Art. 508. Multidisciplinary investigative team; scope of responsibility

            A. A multidisciplinary investigative team shall be established for the investigation of child abuse within each judicial district.

            B. The team shall be responsible for the investigation of all child sexual abuse cases, abuse and neglect cases involving allegations of the commission of a felony-grade crime against a child, and any other case involving trauma to a child, which is referred to the team by any member and accepted by the team for investigation in compliance with the interagency protocols developed and instituted in accordance with Article 510.

            C. Any child for whom the Department of Children and Family Services or law enforcement has received a report of suspected sexual abuse or severe physical abuse shall be referred to a child advocacy center for a forensic interview in accordance with interagency protocols. The department or law enforcement agency shall notify the child advocacy center within seventy-two hours of receiving the report and the child advocacy center shall notify members of the appropriate multidisciplinary team within twenty-four hours. Every child advocacy center shall accept referrals from both the department and law enforcement. The multidisciplinary team shall meet to review any case in which a forensic interview has occurred. Law enforcement or the department shall not close a case in which a forensic interview has occurred prior to the multidisciplinary team review.

            D. Each team shall develop and institute interagency protocols in accordance with this Article and Article 510 and shall update the protocols as necessary.

            Acts 2003, No. 749, §1; Acts 2026, No. 960, §5, eff. Jan. 1, 2027.