63.2-1509 - Physicians, nurses, teachers, etc., to report certain injuries to children; penalty for failure to report. - Virginia Statutes

§ 63.2-1509. Physicians, nurses, teachers, etc., to report certain injuriesto children; penalty for failure to report.

A. The following persons who, in their professional or official capacity,have reason to suspect that a child is an abused or neglected child, shallreport the matter immediately to the local department of the county or citywherein the child resides or wherein the abuse or neglect is believed to haveoccurred or to the Department's toll-free child abuse and neglect hotline:

1. Any person licensed to practice medicine or any of the healing arts;

2. Any hospital resident or intern, and any person employed in the nursingprofession;

3. Any person employed as a social worker;

4. Any probation officer;

5. Any teacher or other person employed in a public or private school,kindergarten or nursery school;

6. Any person providing full-time or part-time child care for pay on aregularly planned basis;

7. Any mental health professional;

8. Any law-enforcement officer or animal control officer;

9. Any mediator eligible to receive court referrals pursuant to § 8.01-576.8;

10. Any professional staff person, not previously enumerated, employed by aprivate or state-operated hospital, institution or facility to which childrenhave been committed or where children have been placed for care and treatment;

11. Any person associated with or employed by any private organizationresponsible for the care, custody or control of children;

12. Any person who is designated a court-appointed special advocate pursuantto Article 5 (§ 9.1-151 et seq.) of Chapter 1 of Title 9.1;

13. Any person, over the age of 18 years, who has received training approvedby the Department of Social Services for the purposes of recognizing andreporting child abuse and neglect;

14. Any person employed by a local department as defined in § 63.2-100 whodetermines eligibility for public assistance; and

15. Any emergency medical services personnel certified by the Board of Healthpursuant to § 32.1-111.5, unless such personnel immediately reports thematter directly to the attending physician at the hospital to which the childis transported, who shall make such report forthwith.

This subsection shall not apply to any regular minister, priest, rabbi, imam,or duly accredited practitioner of any religious organization or denominationusually referred to as a church as it relates to (i) information required bythe doctrine of the religious organization or denomination to be kept in aconfidential manner or (ii) information that would be subject to § 8.01-400or 19.2-271.3 if offered as evidence in court.

If neither the locality in which the child resides nor where the abuse orneglect is believed to have occurred is known, then such report shall be madeto the local department of the county or city where the abuse or neglect wasdiscovered or to the Department's toll-free child abuse and neglect hotline.

If an employee of the local department is suspected of abusing or neglectinga child, the report shall be made to the court of the county or city wherethe abuse or neglect was discovered. Upon receipt of such a report by thecourt, the judge shall assign the report to a local department that is notthe employer of the suspected employee for investigation or familyassessment. The judge may consult with the Department in selecting a localdepartment to respond to the report or the complaint.

If the information is received by a teacher, staff member, resident, internor nurse in the course of professional services in a hospital, school orsimilar institution, such person may, in place of said report, immediatelynotify the person in charge of the institution or department, or hisdesignee, who shall make such report forthwith.

The initial report may be an oral report but such report shall be reduced towriting by the child abuse coordinator of the local department on a formprescribed by the Board. Any person required to make the report pursuant tothis subsection shall disclose all information that is the basis for hissuspicion of abuse or neglect of the child and, upon request, shall makeavailable to the child-protective services coordinator and the localdepartment, which is the agency of jurisdiction, any information, records, orreports that document the basis for the report. All persons required by thissubsection to report suspected abuse or neglect who maintain a record of achild who is the subject of such a report shall cooperate with theinvestigating agency and shall make related information, records and reportsavailable to the investigating agency unless such disclosure violates thefederal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. § 1232g).Provision of such information, records, and reports by a health care providershall not be prohibited by § 8.01-399. Criminal investigative reportsreceived from law-enforcement agencies shall not be further disseminated bythe investigating agency nor shall they be subject to public disclosure.

B. For purposes of subsection A, "reason to suspect that a child is abusedor neglected" shall include (i) a finding made by an attending physicianwithin seven days of a child's birth that the results of a blood or urinetest conducted within 48 hours of the birth of the child indicate thepresence of a controlled substance not prescribed for the mother by aphysician; (ii) a finding by an attending physician made within 48 hours of achild's birth that the child was born dependent on a controlled substancewhich was not prescribed by a physician for the mother and has demonstratedwithdrawal symptoms; (iii) a diagnosis by an attending physician made withinseven days of a child's birth that the child has an illness, disease orcondition which, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, is attributableto in utero exposure to a controlled substance which was not prescribed by aphysician for the mother or the child; or (iv) a diagnosis by an attendingphysician made within seven days of a child's birth that the child has fetalalcohol syndrome attributable to in utero exposure to alcohol. When "reasonto suspect" is based upon this subsection, such fact shall be included inthe report along with the facts relied upon by the person making the report.

C. Any person who makes a report or provides records or information pursuantto subsection A or who testifies in any judicial proceeding arising from suchreport, records, or information shall be immune from any civil or criminalliability or administrative penalty or sanction on account of such report,records, information, or testimony, unless such person acted in bad faith orwith malicious purpose.

D. Any person required to file a report pursuant to this section who fails todo so within 72 hours of his first suspicion of child abuse or neglect shallbe fined not more than $500 for the first failure and for any subsequentfailures not less than $100 nor more than $1,000.

(1975, c. 341, § 63.1-248.3; 1976, c. 348; 1978, c. 747; 1993, c. 443; 1994,c. 840; 1995, c. 810; 1998, cc. 704, 716; 1999, c. 606; 2000, c. 500; 2001,c. 853; 2002, cc. 747, 860; 2006, cc. 530, 801; 2008, cc. 43, 268.)