December 15, 2021

Decatur, Ga.- DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston will host a signing ceremony on Wednesday, December 15, to commemorate the adoption of the 2021 Sexual Assault Response Team Protocol and the 2021 Child Abuse Protocol.

Each judicial circuit is required by law to establish a Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) and adopt a protocol. The overall purpose of the protocol is to ensure coordination and cooperation between all agencies involved in sexual assault cases in an effort to increase the effectiveness and efficiency in handling these cases. Upon adoption, the committee is responsible for meeting at least annually to review, evaluate and modify the protocol as necessary.

Similarly, each judicial circuit is required by law to establish a Child Abuse Protocol (CAP) committee and to adopt the DeKalb County CAP.  Similar to the SART protocol, the overall purpose is to ensure coordination and cooperation between all agencies involved in child abuse cases. 

“This is more than a ceremonial process,” said Boston. “There are real life consequences to following these statutory mandates. Creating and maintaining clear responsibilities for the agencies that come into contact with sexual assault and child abuse cases can vastly improve outcomes for survivors of these horrific crimes.”

Certain agencies are statutorily required to participate in these committees and to ultimately adopt the respective protocols. These agencies include the Superior Court, Magistrate Court, Juvenile Court (CAP only), the county Sheriff, Police Departments, Division of Family and Children Services (CAP only), Child Advocacy Centers (CAP only), the Medical Examiner’s Office (CAP only), and the school system (CAP only). Additional agencies and community partners have been invited to participate.