The County Council believes that a Commission on Children and Youth is necessary to advise the County Council, County Executive, Department of Health and Human Services and the Board of Education, on the development of coordinated community and government policies, programs and services which support children, youth and families. The objectives of the Commission are: To identify the needs of children and youth according to age, location and special services required; to identify all existing services, public and private, available to children, youth and families; to identify those changes in public policy, service delivery, and funding necessary to improve the supporting services available to children, youth and families; and to serve as the community voice for children and youth and to be a forum for discussion with youth. The Commission on Children and Youth should coordinate work with the Commission on Child Care and should not duplicate the work of the Commission on Child Care.

(a) Creation and appointment. There is a Commission on Children and Youth. The County Executive appoints Commission members, subject to County Council approval. The Commission has 27 members, including the following: (1) one representative from the: (A) public school system; (B) private schools in the County; and (C) Department of Recreation. (2) The Department of Health and Human Services has 2 representatives. The remaining 22 members should be equally divided among individuals with recent experience in agencies providing services to children and youth, youth and young adults, and parents. The County Executive appoints the Chair and the Vice-Chair of the Commission, subject to County Council approval. A County government representative must not be the Chair or Vice-Chair. Commission members may make recommendations to the County Executive about appointment of the Chair and Vice-Chair. (b) Terms of office. The term of a member is 3 years, except that a youth or young adult member is appointed for one year from June 1 to May 30. (c) Compensation. Members of the Commission must not receive compensation for their services. (d) Meetings. The Commission meets on the call of the Chair as required to perform its duties but not less than 6 times each year. (e) Advocacy. The Commission must not engage in any advocacy activity at the State or federal levels unless that activity is approved by the Office of Intergovernmental Relations. (f) Staff. The Department of Health and Human Services provides the necessary staff support to the Commission for the conduct of the Commission's formal sessions.

The Commission has the following duties and responsibilities: (a) Initiate recommendations for such procedures, programs or legislation as it may deem necessary to promote the well-being of children, youth and families in the community; (b) Hold public hearings, initiate interagency conferences and create special task forces in order to identify and assess needs, review services, programs and policies and plan new strategies for supporting children, youth and families; (c) Collect data on the needs of children and youth, as well as services delivered by public and private agencies in the County; (d) Evaluate and review the implementation of County policies and programs affecting children, youth and families, including but not limited to: Early childhood education, health and nutrition, neglected and dependent children and youth, children/ youth with special needs and prevention and treatment of delinquency; (e) Recommend annual priorities which the County government should follow for improving services in support of children, youth, and families; (f) Review and promote the coordination of services between and among all agencies serving children and youth in this County; (g) Review, assess and make recommendations regarding funding of proposals utilizing public funds to be spent in behalf of children and youth; (h) Give recommendations to the County Executive and County Council for new sources of public funds for children and youth; (i) Review standards for licensing and operation of services to children and youth. (j) Serve as the children's council as established by Article 49D of the Annotated Code of Maryland and perform the duties and functions provided therein; (k) Provide effective public information on children's programs and services in the County; (l) Participate in the activities of the State Office for Children and Youth; (m) Solicit advice and suggestions from public and private agencies, and their professional staffs, concerned with problems of children and youth through the establishment of committees or other appropriate means; (n) Formulate bylaws and operating procedures necessary to carry out responsibilities; (o) Supervise and coordinate activities of the Youth Advisory Committee as a subcommittee of the Commission; and (p) Advise the County Council, County Executive, Department of Health and Human Services, and Board of Education in matters relating to children, youth, and families.

(a) Creation. The Citizens Review Panel for Children is established. (b) Appointment. The County Executive must appoint the members of the Citizens Review Panel, subject to County Council confirmation. The Executive must appoint the chair and vice-chair of the Citizens Review Panel, subject to Council confirmation. A member of the Citizens Review Panel may recommend individuals to the Executive to serve as the chair and vice-chair. (c) Membership. (1) The Citizens Review Panel has 9 to 14 members. (A) The Executive must appoint 7 members. No more than 3 members may be members of the Commission on Children and Youth who are separately confirmed by the Council as Panel members. (B) One member each must be a County resident selected under State law by: (1) the State Citizens Review Board for Children; and (2) the State Council on Child Abuse and Neglect. (C) The Executive may appoint, subject to confirmation by the Council, not more than 5 additional non-voting members to provide technical and professional advice to the Panel about child protective services. These members must have experience in preventing and treating child abuse and neglect, such as child advocates, volunteers of the court-appointed special advocate program, attorneys who represent children, parents and consumer representatives, and health and human services professionals. These members each serve a term of 3 years. A panel member should consider the advice of these members, but must exercise independent judgment in evaluating their advice. (2) Each member of the Panel must be a volunteer who: (A) exercises the member's own free will in all deliberations of the Panel; (B) acts independently of any outside influence, particularly the member's employer; (C) does not represent any agency or organization; and (D) is not a County or State employee, or spouse or domestic partner of an employee, whose participation would be inconsistent with County Council policies regarding appointment of government employees to boards, committees, and commissions. (d) Duties. The Citizens Review Panel must: (1) implement State law regarding local citizens review boards; (2) examine the policies and procedures of State and local agencies and, where appropriate, specific cases to evaluate the extent to which these agencies in the County are effectively fulfilling their responsibilities to implement the child protection standards and State plan under 42 U.S.C. § 5106a(b) and any other criteria that the panel considers important for the protection of children; (3) report the Panel's findings to the Executive, the Council, the State Citizens Review Board for Children, and the State Council on Child Abuse and Neglect; (4) within 60 days after the end of each fiscal year, prepare and make available to the public a report summarizing the Panel's activities during the fiscal year; and (5) carry out other duties as requested to assist the County Department of Health and Human Services, the State Citizens Review Board for Children, and the State Council on Child Abuse and Neglect. (e) Terms of office. The term of a Panel member is 3 years. (f) Compensation. Members of the Panel must not receive compensation for their services. A member may receive reimbursement for expenses incurred in connection with the member's service on the Panel, subject to appropriations. (g) Meetings. The Citizens Review Panel must meet at least once every 3 months at the call of the chair. (h) Access to information. Federal law requires the State to provide any case information requested by the Panel that is necessary for the Panel to carry out its functions. County agencies and employees must provide any case or other information that the Panel decides is necessary or useful to carry out its functions. Each member of the Panel is subject to State laws that restrict or prohibit disclosure of: (A) identifying information about a specific child protection case; or (B) certain other information. (i) Staff. Federal law requires the State to provide staff support to the Citizens Review Panel. The County Department of Health and Human Services may provide staff support to the Panel if the State reimburses the County for the full cost of the support. Transition. (a) When making initial appointments to the Citizens Review Panel, the County Executive must appoint 2 members to a one-year term, 2 members to a two-year term, and 3 members to a three-year term. (b) The Executive must appoint the members of the Advisory Group under Code Section 27-49A(j), as added by this Act, to initial terms of 1, 2, or 3 years, coincident with the term of a Panel member, so that the terms of no more than 2 members of the group expire in the same calendar year. (c) A member who serves for 18 months or less in a Panel or Advisory Group position during the position's initial term of one or two years is eligible for reappointment as if the member had not previously served in the position.