Oklahoma commission adopts new rules for freestanding multidisciplinary teams amid privacy, peer‑review debate

The Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth approved changes to the rules governing freestanding multidisciplinary child abuse teams after extended discussion about peer reviews, data collection and confidentiality.

Marsha Johnson, OCCY senior staff, told the commission the draft rules standardize annual reviews and site visits for MDTs, incorporate peer reviewers to help assess team functioning, and require teams to enter specified case data into a secure database. She said the rulemaking followed a November notice of rulemaking intent, an extended public comment period and a Jan. 17 public hearing.

The rules would add an annual site‑visit component and permit some site visits to be conducted as peer reviews by trained MDT coordinators from other teams, while keeping an overall annual review process that the commission will receive and approve. Johnson said the data to be collected will include points such as a child’s name, date of birth, school setting, alleged type of abuse, the presence or absence of a KK (child welfare) number, referrals to community services and case outcomes, and that the rules explicitly will not collect addresses or adult Social Security numbers.

Commissioners and other speakers questioned how the peer review process would be selected and trained, whether state statute provides authority to delegate site visits to peer reviewers, and whether tribal partners and some district attorneys had been adequately consulted. District Attorney Tessa Hicks and other commissioners said they had not personally heard of broad objections from DAs but agreed the commission should seek clearer input from affected stakeholders.

Assistant Attorney General Sandra Bowser told the commission that the statutory language is broadly phrased and that the proposed rules expand on that general authority. Several commissioners urged caution: they said the legislature has recently scrutinized rulemaking across agencies and asked staff to be sure the rules fit statutory authority and to be prepared to explain stakeholder engagement in the administrative‑rule review process.

Staff described the secure database as already built and approved by the state chief information officer and housed at the University of Oklahoma; OCCY said access will be strictly limited to OCCY staff and specified, authorized contractors and that identifiable information would be protected and released only by court order. OCCY staff said the database will support data cleaning, quality assurance and limited cross‑jurisdictional matching (for example, a child with reviews in multiple counties), which they argued will improve oversight and service coordination.

Supporters said peer review reduces the burden on a small OCCY staff member who must otherwise perform frequent site visits for roughly 40 teams statewide and noted peer review is common in other fields and can promote shared learning. Critics raised concerns about confidentiality protections, whether tribal partners were adequately engaged and whether some DAs might withhold participation.

After discussion, the commission voted to adopt the rule changes. The rules now move into the normal administrative review and publication process required before they take effect.

The vote followed public comment, the staff presentation and extended commissioner questions. Commissioners who spoke during the discussion included Marsha Johnson (OCCY staff), Assistant Attorney General Sandra Bowser, District Attorney Tessa Hicks and commission members who requested additional engagement with stakeholders. The commission recorded its final roll call as a majority vote in favor.