§ 7B-311. Central registry; responsible individuals list.
§ 7B‑311. Centralregistry; responsible individuals list.
(a) The Department ofHealth and Human Services shall maintain a central registry of abuse, neglect,and dependency cases and child fatalities that are the result of allegedmaltreatment that are reported under this Article in order to compile data forappropriate study of the extent of abuse and neglect within the State and toidentify repeated abuses of the same juvenile or of other juveniles in the samefamily. This data shall be furnished by county directors of social services tothe Department of Health and Human Services and shall be confidential, subjectto rules adopted by the Social Services Commission providing for its use forstudy and research and for other appropriate disclosure. Data shall not be usedat any hearing or court proceeding unless based upon a final judgment of acourt of law.
(b) The Departmentshall also maintain a list of responsible individuals identified by countydirectors of social services as the result of investigative assessmentresponses. The Department may provide information from this list to childcaring institutions, child placing agencies, group home facilities, and otherproviders of foster care, child care, or adoption services that need todetermine the fitness of individuals to care for or adopt children.
(c) It is unlawful forany public official or public employee to knowingly and willfully releaseinformation from either the central registry or the responsible individualslist to a person who is not authorized to receive the information. It isunlawful for any person who is authorized to receive information from thecentral registry or the responsible individuals list to release thatinformation to an unauthorized person. It is unlawful for any person who is notauthorized to receive information from the central registry or the responsibleindividuals list to access or attempt to access that information. A person whocommits an offense described in this subsection is guilty of a Class 3misdemeanor.
(d) The Social ServicesCommission shall adopt rules regarding the operation of the central registryand responsible individuals list, including:
(1) Procedures forfiling data.
(2) Procedures fornotifying a responsible individual of a determination of abuse or seriousneglect.
(3) Procedures forcorrecting and expunging information.
(4) Determining personswho are authorized to receive information from the responsible individualslist.
(5) Releasinginformation from the responsible individuals list to authorized requestors.
(6) Gatheringstatistical information.
(7) Keeping andmaintaining information placed in the registry and on the responsibleindividuals list.
(8) A definition of"serious neglect". (1979, c. 815, s. 1; 1993, c. 516, s. 11; 1997‑443,s. 11A.118(a); 1998‑202, s. 6; 1999‑456, s. 60; 2005‑399, s.2.)