14-3-215 shall not be excluded on the ground it constitutes a

14-3-215 shall not be excluded on the ground it constitutes a privileged communication:

(i) Between husband and wife;

(ii) Claimed under any provision of law other than W.S. 1-12-101(a)(i) and (ii); or

(iii) Claimed pursuant to W.S. 1-12-116.

14-3-211. Appointment of counsel for child and other parties.

(a) The court shall appoint counsel to represent any child in a court proceeding in which the child is alleged to be abused or neglected. Any attorney representing a child under this section shall also serve as the child's guardian ad litem unless a guardian ad litem has been appointed by the court. The attorney or guardian ad litem shall be charged with representation of the child's best interest.

(b) The court may appoint counsel for any party when necessary in the interest of justice.

14-3-212. Child protection teams; creation; composition; duties; records confidential.

(a) The state agency and the local child protective agency shall encourage and assist in the creation of child protection teams within the communities in the state. The purposes of the child protection teams shall be to identify or develop community resources to serve abused and neglected children within the community, to advocate for improved services or procedures for such children and to provide information and assistance to the state agency, local child protection agency and multidisciplinary teams, if a multidisciplinary team has been appointed. The department may promulgate reasonable rules and regulations in accordance with the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act to define the roles and procedures of child protection teams.

(b) The local child protection team shall be composed of:

(i) A member of the district attorney's office;

(ii) A designated representative from the school district or districts within the area served by the team;

(iii) A representative from the local field office of the department of family services;

(iv) A representative from the county government;

(v) A representative from each city and town in the county;

(vi) Representatives from other relevant professions; and

(vii) Temporary members selected for the needs of a particular case as determined by the team.

(c) The local child protection team may:

(i) Assist and coordinate with the state agency, the local child protective agency and all available agencies and organizations dealing with children;

(ii) Repealed By Laws 2005, ch. 236, § 4.

(iii) Coordinate the provision of appropriate services for abused and neglected children and their families;

(iv) Identify or develop community resources to serve abused and neglected children and advocate for improved services and procedures for such children;

(v) Identify training needs, sponsor training and raise community awareness of child protection issues; and  (vi) Assist and make recommendations of appropriate services in individual cases brought to it by the state agency or the local child protection agency.

(d) The local child protection team shall not act as a multidisciplinary team, but members of the child protection team may serve on a multidisciplinary team if appointed pursuant to W.S. 14-3-427.

(e) All records and proceedings of the child protection teams are subject to W.S. 14-3-214.

14-3-213. Central registry of child protection cases; establishment; operation; amendment, expungement or removal of records; classification and expungement of reports; statement of person accused.

(a) The state agency shall establish and maintain a record of all child protection reports and a central registry of "under investigation" or "substantiated" child protection reports in accordance with W.S. 42-2-111.

(b) Through the recording of reports, the state agency's recordkeeping system shall be operated to enable the state agency to:

(i) Immediately identify and locate prior reports of cases of child abuse or neglect to assist in the diagnosis of suspicious circumstances and the assessment of the needs of the child and his family;

(ii) Continuously monitor the current status of all pending child protection cases;

(iii) Regularly evaluate the effectiveness of existing laws and programs through the development and analysis of statistical and other information; and

(iv) Maintain a central registry of "under investigation" reports and "substantiated" reports of child abuse or neglect for provision of information to qualifying applicants pursuant to W.S. 14-3-214(f).

(c) Upon good cause shown and upon notice to the subject of an "under investigation" or "substantiated" report, the state agency may list, amend, expunge or remove any record from the central registry in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the state agency.

(d) All reports of child abuse or neglect contained within the central registry shall be classified in one (1) of the following categories:

(i) "Under investigation"; or

(ii) "Substantiated".

(iii) Repealed By Laws 2005, ch. 23, § 2.

(e) Within six (6) months all reports classified as "under investigation" shall be reclassified as "substantiated" or expunged from the central registry, unless the state agency is notified of an open criminal investigation or criminal prosecution. Unsubstantiated reports shall not be contained within the central registry.

(f) Any person named as a perpetrator of child abuse or neglect in any report maintained in the central registry which is classified as a substantiated report as defined in W.S.