SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1172
91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR YECKEL.
Read 1st time February 18, 2002, and 1,000 copies ordered printed.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
4735S.01I
AN ACT
To repeal section 210.145, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to child abuse investigations.
Section A. Section 210.145, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 210.145, to read as follows:
210.145. 1. The division shall establish and maintain an information system operating at all times, capable of receiving and maintaining reports. This information system shall have the ability to receive reports over a single, statewide toll-free number. Such information system shall maintain the results of all investigations, family assessments and services, and other relevant information.
2. Upon receipt of a report, the division shall immediately communicate such report to its appropriate local office and any relevant information as may be contained in the information system. The local division staff shall determine, through the use of protocols developed by the division, whether an investigation or the family assessment and services approach should be used to respond to the allegation. The protocols developed by the division shall give priority to ensuring the well-being and safety of the child.
3. The local office shall contact the appropriate law enforcement agency immediately upon receipt of a report which division personnel determine merits an investigation, or, which, if true, would constitute a suspected violation of any of the following: section 565.020, 565.021, 565.023, 565.024 or 565.050, RSMo, if the victim is a child less than eighteen years of age, section 566.030 or 566.060, RSMo, if the victim is a child less than eighteen years of age, or other crime under chapter 566, RSMo, if the victim is a child less than eighteen years of age and the perpetrator is twenty-one years of age or older, section 567.050, RSMo, if the victim is a child less than eighteen years of age, section 568.020, 568.030, 568.045, 568.050, 568.060, 568.080, or 568.090, RSMo, section 573.025, 573.037 or 573.045, RSMo, or an attempt to commit any such crimes. The local office shall provide such agency with a detailed description of the report received. In such cases the local division office shall request the assistance of the local law enforcement agency in all aspects of the investigation of the complaint. The appropriate law enforcement agency shall either assist the division in the investigation or provide the division, within twenty-four hours, an explanation in writing detailing the reasons why it is unable to assist.
4. The local office of the division shall cause an investigation or family assessment and services approach to be initiated immediately or no later than within twenty-four hours of receipt of the report from the division, except in cases where the sole basis for the report is educational neglect. If the report indicates that educational neglect is the only complaint and there is no suspicion of other neglect or abuse, the investigation shall be initiated within seventy-two hours of receipt of the report. If the report indicates the child is in danger of serious physical harm or threat to life, an investigation shall include direct observation of the subject child within twenty-four hours of the receipt of the report. Local law enforcement shall take all necessary steps to facilitate such direct observation. If the parents of the child are not the alleged abusers and the abuse is alleged to have occurred in a school or child care facility, the parents of the child must be notified prior to the child being interviewed by the division. In such cases, the division shall not meet with the child in the school or child care facility where abuse of such child is alleged to have occurred. When the child is reported absent from the residence, the location and the well-being of the child shall be verified.
5. The director of the division shall name at least one chief investigator for each local division office, who shall direct the division response on any case involving a second or subsequent incident regarding the same subject child or perpetrator. The duties of a chief investigator shall include verification of direct observation of the subject child by the division and shall, when necessary, ensure information regarding the status of an investigation is provided to the public school district liaison. The public school district liaison shall develop protocol in conjunction with the chief investigator to ensure information regarding an investigation is shared with appropriate school personnel. The [public school district liaison shall be designated by the] superintendent of each school district shall designate a specific person or persons to act as the public school district liaison. The information received by the school pursuant to this section regarding the investigation shall be received exclusively by the public school district liaison. Should the subject child attend a nonpublic school the chief investigator shall notify the school principal of the investigation. Upon notification of an investigation, all information received by the public school district liaison or the school shall be subject to the provisions of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, and federal rule 34 C.F.R. Part 99.
6. The investigation shall include but not be limited to the nature, extent, and cause of the abuse or neglect; the identity and age of the person responsible for the abuse or neglect; the names and conditions of other children in the home, if any; the home environment and the relationship of the subject child to the parents or other persons responsible for the child's care; any indication of incidents of physical violence against any other household or family member; and other pertinent data.
7. When a report has been made by a person required to report under section 210.115, the division shall contact the person who made such report within forty-eight hours of the receipt of the report in order to ensure that full information has been received and to obtain any additional information or medical records, or both, that may be pertinent.
8. Upon completion of the investigation, if the division suspects that the report was made maliciously or for the purpose of harassment, the division shall refer the report and any evidence of malice or harassment to the local prosecuting or circuit attorney.
9. Multidisciplinary teams shall be used whenever conducting the investigation as determined by the division in conjunction with local law enforcement. Multidisciplinary teams shall be used in providing protective or preventive social services, including the services of law enforcement, a liaison of the local public school, the juvenile officer, the juvenile court, and other agencies, both public and private.
10. If the appropriate local division personnel determine after an investigation has begun that completing an investigation is not appropriate, the division shall conduct a family assessment and services approach. The division shall provide written notification to local law enforcement prior to terminating any investigative process. The reason for the termination of the investigative process shall be documented in the record of the division and the written notification submitted to local law enforcement. Such notification shall not preclude nor prevent any investigation by law enforcement.
11. If the appropriate local division personnel determines to use a family assessment and services approach, the division shall:
(1) Assess any service needs of the family. The assessment of risk and service needs shall be based on information gathered from the family and other sources;
(2) Provide services which are voluntary and time-limited unless it is determined by the division based on the assessment of risk that there will be a high risk of abuse or neglect if the family refuses to accept the services. The division shall identify services for families where it is determined that the child is at high risk of future abuse or neglect. The division shall thoroughly document in the record its attempt to provide voluntary services and the reasons these services are important to reduce the risk of future abuse or neglect to the child. If the family continues to refuse voluntary services or the child needs to be protected, the division may commence an investigation;
(3) Commence an immediate investigation if at any time during the family assessment and services approach the division determines that an investigation, as delineated in sections 210.109 to 210.183, is required. The division staff who have conducted the assessment may remain involved in the provision of services to the child and family;
(4) Document at the time the case is closed, the outcome of the family assessment and services approach, any service provided and the removal of risk to the child, if it existed.
12. Within thirty days of an oral report of abuse or neglect, the local office shall update the information in the information system. The information system shall contain, at a minimum, the determination made by the division as a result of the investigation, identifying information on the subjects of the report, those responsible for the care of the subject child and other relevant dispositional information. The division shall complete all investigations within thirty days, unless good cause for the failure to complete the investigation is documented in the information system. If the investigation is not completed within thirty days, the information system shall be updated at regular intervals and upon the completion of the investigation. The information in the information system shall be updated to reflect any subsequent findings, including any changes to the findings based on an administrative or judicial hearing on the matter.
13. A person required to report under section 210.115 to the division shall be informed by the division of his right to obtain information concerning the disposition of his or her report. Such person shall receive, from the local office, if requested, information on the general disposition of his or her report. A person required to report to the division pursuant to section 210.115 may receive, if requested, findings and information concerning the case. Such release of information shall be at the discretion of the director based upon a review of the mandated reporter's ability to assist in protecting the child or the potential harm to the child or other children within the family. The local office shall respond to the request within forty-five days. The findings shall be made available to the mandated reporter within five days of the outcome of the investigation.
14. In any judicial proceeding involving the custody of a child the fact that a report may have been made pursuant to sections 210.109 to 210.183 shall not be admissible. However, nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the introduction of evidence from independent sources to support the allegations that may have caused a report to have been made.
15. The division of family services is hereby granted the authority to promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to the provisions of section 207.021, RSMo, and chapter 536, RSMo, to carry out the provisions of sections 210.109 to 210.183.
16. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, RSMo, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, and, if applicable, section 536.028, RSMo. This section and chapter 536, RSMo, are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536, RSMo, to review, to delay the effective date or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2000, shall be invalid and void.