TITLE 49 SOCIAL SERVICES

Section 5. Programs and Protection for Children and Youth, 49-5-1 through 49-5-281.

ARTICLE 1 CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES

49-5-24. Interagency efforts to gather and share comprehensive data; legislative findings; state-wide system for sharing data regarding care and protection of children; interagency data protocol; interagency agreements; waivers from certain federal regulations.

1. 1. In an effort to improve the availability and quality of programs and services for the protection of children and youth, the General Assembly supports interagency efforts to gather comprehensive data and to actively share and disseminate data among those agencies responsible for making informed decisions regarding the treatment, care, security, and protection of children within this state.
   2. The General Assembly finds that the sharing and integration of appropriate data and information may have numerous benefits for children and families in this state, as well as for the state and local agencies attempting to provide services for them.
   3. The General Assembly finds that such data sharing and integration can serve the best interests of the child and the family, contribute to higher levels of effectiveness in service delivery, provide greater efficiency and productivity, and assist in the protection of children. Specifically, such data sharing and integration can reduce redundant data entry, expedite data sharing between agencies, provide for more timely service delivery, ensure more accurate and up-to-date information, assist in the development of a seamless system of services, and contribute to better performance and greater accountability by all involved parties.
   4. The General Assembly finds that the goals and purposes of this chapter, including the goal to develop a seamless system of services for children and their families, would be furthered by the development of a central repository of data for planning and evaluation purposes and urges the agencies to work toward the development of such a central repository.
2. The department, working with the following agencies, shall develop and implement a workable state-wide system for sharing data relating to the care and protection of children between such agencies, utilizing existing state-wide data bases and data delivery systems to the greatest extent possible, to streamline access to such data:
   1. Division of Family and Children Services of the department;
   2. Department of Early Care and Learning;
   3. Department of Community Health;
   4. Department of Public Health;
   5. Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities;
   6. Department of Juvenile Justice;
   7. Department of Education; and
   8. Georgia Crime Information Center.
3. The department, working with such agencies, shall establish an interagency data protocol to enable each agency to accurately and efficiently collect and share data with the other agencies in the most effective and expeditious manner. The interagency data protocol shall:
   1. Include protocols and procedures to be used by agencies in data processing, including but not limited to collecting, storing, manipulating, sharing, retrieving, and releasing data;
   2. Delineate the specific data to be shared among all or specified agencies, the person or persons authorized by each agency to have access to another agency's data, and the security arrangements between agencies to ensure the protection of the data from unauthorized access that may threaten the privacy of persons and the confidentiality of the data;
   3. Establish the circumstances under which and the reasons for which an agency may share information with another agency, with a local political subdivision, with a nongovernmental entity, or with an individual; and
   4. Ensure compliance with all state and federal laws and regulations concerning the privacy of information, including but not limited to the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, and the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, 42 U.S.C. Section 1320d to 1320d-9.
4. To further delineate the parameters for the sharing of data with one or more agencies, specific interagency agreements may be executed between or among agencies.
5. If a federal law or regulation impedes necessary data sharing between agencies, the appropriate agency or agencies shall make all reasonable attempts to be granted a waiver or exemption from the applicable law or regulation.
6. The Department of Human Services and any of the agencies in subsection (b) of this Code section may apprise chairpersons of the appropriate committees of the General Assembly of the need for any legislative action necessary to facilitate or improve data sharing between agencies for the purposes of this Code section.
7. 1. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, nothing in this Code section shall be construed to nullify any memorandum of understanding existing as of June 30, 2015, or prohibit the creation of memorandums of understanding on and after July 1, 2015, between or among agencies concerning data sharing or any other data sharing practices.
   2. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, nothing in this Code section shall prohibit the release to or sharing of data with nongovernmental entities or individuals if the release or sharing is otherwise required, permitted, or allowed pursuant to state or federal law.

(Code 1981, §49-5-24, enacted by Ga. L. 2015, p. 552, § 9/SB 138; Ga. L. 2016, p. 864, § 49/HB 737.)