Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 81-17-4 - Objectives4.1. Concretize that the primary principle governing investigative and prosecutorial efforts is safeguarding the victim from further abuse from the perpetrator and from systemic abuse.4.2. Develop and exercise a protocol for the interaction of the Child Protection Unit and CPS that compliments the mission of both parties and achieves more timely and effective management of criminal child abuse and neglect cases, ultimately resulting in improving the overall welfare of the child.4.3. Promote the utilization of the West Virginia Child Abuse and Neglect Registry information in law enforcement investigations and in the monitoring of perpetrators.4.4. Inform law enforcement and criminal justice organizations, governmental agencies and other entities within the child protection community as well as the general public of their rights and responsibilities as they pertain to the Act.4.5 Prescribe the manner and form of how state and local law enforcement agencies, circuit clerks and parole officers are to report the charging and conviction of violations of child abuse and neglect statutes.4.6. Aid in the development and delivery of educational, informational and preventive programs directed to those in the child protection community, school systems, and the general public regarding their responsibilities regarding the detection and reporting of potential child abuse.4.7. Participate in programs and projects that promote the interaction between law enforcement, county prosecutors, service providers and other involved bodies such as the West Virginia Fatality Review Team, the Child Advocacy Centers MDITs, Child Advocacy Centers, the WV Foundation for Rape Information Services (FRIS) and the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence (WVCADV).4.8. Advance safe environments for children by effective involvement in the prosecution of persons alleged to have committed, aided, abetted and/or by way of omission the direct or potential mental, emotional, sexual and/or physical harm of a minor child.4.9. Advise other law enforcement agencies, CPS caseworkers, prosecuting attorneys, and MDITs of the training, technical expertise and service coordination capabilities offered by the Child Protection Unit and provide such services, when requested.4.10. The unit's contribution to the identification, investigation and prosecution of cases of child abuse and neglect is not limited to the offenses of §§ 61-8D-2, 61-8D-2a, 61-8D-3, 61-8D-3a. 61-8D-4 or 61-8D-4a, but is to also extend to cases involving sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or physical injury of a child.