[esd-dir] OSL&P -- SB 379: Revises required training of school personnel on child abuse reporting

[BURGOYNE Jan]

TO:       All District and ESD Special Education Directors

 

The message below is being sent to you on behalf of:

 

Nancy Latini, PhD

Assistant Superintendent

Student Learning & Partnerships

______________________________________________ 

October 9, 2007

 

RE:      SB 379: Revises required training of school personnel on child
abuse reporting

SUMMARY: This bill revises the required training of school personnel on
child abuse reporting to include also required annual training to school
personnel on identification and prevention of child abuse.  In addition
there must be annual training made available to parents and students on
the identification and prevention of child abuse.  Finally, the
revisions include a requirement that DHS, upon completion of the
investigation and with available contact information, inform the
original reporter with the determination of that investigation.  

 

The 2007 Legislature adopted Senate Bill 379 relating to the provision
of training by education providers on the prevention and identification
of child abuse and on the obligations of school employees to report
child abuse. Education providers are defined in the bill to include
school districts, public charter schools, education service districts
and others. The bill also directs the Department of Human Services to
provide information to the original reporter of child abuse about the
investigation resulting from  a report. 

 

New in the bill is the requirement that each year education providers
shall provide to teachers and other school employees training regarding
the identification and prevention of child abuse.  Education providers
also shall make available training on identification and prevention of
child abuse each year to parents and students. Because the training
includes parents and students, school districts may want to consider
differentiated instruction for parents and students as compared to the
professional development for teachers and other school employees.
Department (ODE) staff met with staff from Department of Human Services
(DHS) to share ways to assist school districts and other education
providers with the implementation of the bill.

 

DHS will continue to support training as they have in the past through
their local DHS offices and will emphasis the need to provide feedback
to the original reporter. The critical part for school districts and
other education providers is to be certain that the original reporter be
informed of the DHS feedback.  Oftentimes if a teacher does the
reporting and an administrator or counselor is informed of the outcome,
the teacher is left out of the feedback loop.  DHS has been asked that
in such cases they simply remind the person to share their feedback with
that original reporter.  

 

DHS is also preparing an updated video and booklet (to be accessible by
web) which may be helpful in trainings at the district level.  ODE will
supply DHS the mailing labels for each school district and education
service district so that these materials will be shipped free of charge
as soon as they are ready.  In the meantime school districts and
education service districts are encouraged to continue to work with
their local DHS offices in this effort.  

 

ODE will contact the executive director of the State Commission on
Children and Families to see what the Commission's role might be at the
local level to support training for parents and students.  

 

The definition of "education provider" that applies to Senate Bill 379
is the same as contained in existing law under ORS 339.370.

 

For more information or if you have questions, please contact Tony Meek
at 305-947-5817 or tony.meek at state.or.us

 

Messages to and from this e-mail address may be made available to the
public under Oregon law.

===========End of Message============

 

 


**********************************************************************
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they
are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify
the system manager.

This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by
MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses.

www.clearswift.com
**********************************************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/pipermail/esd-dir/attachments/20071009/d6eef57a/attachment.html