Title 26

Law enforcement agencies of this state, social service agencies of this state, and state and local departments of human resources shall share information concerning investigations of suspected or actual child abuse or neglect when the sharing of such information is necessary to p…

As used in this article, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings herein ascribed to them: (1) CHILD. A person under 18 years of age. (2) CHILD ABUSE. Harm or threatened harm to a child’s health or welfare by a person responsible for the child’s health or welfare, …

(a) The State Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board is created as an autonomous agency of the state government. (b) There is created the Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention which shall operate under the State Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board and consist of…

(a) Except as necessary to comply with this section and Sections 26-16-2, 26-16-3, 26-16-4, and 26-16-6, the rights, duties, property, real or personal, and all other effects existing in the name of the State Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board shall be transferred to the De…

(a) The state board shall be composed of the following 14 members: (1) The Commissioner of the State Department of Human Resources, the State Mental Health Officer, the State Health Officer, the State Superintendent of Education, and the Secretary of the Alabama State Law Enforce…

(a) The business of the state board shall be conducted at public meetings held in compliance with Chapter 25A of Title 36. The board shall hold two regular public meetings each year and may hold such special meetings as in the opinion of the chairman or a majority of the board ar…

(a) The state board shall do all of the following: (1) Meet not less than twice annually at the times prescribed in Section 26-16-5(a). (2) Transmit to the Governor a list of individuals recommended to fill the position of director. (b) The department, with the approval of the st…

The state board may recommend to the Governor and the Legislature changes in state programs, statutes, policies, budgets, and standards which will reduce the problem of child abuse and neglect, improve coordination among state agencies that provide prevention services, and improv…

The state board may accept federal funds granted by Congress or executive order for the purposes of this article as well as gifts and donations from individuals, private organizations, or foundations. The acceptance and use of federal funds does not commit state funds and does no…

(a) The state board may authorize the disbursement of available money from the trust fund exclusively for the following purposes, which are listed in the order of preference for expenditure: (1) To fund a private nonprofit or public organization in the development or operation of…

(a) The Children’s Trust Fund is created as a separate fund in the State Treasury. The function of the Children’s Trust Fund shall be to serve as a permanent trust pursuant to Section 26-16-8, and as an investment account for the earnings and funds received by the Child Abuse and…

(a) For the tax year beginning October 1, 1983, and until the State Treasurer certifies that the assets in the Children’s Trust Fund exceed $10,000,000, a resident individual taxpayer who files an Alabama income tax return and who is entitled to an income tax refund from the Stat…

(a) Each year that the refund designation program established in Section 26-16-31(a), above, is in effect, the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue shall transfer to the Children’s Trust Fund an amount equal to the total amount designated by individuals to be paid to the fun…

All laws or parts of laws which conflict with this article are hereby repealed except that no part of this article shall be construed to authorize any board, person, or entity to assume the duties and responsibilities of any other state agencies or to repeal or preempt or take pr…

The Department of Human Resources shall provide for the development and coordination of the multi-disciplinary child protection teams created by this article and for the services to be provided by such teams throughout the state. Such teams shall be composed of representatives fr…

The Department of Human Resources shall adopt guidelines and criteria relating to the operations and functions of the team as promulgated by the advisory committee created pursuant to Section 26-16-52. The guidelines will be supplemental to the existing protective service activit…

Upon October 1, 1985, an ad hoc child abuse protection team advisory committee shall be created and shall consist of the following members: The Governor of the State of Alabama or his or her designated representative; the Director of the Department of Human Resources; the Executi…

Child abuse prevention teams in existence as of October 1, 1985, shall not be replaced by the provisions of this article. Such existing teams are hereby expressly preserved and shall be exempt from the provisions of this article. (Acts 1985, No. 85-682, p. 1078, §4.)

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) FORENSIC INTERVIEW. The same meaning as in Section 12-15-301. (2) LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. The police department for the municipality and the sheriff’s department for the county in which…

(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) ASSOCIATE MEMBER CENTER. A child advocacy center that is working towards full membership status and has been approved by the network for associate membership status. (2) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.…

Any new child advocacy center within the State of Alabama that desires to become certified by the network may request and receive initial funding if approved by the board of directors of the network. Any center failing to meet the standards established in Section 26-16-70 for a p…

The network board of directors shall be responsible for allocating state appropriated funds to existing and new child advocacy centers which meet the standards of Section 26-16-70, pursuant to the provisions of Sections 26-16-71 and 26-16-72. (Acts 1992, No. 92-558, p. 1161, §4; …

The Legislature finds and declares that: Every child is entitled to live in safety and in health and to survive into adulthood; there are concerns about the adequacy of efforts in this state to identify deaths; and recognizing that no single agency or person is responsible, that …

The following words and phrases have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: (1) AUTOPSY. An external and internal examination, medical history, and record review. (2) CHILD. A person who has not yet reached his or her eighteenth birthday. (3) CHILD…

It is the policy of this state that responding to unexpected/unexplained child deaths is a state and a community responsibility and must include an accurate and complete determination of the cause of death. (Act 97-893, p. 252, §3.)

(a) There is hereby created the State Child Death Review Team, referred to in this article as the state team. (b) The state team shall be situated within the Alabama Department of Public Health for administrative and budgetary purposes. (c) The state team shall be a multidiscipli…

The purpose of the state team is to decrease the risk and incidence of unexpected/unexplained child injury and death by undertaking all of the following duties: (1) Identifying factors which make a child at risk for injury or death. (2) Collecting and sharing information among st…

State and local team members shall be immune from any and all civil and criminal liability in connection with their good faith participation on the state or local team and all activities associated therewith, provided however, this immunity shall not be available in the event any…

(a) There are hereby created local child death review teams. (b) Each county of the state shall be included in a local multidisciplinary, multiagency child death review team’s jurisdiction. The district attorney shall initiate the establishment of local teams by convening a meeti…

(a) Meetings of the state team and of local teams shall be closed to the public and not subject to the State Sunshine Law when the state team or local team is discussing a specific child death. (b) Information identifying a deceased child, a family member, guardian or caretaker o…

(a) All information and records acquired by the state team or by a local team, in the exercise of its purpose and duties pursuant to this article, are confidential, exempt from disclosure under Section 41-13-1, and may only be disclosed as necessary to carry out the team’s duties…

The duties of the coroner/medical examiner shall include the following: (1) Except in locations where a county medical examiner has jurisdiction, the coroner or a person acting in a professional capacity shall report the death of a child by telecommunications to the medical exami…

This article shall be known and may be cited as the Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Investigation Act. (Act 2011-705, p. 2184, §1.)

The Legislature finds and declares all the following: (1) Protection of the health and welfare of the infants of this state is a goal of its people and the unexpected or unexplained death of an infant is an important public health concern that requires legislative action. (2) Dea…

For purposes of this arciclet, the following words shall have the following meanings: (1) FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST. A pathologist trained or with experience in forensic pathology, licensed to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery in the State of Alabama an…

(a) There is established the Alabama Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Investigation (SUIDI) Team which for administrative purposes shall be organized within the Department of Public Health as a subcommittee of the State Child Death Review Team. The team is charged with the develop…

(a) An investigation shall be performed utilizing protocol and forms approved by the Alabama Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Investigation (SUIDI) Team in all incidents of infant deaths. (b) All law enforcement agencies within this state are responsible to ensure that all personn…

(a) In every case of SUID, the county coroner or medical examiner shall be notified and cooperate and assist law enforcement with the death investigation. (b) The county coroner or medical examiner shall obtain legal authorization to send the infant to a forensic pathologist for …