Protective Investigations
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Assessments
What must be documented regarding the child(ren)? ANSWER
When must the initial child safety assessment be completed? ANSWER
Upon removal, when must an initial health care assessment be completed for the child? ANSWER
Is the initial health care assessment completed on children who are placed with relatives or non-relatives? ANSWER
Is there a standardized home study form that Child Protective Investigators complete upon taking a child into custody and prior to placing in a relative/non-relative home? ANSWER
What exactly does the investigator have to complete and document prior to an emergency placement with a relative/non-relative? ANSWER
Are there forms for completing a relative/non-relative Home Study that currently are being used that are considered the "standard" or "best practice"? ANSWER
Is there a Policy or Procedure for Comprehensive Behavioral Health Assessments (CBHA)? ANSWER
Are Child Protective Investigators required to make copies of heir chrono notes in FSFN and put them in the paper file at the time of case closure, pursuant to CFOP 175-21 and CFOP 175-42? ANSWER
Background Checks
What background checks are completed on household members (including paramours) and frequent visitors or babysitters? ANSWER
What are the required criminal, delinquency and abuse/neglect history checks that shall be initiated prior to a relative/non-relative placement? ANSWER
Is there a requirement to conduct background checks on a non-custodial parent (and other household members, if any) who has unsupervised visitation with a child that is a victim of an open abuse report? ANSWER
Child Protection Team (CPT)
What cases must be referred to Child Protection Team (CPT) for assessment? ANSWER
Definitions
What are “reasonable efforts”? ANSWER
What are “foster care referrals”? ANSWER
PI-Services Interaction
What is the timeframe for the CPI to notify the services worker if a new report is received on a case that is active in the services unit? ANSWER
Investigation Issues
What is the timeframe for a protective investigator to complete an investigation? ANSWER
Is it necessary that the reporter is contacted? ANSWER
Is it mandatory that school staff be present with the child when the initial interview occurs at school? ANSWER
Who should be interviewed during an investigation? ANSWER
What should be observed and documented regarding the home environment? ANSWER
What constitutes a valid commencement? ANSWER
What procedure does an investigator follow if not allowed access to a home to conduct an investigation? ANSWER
If during an investigation it is found that there is an additional family (family B) living in the home with the target family (family A), is it necessary to open a case shell for family B? ANSWER
How do we remove deactivated children off of a management report prior to closure of the investigation? When we are deactivating victims or children from our case that were listed on the intake, the management reports continue to reflect a child or victim not seen until closure of the investigation. Same occurs with unknown victims/children on the original intake. ANSWER
Is there a limit to the number of interviews of a sexual abuse victim? This includes Child Protective Investigators, Law Enforcement, Child Protection Team, and others. ANSWER
Legal Issues
When may the court make a finding that reasonable efforts are not required? ANSWER
What information is required to be redacted from a closed child abuse investigative file pertaining to a child death case when requested by an attorney for an ongoing civil suit? ANSWER
Parent Issues
Isn’t it the parents’ responsibility to report a change of residence to the protective investigator? ANSWER
Staffings
When must a multidisciplinary staffing be held? ANSWER
Worker Contacts/Supervision
What are the required contacts for children in shelter? ANSWER
What are the required contacts for children sheltered with relatives/non-relatives? ANSWER
If an abuse report is assigned a response priority of "immediate," what timeframe does an investigator have to adhere to? ANSWER
When a report is received related to the death of a child several days after his death and face to face contact is not possible I understand that the CPI can enter a law enforcement contact. Is this correct? Also, is it correct to enter the contact at one minute after the receipt of the report? ANSWER