The effort is part of a bill signed into law last month by Gov. Jared Polis.
Currently, only six Colorado physicians, mostly in Denver, are board-certified in child abuse pediatrics, according to the Sun. This means there is not a safety net for children statewide, since much of Colorado is without proper expertise regarding a determination on whether child abuse has occurred.
The new legislation will create the Colorado child abuse response and evaluation network to provide medical and behavioral health assessments of children.
The program will train physicians to better diagnose child abuse — via a contract between the state department of public health and environment and a still-to-be-determined nonprofit organization, according to the Sun. Medical professionals who complete the program will receive advanced training on providing medical and behavioral health assessments to children in suspected physical or sexual abuse cases, the publication states.
The bill also creates a child abuse response and evaluation network advisory committee and provides $632,717 for bill implementation.
Read the full Sun report here and the bill text here.
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