, taken by any state or local agency or court;   Whether agency or court intervention could have prevented their deaths;   Whether policy, procedural, regulatory, or statutory changes are called for as a result of these findings; and   Whether any referral should have been made to a law enforcement agency which was not made.     The panel shall also establish procedures for the conduct of reviews by local review committees into deaths of children and may obtain the assistance of child protection professionals in establishing such procedures.   The panel shall have the authority to obtain from any superior court judge of the county or circuit for which the matter is pending a subpoena to compel the production of documents or attendance of witnesses if the county multiagency child fatality review committee has not exercised its authority to subpoena the documents or witnesses as provided in paragraph (3) of subsection (k) of Code Section 19-15-3; provided, however, if a superior court judge has previously ruled that the records or witnesses are not necessary to the fatality review at issue, such finding shall be conclusive on the issuance of the subpoena.     (Code 1981, §19-1-4, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1785, § 1; Code 1981, §19-15-4, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1991, p. 94, § 19; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1695, § 2; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1941, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 803, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 609, § 3; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 19; Ga. L. 2000, p. 243, § 2; Ga. L. 2001, p. 1158, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 395, § 2; Ga. L. 2008, p. 166, § 2/HB 1051; Ga. L. 2008, p. 568, § 8/HB 1054; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 1-19/HB 228; Ga. L. 2011, p. 705, § 5-4/HB 214; Ga. L. 2014, p. 34, § 2-6/SB 365.)   Editor's notes.   - Ga. L. 2008, p. 568, § 1/HB 1054, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act may be cited as the 'Children and Family Services Strengthening Act of 2008.'"   Ga. L. 2008, p. 568, § 2/HB 1054, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "The General Assembly finds that well-intentioned efforts over the years have resulted in the creation of several agencies focused on preventing child abuse and juvenile delinquency, on serving at-risk families and troubled youth, and on promoting the improvement of our state's child welfare system. The General Assembly further finds that the work of some of these agencies overlaps, and that the at-risk families and troubled children of Georgia will be more efficiently and effectively served by consolidating the Children and Youth Coordinating Council with the Children's Trust Fund Commission, by placing the functions of the Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel under the supervision of the Child Advocate for the Protection of Children, and by encouraging these consolidated agencies to collaborate to create a consistent vision for serving the needs of our state's families in need."   Ga. L. 2014, p. 34, § 2-1/SB 365, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This part shall be known and may be cited as the 'Journey Ann Cowart Act.'"   Ga. L. 2014, p. 34, § 2-9/SB 365, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "It is the intent of the General Assembly to provide for transparency relative to investigations involving child abuse and child fatalities in order to best protect the children of this state. The General Assembly finds that more disclosure of information may be necessary when a child is deceased. The General Assembly intends that agencies and departments of this state share data in order to conduct research for the purpose of preventing child fatalities in this state."   Law reviews.   - For article on the 2014 amendment of this Code section, see 31 Ga. Sr. U.L. Rev. 25 (2014)   OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL   Authority of Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel and local child fatality review committees.   - Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel and local child fatality review committees are public health authorities as defined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1966, Pub. L. No. 104-191, 110 Stat. 1936, and regulations promulgated pursuant to the Act by the Department of Health and Human Services, as such they are authorized to receive public health information, including reports of child abuse and neglect, and they are authorized to obtain protected health information from covered entities under the Act's public health exception. 2004 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 2004-9.