(1) The purpose of the task force is to:

(a) Study current laws, rules, and practices followed in the state and best practices in other states regarding the documentation of evidence or the absence of evidence of suspected child abuse through the collection and security of digital images by government employees;

(b) Consider whether the statutes and practices concerning the collection of evidence of suspected abuse or neglect and the use of digital images are consistent with existing technologies and emerging electronic technologies; and

(c) Recommend the best practices to be used in the collection and security of digital imagery evidence of child abuse or neglect.

(2) In carrying out the purposes outlined in subsection (1) of this section, the task force shall consider:

(a) The constitutional standards, case law, statutes, rules, practices, and standards in Colorado, if any, that govern:

(I) How a county employee who has open involvement with a child takes, maintains, and disseminates digital images of a child, including the child's private areas, to document the abuse or neglect or the absence of abuse or neglect; and

(II) How a government employee takes, maintains, and disseminates digital images of a child's body, including those areas of a child's body that are visible in plain sight and those that are private areas;

(b) Whether the criteria or standards that government employees follow when documenting evidence of suspected child abuse or neglect through digital images balance the need to collect evidence of suspected child abuse or neglect with the need to protect the privacy and constitutional rights of both parents and of children;

(c) The safeguards used by a government employee to ensure the best interests of children when documenting evidence of suspected child abuse or neglect through digital imagery;

(d) The role of law enforcement agencies in conducting a child abuse or neglect assessment or investigation jointly with county departments pursuant to cooperative agreements implemented pursuant to section 19-3-308 (5.5) and whether there are best practices that have been developed through cooperative agreements relating to the collection, sharing, and handling of digital images;

(e) How governments and medical professionals collaborate during assessments or investigations of suspected child abuse or neglect to collect, transmit, and share evidence, including digital images, without slowing down the process and while ensuring that there is no impediment to the child's safety;

(f) Whether section 19-3-306, regarding the taking of color photographs of children, should be amended to include all types of digital images and what precautions should be taken regarding the transmission and storage of digital images of children;

(g) The statutes, rules, and policies that govern the taking of digital images of children's bodies, including private areas, on personal or government-owned cell phones, cameras, devices, or other equipment that can be used to take digital images, and the safeguards in place to guide government employees on how to take, maintain, and disseminate digital images;

(h) Whether digital images of children that may be used as evidence in cases of child abuse under section 18-6-401, C.R.S., should be transmitted and stored through the statewide discovery sharing system pursuant to section 16-9-702, C.R.S., and what safeguards should be developed on the transmission and maintenance of digital images through that system;

(i) The statutes, rules, and policies that govern the audiotaping and videotaping of a child interview and the storage and maintaining of those child interviews; and

(j) The best practices followed in other states or recommended by national child welfare experts for child welfare caseworkers to follow when collecting evidence of suspected child abuse or neglect through digital imagery to document evidence or absence of evidence of child abuse or neglect; collaborating with and sharing in the dissemination of evidence with law enforcement agencies, medical professionals, and any other agencies legally authorized in the investigation of child abuse or neglect; referring a child for medical examinations; and maintaining, storing, and safeguarding digital images of children.

(3) The task force shall consider and recommend:

(a) The best practices and procedures that government employees should use when documenting evidence of suspected abuse or neglect on a child's body, including areas that are not visible in plain sight on the child or that are private areas of a child or both; and

(b) The best practices and procedures that government employees should use when observing or assessing a child's private areas or collecting digital images or other evidence of suspected abuse or neglect.

(4) The task force shall study the following sequence of events and recommend best practices when a government employee seeking to view or document evidence of suspected child abuse or neglect of private areas of the child:

(a) Is required to obtain the consent of a parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child; or

(b) Is required to obtain the consent of a child who is fifteen years of age or older and less than eighteen years of age, in addition to obtaining the consent of that child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian; or

(c) Must obtain a court order directing that the child be presented to and examined and evaluated by an independent medical provider, a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE), or the child's own physician, if the parent, guardian, or legal custodian, or the child, if between the ages of fifteen and eighteen, refuses to give consent; or

(d) May proceed in examining and photographing the private areas of the child without the parent's consent or the child's consent, if the child is fifteen years of age or older and less than eighteen years of age, and without a court order based upon a reasonable belief that exigent circumstances exist that constitute a medical emergency, such as in conjunction with a call to 911, or based upon a reasonable suspicion that the child needs treatment or is in immediate threat of serious bodily injury.

(5) Based on the study of the issues outlined in subsections (2) to (4) of this section, the task force should develop recommendations for administrative changes that governments should undertake and develop specific recommendations for legislation, if any.

(6) On or before December 1, 2017, the task force shall submit an initial written report on its findings and progress to the governor; the state department; the child welfare training academy; the Colorado association of chiefs of police; the county sheriffs of Colorado; the Colorado medical society; the joint budget committee; and the public health care and human services committee of the house of representatives and the health and human services committee of the senate, or any successor committees. On or before December 1, 2018, the task force shall submit a final written report to the governor; the state department; the child welfare training academy; the Colorado association of chiefs of police; the county sheriffs of Colorado; the Colorado medical society; the joint budget committee; and the public health care and human services committee of the house of representatives and the health and human services committee of the senate, or any successor committees. The final report must include, but need not be limited to, the task force's findings and recommendations for changes in administrative rules and recommendations for legislation, if necessary.