Committee approves HB 527 to standardize child‑abuse protocols across Georgia judicial circuits

HB 527, a bill to standardize child‑abuse investigation protocols across Georgia’s judicial circuits, was approved by the House Judiciary Juvenile Committee after sponsor testimony, expert evidence and multiple parent witnesses.

Representative Tran introduced the bill as a move “to modernize our child protection framework,” shifting responsibility from county‑by‑county protocol committees to circuit‑level multidisciplinary committees and centralizing annual compliance reporting to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, the sponsor said. The committee adopted a friendly amendment to add “a member of the school police department, if applicable,” to the list of stakeholders in affected jurisdictions before approving the measure on a voice vote.

The Office of the Child Advocate framed the change as a response to low compliance. “Our compliance since I came to this office in 2021 has been around 12 to 14% of all jurisdictions in the state,” Jerry Bruce, director of the Office of the Child Advocate, told the committee, saying coroners are more closely tied to child‑fatality review than to the investigative committee the bill targets. Bruce said the bill streamlines duties (one meeting and one reporting deadline), adopts oversight practices used in the state’s sexual‑assault protocol, and directs the CJCC to publish annual compliance results as a way to raise adherence.

Family and advocacy witnesses described the practical effect of inconsistent protocols. “This isn’t just a policy update. It is necessary evolution in our commitment to justice and healing,” said Kitty Mayo, founder of Georgia Protective Parents, who supported the bill. Denise Monk, speaking as a mother, and other parents urged the committee to adopt uniform, trauma‑informed procedures so children do not have to repeatedly recount abuse across multiple agencies.

Emily Kucher, a lawyer and board member of Georgia Protective Parents, told members that evidence and law support standardized, multidisciplinary interviewing and training. She referenced the transcript’s citation to the state code on child‑hearsay admissibility and said standardized training and written protocols improve both child welfare and the legal integrity of investigations.

The committee’s action included a friendly amendment proposed by Representative Townsend to explicitly allow a school‑police representative where applicable; Representative Tran agreed to the amendment and legislative counsel placed the change in the bill. The committee approved the amendment and then passed HB 527 by voice vote. Chairwoman Camp said the sponsor’s office would provide materials to the committee to prepare rules and implementation guidance ahead of crossover.

What’s next: HB 527 advances from committee; the sponsor’s office will provide rule materials to members as the bill moves toward crossover. The committee did not record a roll‑call tally in the transcript; the measure passed on a voice vote.