Harrison County’s Blue Ribbon Committee devoted substantial time to shortcomings in information-sharing between Child Protective Services and local partners, and to new hospital–CPS coordination that committee members said is already helping protect newborns.

Speakers told the committee that mandated reporters — teachers, counselors, hospital staff and others — often receive no confirmation that CPS has investigated a referral or where a report stands in the investigative queue. Speaker 3 said mandated reporters routinely ask, ‘‘Is it being investigated? Where is it at in the queue?’’ and that current practice often leaves reporters unable to confirm whether a referral was acted on (SEG 355–366).

Local law-enforcement officers and a guardian ad litem advocated that police narratives and body-camera footage be captured as part of child-protection records. Speaker 4 described routinely taking photos and said body-camera footage can prevent disputes about conditions at a scene; Ashley McKnight, who identified herself as a local attorney and guardian ad litem, said chancellors often delay or pause proceedings until youth-court records and CPS documentation are obtained (SEG 406–413, SEG 486–494).

The committee asked whether chancery-court staff or judges could be given read-only access to MyKIDS, the state CPS case-management system, so attorneys and judges could see whether a case had been investigated, substantiated or assigned to an investigator. Speakers said that access could reduce delays that leave children waiting weeks or months for permanency decisions (SEG 583–595).

Memorial Hospital update: Cindy (representing Memorial) told members that Memorial now participates in a weekly meeting with CPS and that hospital staff typically provide a safety plan before discharge. The hospital’s monthly report—kept color-coded by year at the committee’s request—showed 21 CPS-related cases in October 2025, compared with 10 at the same time last year and 30 in 2023 (SEG 806–819, SEG 832–852).

What happens next: Committee members said they will press agencies for improved access to evidence and case-status information and will pursue follow-up with state contacts; they plan to revisit progress at the committee’s Jan. 16 meeting.

Note on evidence and support: The committee did not adopt a formal policy or mandate in the meeting; members described options for staff and judges to request and use law-enforcement narratives, body-camera footage and MyKIDS access but left implementation steps to follow-up with state agencies.