30:1AA-21 Purpose, duties of task force.

2. a. The purpose and duties of the task force shall be to: study and monitor the prevalence of sexual violence committed against persons with developmental disabilities in the State; create informational materials and identify available resources to help persons with developmental disabilities prevent and report instances of sexual violence, and to help the parents, guardians, and caregivers of persons with developmental disabilities, as well as medical and legal personnel, better identify, prevent, and respond to instances of sexual violence being committed against persons with developmental disabilities; and recommend the undertaking of legislative, executive, and community action that may reduce the prevalence and impact of sexual violence committed against persons with developmental disabilities in the State.

b. In effectuating its purposes and duties under this act, the task force shall:

(1) gather and review information concerning the sexual violence committed against persons with developmental disabilities throughout the State, including, but not limited to, reports and testimony from individuals, State and local agencies, community-based organizations, and other public and private organizations;

(2) review the approaches that have been used, and the programs that have been implemented, in other states to reduce instances of sexual violence committed against persons with developmental disabilities;

(3) develop and publish aggregate, de-identified, statistical data on the sexual violence being committed against persons with developmental disabilities in the State. Statistics published under this paragraph shall be made available on the website of the Department of Human Services, and, to the extent practicable, shall reflect data for the State as a whole, as well as for each county in the State, and for each of the northern, central, and southern regions of the State. Significant changes in the data shall be highlighted; and

(4) establish broad policy and practice goals that are designed to protect persons with developmental disabilities from sexual violence, and to otherwise redress the problematic circumstances that allow for such violence to occur.

c. Recommendations adopted by the task force, pursuant to this act, shall include, but need not be limited to:

(1) recommendations for legislative or executive action;

(2) recommendations and guidelines for best practices to be utilized by facilities, community-based organizations, and medical and caregiving personnel engaged in the provision of services to persons with developmental disabilities, in order to better enable such facilities, organizations, and personnel to identify, prevent, investigate, and appropriately respond to sexual violence being committed against persons with developmental disabilities under their care;

(3) recommendations and guidelines for best practices to be utilized by attorneys, courts, and police officers engaged in the investigation or adjudication of cases involving sexual violence committed against a person with a developmental disability;

(4) recommendations and guidelines on the provision of evidence-based, age-appropriate sexual violence awareness and prevention training to persons with developmental disabilities, to the extent that such training is deemed by the task force to be appropriate. Any recommendations or guidelines developed under this paragraph shall take into account the variations in understanding and mental capacity that exist among persons with developmental disabilities;

(5) recommendations and guidelines on the provision of evidence-based sexual violence awareness, prevention, and response training and information to the parents, guardians, and fiduciaries of persons with developmental disabilities, and to the medical and caregiving professionals who provide care to persons with developmental disabilities, including, but not limited to, training and information on the warning signs of sexual violence, and the resources that are available for victims thereof; and

(6) recommendations to foster cooperation and collaboration among State agencies and community-based organizations, and between the State and local governments, as necessary to more efficiently or effectively address the sexual violence affecting persons with developmental disabilities.

L.2019, c.262, s.2.