Section 256.022 Child Maltreatment Review Panel

MINNESOTA STATUTES AND CODES

Section 256.022 Child Maltreatment Review Panel

256.022 CHILD MALTREATMENT REVIEW PANEL.

Subdivision 1.Creation.

The commissioner of human services shall establish a review panel for purposes of reviewing investigating agency determinations regarding maltreatment of a child in a facility in response to requests received under section 626.556, subdivision 10i, paragraph (b). The review panel consists of the commissioners of health; human services; education; public safety; and corrections; and the ombudsman for mental health and developmental disabilities; or their designees.

Subd. 2.Review procedure.

(a) The panel shall hold quarterly meetings for purposes of conducting reviews under this section. If an interested person acting on behalf of a child requests a review under this section, the panel shall review the request at its next quarterly meeting. If the next quarterly meeting is within ten days of the panel's receipt of the request for review, the review may be delayed until the next subsequent meeting. The panel shall review the request and the final determination regarding maltreatment made by the investigating agency and may review any other data on the investigation maintained by the agency that are pertinent and necessary to its review of the determination. If more than one person requests a review under this section with respect to the same determination, the review panel shall combine the requests into one review. Upon receipt of a request for a review, the panel shall notify the alleged perpetrator of maltreatment that a review has been requested and provide an approximate timeline for conducting the review.

(b) Within 30 days of the review under this section, the panel shall notify the investigating agency and the interested person who requested the review as to whether the panel agrees with the determination or whether the investigating agency must reconsider the determination. If the panel determines that the agency must reconsider the determination, the panel must make specific investigative recommendations to the agency. Within 30 days the investigating agency shall conduct a review and report back to the panel with its reconsidered determination and the specific rationale for its determination.

Subd. 3.Report.

By January 15 of each year, the panel shall submit a report to the committees of the legislature with jurisdiction over section 626.556 regarding the number of requests for review it receives under this section, the number of cases where the panel requires the investigating agency to reconsider its final determination, the number of cases where the final determination is changed, and any recommendations to improve the review or investigative process.