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Committee recommends standardized CPS follow-up reports, photo protocols and secure uploads
Summary
Members recommended a standardized, professional follow-up report for CPS investigations, discussed issuing shared cameras or an upload tool for schools to submit photos securely to CPS, and urged clearer chains of command for law enforcement follow-up.
Dr. Caldwell (speaker 4) presented findings from meetings with schools and law enforcement, saying teachers and police "don't have follow-up" after filing CPS reports and proposing a standardized, limited follow-up report to indicate investigation status and outcome without violating privacy.
Dr. Caldwell recommended that the follow-up report be created "by professionals" — law enforcement, medical personnel, counselors — and include basic, non-identifying information such as the assigned caseworker's name, assignment date, where the child is housed during the investigation (relative, foster, or hospital) and a brief outcome once the investigation concludes (for example: closed for insufficient evidence; parent charged; child placed with relative). The committee emphasized the need to avoid transmitting private or detailed case information.
Speakers debated photographic documentation for physical evidence. Dr. Caldwell proposed either county-shared cameras or school-issued devices and standardized training for photographing visible injuries (face, head, neck, arms, legs) with measurement markers. She cautioned against photographing under clothing and recommended immediate transfer of images to CPS with secure deletion from school devices once CPS confirms receipt.
Law enforcement participants described delays in CPS response and reliance on an 800-number intake system, which they said sometimes results in long response times; one patrol officer said he began using his body-worn camera to document scenes because by the time an investigator arrived, physical evidence had often disappeared. The officer urged that body-camera footage be allowed into evidence and that local protocol standardization could improve outcomes.
Memorial Hospital's representative (speaker 5) reported that the hospital's child-protection caseload is up this year and said the hospital has a new social worker assigned to maternal and child services.
As follow-up, the committee recommended drafting a standard follow-up-report template, exploring secure upload tools for attachments, coordinating with hospitals and law enforcement on evidence-handling protocols, and presenting a unified plan to the board of supervisors and to legislators during the planned Capitol outreach.
The meeting ended after procedural votes; the committee will reconvene after members coordinate necessary outreach and materials.
