{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-10a-10a-1-9-102","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 10A, § 10A-1-9-102","heading":"Multidisciplinary teams - Intervention in reports of","body":"abuse or neglect - Duties.\n\nA. 1. In coordination with the Oklahoma Commission on Children\n\nand Youth, each district attorney shall develop a multidisciplinary\n\nchild abuse team in each county of the district attorney or in a\n\ncontiguous group of counties.\n\n2. The lead agency for the team shall be chosen by the members\n\nof the team. The team shall review cases involving child sexual\n\nabuse or child physical abuse or neglect.\n\nB. The multidisciplinary child abuse team members shall\n\ninclude, but not be limited to:\n\n1. Mental health professionals licensed pursuant to the laws of\n\nthis state or licensed professional counselors;\n\n2. Police officers or other law enforcement agents with a role\n\nin, or experience or training in child abuse and neglect\n\ninvestigation;\n\n3. Medical personnel with experience in child abuse and neglect\n\nidentification;\n\n4. Child protective services workers within the Department of\n\nHuman Services;\n\n5. Multidisciplinary child abuse team coordinators, or Child\n\nAdvocacy Center personnel; and\n\n6. The district attorney or assistant district attorney.\n\nC. 1. To the extent that resources are available to each of\n\nthe various multidisciplinary child abuse teams throughout the\n\nstate, the functions of the team shall include, but not be limited\n\nto, the following specific functions:\n\na. whenever feasible, law enforcement and child welfare\n\nstaff shall conduct joint investigations to\n\neffectively respond to child abuse reports,\n\nb. develop a written protocol for the joint investigation\n\nof child sexual abuse and child physical abuse or\n\nneglect cases by law enforcement and child welfare\n\nstaff and for professionals interviewing child\n\nvictims. The purpose of the protocol shall be to\n\nensure coordination and cooperation between all\n\nagencies involved so as to increase the efficiency in\n\nhandling such cases and to minimize the stress created\n\nfor the allegedly abused child by the legal and\n\ninvestigatory process. In addition, each team shall\n\ndevelop confidentiality statements and interagency\n\nagreements signed by member agencies that specify the\n\ncooperative effort of the member agencies to the team,\n\nc. increase communication and collaboration among the\n\nprofessionals responsible for the reporting,\n\ninvestigation, prosecution and treatment of child\n\nabuse and neglect cases,\n\nd. eliminate duplicative efforts in the investigation and\n\nthe prosecution of child abuse and neglect cases,\n\ne. identify gaps in service or all untapped resources\n\nwithin the community to improve the delivery of\n\nservices to the victim and family,\n\nf. encourage the development of expertise through\n\ntraining. Each team member and those conducting child\n\nabuse investigations and interviews of child abuse\n\nvictims shall be trained in the multidisciplinary team\n\napproach, conducting legally sound and age-appropriate\n\ninterviews, effective investigation techniques and\n\njoint investigations as provided through the State\n\nDepartment of Health, the Commission on Children and\n\nYouth, or other resources, and\n\ng. formalize a case review process that includes the use\n\nof a secure database provided for in Section 2 of this\n\nact and report program data as requested to the\n\nCommission.\n\n2. All investigations of child sexual abuse and child physical\n\nabuse or neglect and interviews of child abuse or neglect victims\n\nshall be carried out by appropriate personnel using the protocols\n\nspecified in this section.\n\n3. If trained personnel are not available in a timely fashion\n\nand, in the judgment of a law enforcement officer or the Department\n\nof Human Services, there is reasonable cause to believe a delay in\n\ninvestigation or interview of the child victim could place the child\n\nin jeopardy of harm or threatened harm to the child's health or\n\nwelfare, the investigation may proceed without full participation of\nIf trained personnel are not available in a timely fashion\n\nand, in the judgment of a law enforcement officer or the Department\n\nof Human Services, there is reasonable cause to believe a delay in\n\ninvestigation or interview of the child victim could place the child\n\nin jeopardy of harm or threatened harm to the child's health or\n\nwelfare, the investigation may proceed without full participation of\n\nall personnel, provided all reasonable efforts have been made to\n\nfacilitate the use of a trained investigator or interviewer. This\n\nauthority applies only for as long as reasonable danger to the child\n\nexists. As soon as possible thereafter, the joint investigation\n\nprotocol shall be initiated.\n\n4. Freestanding multidisciplinary child abuse teams shall be\n\napproved by the Commission. The Commission shall direct an annual\n\nreview of freestanding multidisciplinary teams to ensure that the\n\nteams are functioning effectively, and staff shall conduct on-site\n\ncompliance reviews as necessary. Teams not meeting the minimal\n\nstandards as promulgated by the Commission shall be removed from the\n\nlist of functioning teams in the state.\n\nD. 1. A multidisciplinary child abuse team may enter into an\n\nagreement with the Child Death Review Board within the Oklahoma\n\nCommission on Children and Youth and, in accordance with rules\n\npromulgated by the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth,\n\nconduct case reviews of deaths and near deaths of children within\n\nthe geographical area of that multidisciplinary child abuse team.\n\n2. Any multidisciplinary child abuse team reviewing deaths and\n\nnear deaths of children shall prepare and make available to the\n\npublic, on an annual basis, a report containing a summary of the\n\nactivities of the team relating to the review of the deaths and near\n\ndeaths of children and a summary of the extent to which the state\n\nchild protection system is coordinating with foster care and\n\nadoption programs and whether the state is efficiently discharging\n\nits child protection responsibilities. The report shall be\n\ncompleted no later than December 31 of each year.\n\nE. Nothing in this section shall preclude the use of hospital\n\nteam reviews for client-specific purposes and multidisciplinary\n\nteams, either of which were in existence prior to July 1, 1995;\n\nprovided, however, such teams shall not be subject to the provisions\n\nof paragraph 1 of subsection A of this section.\n\nF. 1. Child advocacy centers shall be classified, based on the\n\nchild population of a district attorney's district, as follows:\n\na. nonurban centers in districts with child populations\n\nthat are less than sixty thousand (60,000),\n\nb. midlevel nonurban centers in districts with child\n\npopulations equal to or greater than sixty thousand\n\n(60,000), but not including Oklahoma and Tulsa\n\nCounties, and\n\nc. urban centers in Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties.\n\n2. The multidisciplinary child abuse team used by the child\n\nadvocacy center for its accreditation shall meet the criteria\n\nrequired by a national association of child advocacy centers and, in\n\naddition, the team shall:\n\na. choose a lead agency for the team,\n\nb. intervene in reports involving child sexual abuse and\n\nmay intervene in child physical abuse or neglect,\n\nc. promote the joint investigation of child abuse reports\n\nbetween law enforcement and child welfare staff, and\n\nd. formalize standardized investigative procedures for\n\nthe handling of child abuse and neglect cases.\n\nG. Multidisciplinary child abuse teams and child advocacy\n\ncenters shall have full access to any service or treatment plan and\n\nany personal data known to the Department which is directly related\n\nto the implementation of this section.\n\nH. Each member of the team shall be responsible for protecting\n\nthe confidentiality of the child and any information made available\n\nto such person as a member of the team. The multidisciplinary team\nms and child advocacy\n\ncenters shall have full access to any service or treatment plan and\n\nany personal data known to the Department which is directly related\n\nto the implementation of this section.\n\nH. Each member of the team shall be responsible for protecting\n\nthe confidentiality of the child and any information made available\n\nto such person as a member of the team. The multidisciplinary team\n\nand any information received by the team shall be exempt from the\n\nrequirements of Sections 301 through 314 of Title 25 of the Oklahoma\n\nStatutes and Sections 24A.1 through 24A.31 of Title 51 of the\n\nOklahoma Statutes.","path":["OK Code","Title 10A"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os10A.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"48ce925beeed4e550a6656b71f7f2e8dd1a66800cd54b08e51655f4caf675846","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-10a-10a-1-9-101","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-10a-10a-1-9-102a"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}