16208. (Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 1139, Sec. 13.)

(a) (1) The department, in consultation with the Child Welfare Training Advisory Board, shall contract with the University of California or the California State University system to develop a statewide protocol for telephone screening of emergency response referrals to protect children from abuse and neglect, to be called the Emergency Response Protocol. The department shall seek the advice of the California Children’s Lobby in the development of this protocol.

(2) The Emergency Response Protocol shall incorporate written procedures for screening each referral of abuse or neglect to assess whether abuse of another family or household member is occurring. This additional domestic violence assessment and referral criteria shall be developed by the department in consultation with domestic violence victims’ advocates, and other public and private agencies that provide programs for victims of domestic violence or programs of intervention for perpetrators and the County Welfare Directors Association.