KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

Citizens Review Panel

Summary of Provisions of Chapters 355 and 356

of the Acts of 1999 with respect to Local Citzen Review Panels

Duties Authorized by Law

Local governments are given discretionary authority to appoint local citizen review panels to monitor child protection operations under guidelines established by the State Board (Family Law 5-539.2).

The State Board may designate these local citizen review panels to conduct case reviews and report results to the State Board (Family Law 5-539.1(b)(2)(ii)).

The State Council may request that the local citizens review panel conduct a review and report its findings to the Council (Family Law 5-7A-06(b)).

Both the State Board and State Council have the authority to appoint one member to the local panel (Family Law 5-539.2(c)).

"In consultation with local citizens review panels and the State Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, the State Board shall develop protocols that govern the scope of activities of local citizens review panels to reflect the provisions of the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. sec.5101 Et. Seq.)."⁽¹⁾(Family Law 5-539.2(c).

The State Board must provide training for the citizen review panels (Family Law 5-538(b)(1).

The main purpose of the local citizen review panel is to assist and advise the State Board and State Council (Family Law 5-539.2(a)(1). Other duties of the panel are:

• To evaluate the extent to which state and local agencies are effectively meeting their child protection responsibilities;
• To submit reports on its findings to the State Board and State Council who issue respective annual reports to the public and to the Governor; and
• To carry out other duties as requested by the State Board and State Council (Family Law 5-593.2(d).

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