S-509                 _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 3238

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Senators Talmadge, Halsan, Granlund, Stratton, Rasmussen, Garrett and Peterson

Read first time 1/22/85 and referred to Committee on Judiciary.

AN ACT Relating to the abuse of children and adult dependent persons; and amending RCW 26.44.030.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 3, chapter 13, Laws of 1965 as last amended by section 3, chapter 97, Laws of 1984 and RCW 26.44.030 are each amended to read as follows:

          (1) When any practitioner, professional school personnel, registered or licensed nurse, social worker, psychologist, pharmacist, or employee of the department has reasonable cause to believe that a child or adult dependent person has suffered abuse or neglect, he shall report such incident, or cause a report to be made, to the proper law enforcement agency or to the department as provided in RCW 26.44.040.  The report shall be made at the first opportunity, but in no case longer than ((seven days)) twenty-four hours after there is reasonable cause to believe that the child or adult has suffered abuse or neglect.

          (2) Any other person who has reasonable cause to believe that a child or adult dependent person has suffered abuse or neglect may report such incident to the proper law enforcement agency or to the department of social and health services as provided in RCW 26.44.040 as now or hereafter amended.

          (3) The department upon receiving a report of an incident of abuse or neglect pursuant to this chapter, involving a child or adult dependent person who has died or has had physical injury or injuries inflicted upon him other than by accidental means or who has been subjected to sexual abuse, shall report in writing such incident to the proper law enforcement agency.  The report shall contain the information specified in RCW 26.44.040.

          (4) Any law enforcement agency receiving a report of an incident of abuse or neglect pursuant to this chapter, involving a child or adult dependent person who has died or has had physical injury or injuries inflicted upon him other than by accidental means, or who has been subjected to sexual abuse, shall report in writing as provided in RCW 26.44.040 such incident to the  proper county prosecutor or city attorney for appropriate action whenever the law enforcement agency's investigation reveals that a crime has been committed.  The law enforcement agency shall also notify in writing as provided in RCW 26.44.040 the department of social and health services of all reports received and of the disposition of the report.

(5) Any county prosecutor or city attorney receiving a report pursuant to subsection (4) of this section shall report the disposition of the incident to the department of social and health services.  The report shall include what charges, if any, were filed and the disposition of each charge, including any sentence imposed.  The county prosecutor or city attorney shall also notify the victim, and any family members the victim requests be notified, of the decision to charge or decline to charge a crime, within five days of making the decision.

(6) The department of social and health services shall publicly publish an annual report which shall state the number of incidents reported to the department under this section and the disposition of each incident as reported to the department by law enforcement agencies and the county prosecutor or city attorney and including any action taken by the department.