New Hampshire Revised Statutes 169-C:39-l – Child Abuse Specialized Medical Evaluation Program Established
Current as of: 2023 | Check for updates
|
Other versions
A child abuse specialized medical evaluation program is hereby established in the department. The program shall include the following elements:
I. Child protective service workers shall have on-call access, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, to an experienced health care professional who is trained in and can advise on the standardized diagnostic methods, treatment, and disposition of suspected child sexual abuse and physical abuse.
II. Department nurses and child protective service workers performing screenings and assessments of reported cases of child abuse shall receive pre-service training in the standardized medical diagnostic methods, treatment, and disposition as well as periodic in-service training by health care providers experienced in child abuse and neglect.
III. Annually, a limited number of designated health care providers geographically distributed shall be trained in nationally recognized curricula to respond to initial presentations of child sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect.
IV. Health care professionals who participate in the training or are members of a multidisciplinary team, working with the department of health and human services or law enforcement, shall participate in periodic peer or expert reviews of their evaluations and undertake continuing education in the medical evaluation of child abuse and neglect according to professional standards.
V. The department shall contract with a health care provider with experience in child abuse and neglect to administer the program in collaboration with participating private and public entities.
VI. Reimbursement rates for health care providers who participate in the program shall reflect the average cost to deliver such services, including the participation in multidisciplinary team activities and associated court proceedings. The rates shall be periodically reviewed and, if necessary, revised.
VII. The commissioner of the department shall adopt rules, under RSA 541-A, relative to the medical evaluation program, training and continuing education requirements, and reimbursement rates.
I. Child protective service workers shall have on-call access, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, to an experienced health care professional who is trained in and can advise on the standardized diagnostic methods, treatment, and disposition of suspected child sexual abuse and physical abuse.
Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes 169-C:39-l
- Child: means any person who has not reached his eighteenth birthday. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 169-C:3
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Court: means the district court, unless otherwise indicated. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 169-C:3
- Department: means the department of health and human services. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 169-C:3
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of these laws, shall mean the section next preceding or following that in which such reference is made, unless some other is expressly designated. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:13
- Relative: means parent, grandparent, brother, sister, stepparent, stepbrother, stepsister, uncle, aunt, nieces, nephews or first and second cousins. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 169-C:3
- Sexual abuse: means the employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of any child to engage in, or having a child assist any other person to engage in, any sexually explicit conduct or any simulation of such conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct; or the rape, molestation, prostitution, or other form of sexual exploitation of children, or incest with children. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 169-C:3
II. Department nurses and child protective service workers performing screenings and assessments of reported cases of child abuse shall receive pre-service training in the standardized medical diagnostic methods, treatment, and disposition as well as periodic in-service training by health care providers experienced in child abuse and neglect.
III. Annually, a limited number of designated health care providers geographically distributed shall be trained in nationally recognized curricula to respond to initial presentations of child sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect.
IV. Health care professionals who participate in the training or are members of a multidisciplinary team, working with the department of health and human services or law enforcement, shall participate in periodic peer or expert reviews of their evaluations and undertake continuing education in the medical evaluation of child abuse and neglect according to professional standards.
V. The department shall contract with a health care provider with experience in child abuse and neglect to administer the program in collaboration with participating private and public entities.
VI. Reimbursement rates for health care providers who participate in the program shall reflect the average cost to deliver such services, including the participation in multidisciplinary team activities and associated court proceedings. The rates shall be periodically reviewed and, if necessary, revised.
VII. The commissioner of the department shall adopt rules, under RSA 541-A, relative to the medical evaluation program, training and continuing education requirements, and reimbursement rates.