Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 441 - Human Services Department › Title XV - Individual and Family Support and Protective Services › Chapter 175 - Abuse of Children › Rule 441-175.36 - Multidisciplinary Teams

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
Multidisciplinary teams shall be developed in county or
				  multicounty areas in which more than 50 child abuse cases are received
				  annually. These teams may be used as an advisory group to assist the department
				  in conducting child abuse assessments. Multidisciplinary teams consist of
				  professionals practicing in the disciplines of medicine, public health, mental
				  health, social work, child development, education, law, juvenile probation, law
				  enforcement, nursing, and substance abuse counseling. Members of
				  multidisciplinary teams shall maintain confidentiality of cases in which they
				  provide consultation. Rejected intakes shall not be shared with
				  multidisciplinary teams since the rejected intakes are not considered to be
				  child abuse information. During the course of a child abuse assessment,
				  information regarding the initial report of child abuse and information related
				  to the child and family functioning may be shared with the multidisciplinary
				  team. After a conclusion is made, only report data and disposition data on
				  confirmed cases of child abuse may be shared with the team members. When the
				  multidisciplinary team is created, all team members shall execute an agreement,
				  filed with the central abuse registry, which specifies:
(1)
Consultation.
The team
				shall be consulted solely for the purpose of assisting the department in the
				child abuse assessment and diagnosis of child abuse cases.
(2)
Redissemination.
No team
				member shall redisseminate child abuse information obtained through the
				multidisciplinary team. This shall not preclude redissemination of information
				as authorized by Iowa Code section 235A. 17 when an individual team member has
				received information as a result of another authorized access provision of the
				Iowa Code.
(3)
Department
				not bound.
The department shall consider the recommendation of the
				team in a specific child abuse case but shall not, in any way, be bound by the
				recommendation.
(4)
Confidentiality provisions.
Any written report or document
				produced by the team pertaining to an assessment case shall be made a part of
				the file for the case and shall be subject to all confidentiality provisions of
				441-Chapter 9, unless the child abuse assessment results in placement on the
				central abuse registry in which case the written report or document shall be
				subject to all confidentiality provisions of Iowa Code chapter 23 5
				A.
(5)
Written
				records.
Any written records maintained by the team which identify an
				individual child abuse assessment case shall be destroyed when the agreement
				lapses.
(6)
Compensation.
Consultation team members shall serve without
				compensation.
(7)
Withdrawal from contract.
Any party to the agreement may
				withdraw with or without cause upon the giving of 30 days' notice.
(8)
Expiration date.
The
				date on which the agreement will expire shall be included.