395.1023 Child abuse and neglect cases; duties. - Florida Statutes

395.1023 Child abuse and neglect cases; duties.

Each licensed facility shall adopt a protocol that, at a minimum, requires the facility to:

   (1) Incorporate a facility policy that every staff member has an affirmative duty to report, pursuant to chapter 39, any actual or suspected case of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect; and

   (2) In any case involving suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect, designate, at the request of the department, a staff physician to act as a liaison between the hospital and the Department of Children and Family Services office which is investigating the suspected abuse, abandonment, or neglect, and the child protection team, as defined in s. 39.01, when the case is referred to such a team.

Each general hospital and appropriate specialty hospital shall comply with the provisions of this section and shall notify the agency and the department of its compliance by sending a copy of its policy to the agency and the department as required by rule. The failure by a general hospital or appropriate specialty hospital to comply shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000, to be fixed, imposed, and collected by the agency. Each day in violation is considered a separate offense.

History. s. 4, ch. 84-226; s. 1, ch. 85-65; s. 36, ch. 92-78; ss. 20, 98, ch. 92-289; s. 2, ch. 97-237; s. 141, ch. 98-403.

Note. Former s. 395.0205.