A Common Bond - The National Link Coalition

Table of ContentsChapter 4Adapt Law and Policy to Include Consideration of theCommon Bond..........................................................................................27Guideline 8 Reporting and cross-reporting procedures, andcollaborative training between child protective servicesand animal services agency personnel, should bespecified in law.Guideline 9 Where no cross-reporting procedures are specified inlaw, child protective services workers, child welfareagencies, juvenile courts, and animal services agenciesshould collaborate and share information andresources whenever possible.Guideline 10 The laws, policies, and professional norms surroundingthe issue of confidentiality should be thoroughlystudied with the goal of finding ways to encouragecollaborative interagency interactions when reportingand investigating child and animal abuse and neglect.Guideline 11 Laws should recognize the evidentiary importanceof facts related to animal cruelty at trial and atdisposition/sentencing in child maltreatment cases.Guideline 12 Animal cruelty, and the presence of animals in thehome that may have been adjudicated as dangerousor otherwise determined to present high risks tochildren, should be listed in the law as factors relevantto: custody and visitation decisions (for children andanimals); judicial consideration of removal of childrenand animals from the family home; and court-imposedconditions of current or future possession of animals.Guideline 13 Criminal laws related to animal cruelty should bestrengthened and should be in the penal code.Guideline 14 Every state animal cruelty law should contain aprovision that mandates counseling for juvenilesadjudicated for animal cruelty.Guideline 15 Information on coinciding animal cruelty shouldbe included in the collection and analysis of federalincidence study data or annual state statistics on childabuse and neglect.References................................................................................................36About the Authors....................................................................................41About the Sponsoring Organizations.....................................................42Ordering and Contact Information.........................................................45iv