§ 424 — Duties of the child protective service concerning reports of abuse or maltreatment

§ 424. Duties of the child protective service concerning reports of\nabuse or maltreatment. Each child protective service shall:\n 1. receive on a twenty-four hour, seven day a week basis all reports\nof suspected child abuse or maltreatment in accordance with this title,\nthe local plan for the provision of child protective services and the\nregulations of the commissioner;\n 2. maintain and keep up-to-date a local child abuse and maltreatment\nregister of all cases reported under this title together with any\nadditional information obtained and a record of the final disposition of\nthe report, including services offered and accepted;\n 3. upon the receipt of each written report made pursuant to this\ntitle, transmit, forthwith, a copy thereof to the state central register\nof child abuse and maltreatment. In addition, not later than seven days\nafter receipt of the initial report, the child protective service shall\nsend a preliminary written report of the initial investigation,\nincluding evaluation and actions taken or contemplated, to the state\ncentral register. Follow-up reports shall be made at regular intervals\nthereafter in a manner and form prescribed by the commissioner by\nregulation to the end that the state central register is kept fully\ninformed and up-to-date concerning the handling of reports;\n 4. give telephone notice and forward immediately a copy of reports\nmade pursuant to this title which involve the death of a child to the\nappropriate district attorney. In addition, telephone notice shall be\ngiven and a copy of any or all reports made pursuant to this title shall\nbe forwarded immediately by the child protective service to the\nappropriate district attorney if a prior request in writing for such\nnotice and copies has been made to the service by the district attorney.\nSuch request shall specify the kinds of allegations concerning which the\ndistrict attorney requires such notice and copies and shall provide a\ncopy of the relevant provisions of law;\n 5. forward an additional copy of each report to the appropriate duly\nincorporated society for the prevention of cruelty to children or other\nduly authorized child protective agency if a prior request for such\ncopies has been made to the service in writing by the society or agency;\n 5-a. give telephone notice and forward immediately a copy of reports\nmade pursuant to this title which involve suspected physical injury as\ndescribed in paragraph (i) of subdivision (e) of section ten hundred\ntwelve of the family court act or sexual abuse of a child or the death\nof a child to the appropriate local law enforcement. Investigations\nshall be conducted by an approved multidisciplinary investigative team,\nestablished pursuant to subdivision six of section four hundred\ntwenty-three of this title provided that in counties without a\nmultidisciplinary investigative team investigations shall be conducted\njointly by local child protective services and local law enforcement.\nProvided however, that co-reporting in these instances shall not be\nrequired when the local social services district has an approved\nprotocol on joint investigations of child abuse and maltreatment between\nthe local district and law enforcement. Such protocol shall be submitted\nto the office of children and family services for approval and the\noffice shall approve or disapprove of such protocols within thirty days\nof submission. Nothing in this subdivision shall prohibit local child\nprotective services from consulting with local law enforcement on any\nchild abuse or maltreatment report.\n 5-b. shall make an assessment in a timely manner of each report made\npursuant to this title which involves suspected maltreatment which\nalleges any physical harm when the report is made by a person required\nto report pursuant to section four hundred thirteen of this title within\nsix months of any other two reports that were indicated or may still be\npending involving the same child, sibling, or other children in the\nhousehold or the subject of the report to determine whether it is\nnecessary to give notice of the report to the appropriate local law\nenforcement entity. If the local child protective services determines\nthat local law enforcement shall be given notice, they shall give\ntelephone notice and immediately forward a copy of the reports to local\nlaw enforcement. If the report is shared with local law enforcement,\ninvestigations shall be conducted by an approved multidisciplinary\ninvestigative team, established pursuant to subdivision six of section\nfour hundred twenty-three of this title provided that in counties\nwithout a multidisciplinary investigative team investigations shall be\nconducted jointly by local child protective services and local law\nenforcement. Provided however, that co-reporting in these instances\nshall not be required when the local social services district has an\napproved protocol on joint investigations of child abuse and\nmaltreatment between the local district and law enforcement. Such\nprotocol shall be submitted to the office of children and family\nservices for approval and the office shall approve or disapprove of such\nprotocols within thirty days of submission. Nothing in this subdivision\nshall modify the requirements of this section. Nothing in this\nsubdivision shall prohibit local child protective services from\nconsulting with local law enforcement on any child abuse or maltreatment\nreport and nothing in this subdivision shall prohibit local child\nprotective services and local law enforcement or a multidisciplinary\nteam from agreeing to co-investigate any child abuse or maltreatment\nreport.\n 6. (a) upon receipt of such report, commence or cause the appropriate\nsociety for the prevention of cruelty to children to commence, within\ntwenty-four hours, an appropriate investigation which shall include an\nevaluation of the environment of the child named in the report and any\nother children in the same home and a determination of the risk to such\nchildren if they continue to remain in the existing home environment, as\nwell as a determination of the nature, extent and cause of any condition\nenumerated in such report and the name, age and condition of other\nchildren in the home, and, after seeing to the safety of the child or\nchildren, forthwith notify the subjects of the report and other persons\nnamed in the report in writing of the existence of the report and their\nrespective rights pursuant to this title in regard to amendment;\n (b) ascertain whether the child named in the report or any other child\nin the same home is in the care, custody or guardianship of an\nauthorized agency. Where such authorized agency is not the social\nservices district in which the home is located, the report shall be\nforwarded as soon as possible to such authorized agency and any other\nsocial services district charged with the care, custody or guardianship\nof the child or other children in the home. Such authorized agency and\nlocal social services district shall also be notified as to whether such\nreport is indicated or unfounded in accordance with subdivision seven of\nthis section. Nothing in this subdivision shall require such social\nservices district to investigate or participate in the investigation of\nsuch report;\n (c) subject to rules and regulations of the division of criminal\njustice services, a manager of the child protective services unit, or a\nperson with law enforcement background who is specifically designated by\nthe commissioner of the local social services district for this purpose,\nshall have access to conviction records maintained by state law\nenforcement agencies pertaining to persons of or over the age of\neighteen years who (1) are currently residing in the residence of any\nchild who is alleged to be or suspected of being abused, maltreated, or\nneglected or (2) are named in any report of suspected or alleged child\nabuse, maltreatment, or neglect; provided that nothing in this\nsubdivision shall be construed to contradict or modify section one\nthousand forty-six of the family court act. Any criminal history record\nprovided by the division of criminal justice services, and any summary\nof the criminal history record provided by the office of children and\nfamily services to the child protective services unit of a local social\nservices district pursuant to this subdivision, shall be kept\nconfidential and shall not be made available for public inspection.\nChild protective services units shall not indicate a report solely based\nupon the existence of a conviction record;\n 6-a. upon receipt of such report and commencement of the appropriate\ninvestigation, where the child protective service is not able to locate\nthe child or has been denied access to the home or denied access to the\nchild named in the report or to any children in the household, and where\nthe child protective investigator has cause to believe a child or\nchildren's life or health may be in danger immediately advise the parent\nor person legally responsible for the child's care or with whom the\nchild is residing that, when denied sufficient access to the child or\nother children in the home, the child protective investigator may\ncontact the family court to seek an immediate court order to gain access\nto the home and/or the child named in the report or any children in the\nhousehold without further notice and that while such request is being\nmade to such court, law enforcement may be contacted and if contacted\nshall respond and shall remain where the child or children are or are\nbelieved to be present;\n 6-b. should the parent or persons legally responsible for the child's\ncare or with whom the child is residing continue to deny access to the\nchild, children and/or home sufficient to allow the child protective\ninvestigator to determine their safety and if a child protective\ninvestigator seeks an immediate family court order to gain access to the\nchild, children and/or home, law enforcement may be contacted and if\ncontacted shall respond and shall remain where the child or children are\nor are believed to be present while the request is being made;\n 7. determine, within sixty days, whether the report is "indicated" or\n"unfounded";\n * 7-a. where a determination is not made within sixty days, document\nin the record the reason or reasons the determination was not made\nwithin sixty days, and determine within thirty days thereafter whether\nthe report is "indicated" or "unfounded";\n * NB Expired July 1, 1992\n 8. refer suspected cases of falsely reporting child abuse and\nmaltreatment in violation of subdivision four of section 240.50 of the\npenal law to the appropriate law enforcement agency or district\nattorney;\n 9. take a child into protective custody to protect him from further\nabuse or maltreatment when appropriate and in accordance with the\nprovisions of the family court act;\n 10. based on the investigation and evaluation conducted pursuant to\nthis title, offer to the family of any child believed to be suffering\nfrom abuse or maltreatment such services for its acceptance or refusal,\nas appear appropriate for either the child or the family or both;\nprovided, however, that prior to offering such services to a family,\nexplain that it has no legal authority to compel such family to receive\nsaid services, but may inform the family of the obligations and\nauthority of the child protective service to petition the family court\nfor a determination that a child is in need of care and protection;\n 11. in those cases in which an appropriate offer of service is refused\nand the child protective service determines or if the service for any\nother appropriate reason determines that the best interests of the child\nrequire family court or criminal court action, initiate the appropriate\nfamily court proceeding or make a referral to the appropriate district\nattorney, or both;\n 12. assist the family court or criminal court during all stages of the\ncourt proceeding in accordance with the purposes of this title and the\nfamily court act;\n 13. coordinate, provide or arrange for and monitor, as authorized by\nthe social services law, the family court act and by this title,\nrehabilitative services for children and their families on a voluntary\nbasis or under a final or intermediate order of the family court.\n 14. comply with provisions of sections ten hundred thirty-nine-a and\nten hundred fifty-two-a of the family court act.\n The provisions of this section shall not apply to a child protective\nservice with respect to reports involving children in homes operated or\nsupervised by the office of children and family services, the office of\nmental health, or the office of people with developmental disabilities\nsubject to the provisions of section four hundred twenty-four-b of this\ntitle.\n