§ 12-8-509 - Additional reporting required. - Arkansas Statutes

12-8-509. Additional reporting required.

(a) The state agency or entity responsible for administering the twenty-four-hour toll-free Child Abuse Hotline or investigating an incident of neglect as defined under 12-18-103(13)(B) shall:

(1) Develop and maintain statewide statistics of the incidents of neglect reported or investigated under 12-18-103(13)(B);

(2) (A) Annually report no later than October 1 to the following:

(i) The Senate Interim Committee on Children and Youth;

(ii) The House Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs;

(iii) The Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor; and

(iv) The House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor.

(B) The annual report under this section shall include all findings and statistics regarding incidents of neglect reported or investigated under 12-18-103(13)(B), including, but not limited to, the following information:

(i) The age of the mother;

(ii) The type of illegal substance to which the newborn child was exposed prenatally;

(iii) The estimated gestational age of the newborn child at the time of birth; and

(iv) The newborn child's health problems; and

(3) (A) Notify each mandatory reporter who makes a call to the Child Abuse Hotline if the mandatory reporter's call is not accepted or is screened out on a subsequent Child Abuse Hotline supervisor review.

(B) The notification required under subdivision (a)(3)(A) of this section shall be made within forty-eight (48) hours, excluding weekends and holidays, after a mandatory reporter makes a call to the Child Abuse Hotline that is not accepted or is screened out on a subsequent Child Abuse Hotline supervisor review.

(b) If more than one (1) state agency or entity is responsible for administering the twenty-four-hour toll-free Child Abuse Hotline or investigating an incident of neglect as defined under 12-18-103(13)(B), then the reporting under this section shall be a collaborative effort by all state agencies or entities involved.