63.2-1503 - Local departments to establish child-protective services; duties. - Virginia Statutes

§ 63.2-1503. Local departments to establish child-protective services; duties.

A. Each local department shall establish child-protective services under adepartmental coordinator within such department or with one or more adjacentlocal departments that shall be staffed with qualified personnel pursuant toregulations adopted by the Board. The local department shall be the publicagency responsible for receiving and responding to complaints and reports,except that (i) in cases where the reports or complaints are to be made tothe court and the judge determines that no local department within areasonable geographic distance can impartially respond to the report, thecourt shall assign the report to the court services unit for evaluation; and(ii) in cases where an employee at a private or state-operated hospital,institution or other facility, or an employee of a school board is suspectedof abusing or neglecting a child in such hospital, institution or otherfacility, or public school, the local department shall request the Departmentand the relevant private or state-operated hospital, institution or otherfacility, or school board to assist in conducting a joint investigation inaccordance with regulations adopted by the Board, in consultation with theDepartments of Education, Health, Medical Assistance Services, BehavioralHealth and Developmental Services, Juvenile Justice and Corrections.

B. The local department shall ensure, through its own personnel or throughcooperative arrangements with other local agencies, the capability ofreceiving reports or complaints and responding to them promptly on a24-hours-a-day, seven-days-per-week basis.

C. The local department shall widely publicize a telephone number forreceiving complaints and reports.

D. The local department shall upon receipt of a complaint, report immediatelyto the attorney for the Commonwealth and the local law-enforcement agency andmake available to them the records of the local department when abuse orneglect is suspected in any case involving (i) death of a child; (ii) injuryor threatened injury to the child in which a felony or Class 1 misdemeanor isalso suspected; (iii) any sexual abuse, suspected sexual abuse or othersexual offense involving a child, including but not limited to the use ordisplay of the child in sexually explicit visual material, as defined in §18.2-374.1; (iv) any abduction of a child; (v) any felony or Class 1misdemeanor drug offense involving a child; or (vi) contributing to thedelinquency of a minor in violation of § 18.2-371, and provide the attorneyfor the Commonwealth and the local law-enforcement agency with records of anycomplaints of abuse or neglect involving the victim or the allegedperpetrator. The local department shall not allow reports of the death of thevictim from other local agencies to substitute for direct reports to theattorney for the Commonwealth and the local law-enforcement agency. The localdepartment shall develop, when practicable, memoranda of understanding forresponding to reports of child abuse and neglect with local law enforcementand the attorney for the Commonwealth.

E. When abuse or neglect is suspected in any case involving the death of achild, the local department shall report the case immediately to the regionalmedical examiner and the local law-enforcement agency.

F. The local department shall use reasonable diligence to locate (i) anychild for whom a report of suspected abuse or neglect has been received andis under investigation, receiving family assessment, or for whom a foundeddetermination of abuse and neglect has been made and a child-protectiveservices case opened and (ii) persons who are the subject of a report that isunder investigation or receiving family assessment, if the whereabouts of thechild or such persons are unknown to the local department.

G. When an abused or neglected child and the persons who are the subject ofan open child-protective services case have relocated out of the jurisdictionof the local department, the local department shall notify thechild-protective services agency in the jurisdiction to which such personshave relocated, whether inside or outside of the Commonwealth, and forward tosuch agency relevant portions of the case record. The receiving localdepartment shall arrange protective and rehabilitative services as requiredby this section.

H. When a child for whom a report of suspected abuse or neglect has beenreceived and is under investigation or receiving family assessment and thechild and the child's parents or other persons responsible for the child'scare who are the subject of the report that is under investigation or familyassessment have relocated out of the jurisdiction of the local department,the local department shall notify the child-protective services agency in thejurisdiction to which the child and such persons have relocated, whetherinside or outside of the Commonwealth, and complete such investigation orfamily assessment by requesting such agency's assistance in completing theinvestigation or family assessment. The local department that completes theinvestigation or family assessment shall forward to the receiving agencyrelevant portions of the case record in order for the receiving agency toarrange protective and rehabilitative services as required by this section.

I. Upon receipt of a report of child abuse or neglect, the local departmentshall determine the validity of such report and shall make a determination toconduct an investigation pursuant to § 63.2-1505 or, if designated as achild-protective services differential response agency by the Departmentaccording to § 63.2-1504, a family assessment pursuant to § 63.2-1506.

J. The local department shall foster, when practicable, the creation,maintenance and coordination of hospital and community-basedmultidisciplinary teams that shall include where possible, but not be limitedto, members of the medical, mental health, social work, nursing, education,legal and law-enforcement professions. Such teams shall assist the localdepartments in identifying abused and neglected children; coordinatingmedical, social, and legal services for the children and their families;developing innovative programs for detection and prevention of child abuse;promoting community concern and action in the area of child abuse andneglect; and disseminating information to the general public with respect tothe problem of child abuse and neglect and the facilities and prevention andtreatment methods available to combat child abuse and neglect. These teamsmay be the family assessment and planning teams established pursuant to §2.2-5207. Multidisciplinary teams may develop agreements regarding theexchange of information among the parties for the purposes of theinvestigation and disposition of complaints of child abuse and neglect,delivery of services and child protection. Any information exchanged inaccordance with the agreement shall not be considered to be a violation ofthe provisions of § 63.2-102, 63.2-104, or 63.2-105.

The local department shall also coordinate its efforts in the provision ofthese services for abused and neglected children with the judge and staff ofthe court.

K. The local department may develop multidisciplinary teams to provideconsultation to the local department during the investigation of selectedcases involving child abuse or neglect, and to make recommendations regardingthe prosecution of such cases. These teams may include, but are not limitedto, members of the medical, mental health, legal and law-enforcementprofessions, including the attorney for the Commonwealth or his designee; alocal child-protective services representative; and the guardian ad litem orother court-appointed advocate for the child. Any information exchanged forthe purpose of such consultation shall not be considered a violation of §63.2-102, 63.2-104, or 63.2-105.

L. The local department shall report annually on its activities concerningabused and neglected children to the court and to the Child-ProtectiveServices Unit in the Department on forms provided by the Department.

M. Statements, or any evidence derived therefrom, made to local departmentchild-protective services personnel, or to any person performing the dutiesof such personnel, by any person accused of the abuse, injury, neglect ordeath of a child after the arrest of such person, shall not be used inevidence in the case-in-chief against such person in the criminal proceedingon the question of guilt or innocence over the objection of the accused,unless the statement was made after such person was fully advised (i) of hisright to remain silent, (ii) that anything he says may be used against him ina court of law, (iii) that he has a right to the presence of an attorneyduring any interviews, and (iv) that if he cannot afford an attorney, onewill be appointed for him prior to any questioning.

N. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the local department, inaccordance with Board regulations, shall transmit information regardingfounded complaints or family assessments and may transmit other informationregarding reports, complaints, family assessments and investigationsinvolving active duty military personnel or members of their household tofamily advocacy representatives of the United States Armed Forces.

O. The local department shall notify the custodial parent and make reasonableefforts to notify the noncustodial parent as those terms are defined in §63.2-1900 of a report of suspected abuse or neglect of a child who is thesubject of an investigation or is receiving family assessment, in those casesin which such custodial or noncustodial parent is not the subject of theinvestigation.

P. The local department shall notify the Superintendent of Public Instructionwhen an individual holding a license issued by the Board of Education is thesubject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect and shall transmitidentifying information regarding such individual if the local departmentknows the person holds a license issued by the Board of Education and afterall rights to any appeal provided by § 63.2-1526 have been exhausted. Anyinformation exchanged for the purpose of this subsection shall not beconsidered a violation of § 63.2-102, 63.2-104, or 63.2-105.

(1975, c. 341, § 63.1-248.6; 1978, c. 747; 1979, cc. 347, 348; 1984, c. 392;1987, c. 443; 1989, cc. 109, 547; 1991, c. 644; 1992, cc. 214, 837, 880;1993, cc. 506, 955; 1994, cc. 643, 675, 840; 1996, cc. 858, 863; 1998, cc.704, 716; 2000, cc. 500, 854; 2002, c. 747; 2004, cc. 114, 220, 886; 2008,cc. 474, 827; 2009, cc. 813, 840.)