Substitute House Bill 4 Summary

• Establishes county memorandums of understanding between public children services agencies, law enforcement, prosecutors, juvenile judges, and other officials to coordinate child abuse and neglect investigations and minimize unnecessary child interviews.

• Requires public children services agencies to cross-report child abuse cases to law enforcement agencies and establishes procedures for information sharing between agencies regarding investigations.

• Protects residential addresses of child welfare workers and their relatives from public disclosure, with limited exceptions for journalists meeting specific written request requirements.

• Creates a youth and family ombudsman office under the Department of Job and Family Services with separate family and youth ombudsmen to investigate complaints from children and families involved with child welfare agencies and foster care services.

• Expands home assessor eligibility for adoption and child welfare cases to include individuals with bachelor's degrees in human services fields and at least one year of relevant experience working with families and children.