Chapter 6: Child Protective Services Investigations

1 New York State Child Protective Services Manual Chapter 6 March 2020 Chapter 6: Child Protective Services Investigations Summary of statutory requirements regarding CPS investigations0F .. A-1 Summary of regulatory requirements for addressing CPS reports and Investigations .. B-1 1. Initiation of the investigation .. B-1 2. Full investigation .. B-2 3. Other Investigative Activities .. B-3 Intake of reports by the LDSS .. C-1 1. Procedures for receiving reports from the SCR .. C-1 2. Procedures for CPS workers making reports to the SCR .. C-1 3. Checking information received from the C-2 Demographic information .. C2 Person reported in error .. C-3 The need to contact law enforcement .. C-3 Preliminary and ongoing safety assessments.

2 D-1 1. Preliminary safety assessment .. D-1 2. The safety assessment process7F .. D-2 3. Safety Factors .. D-3 4. Safety decision .. D-8 CPS Risk Assessment Profile (RAP) and Services .. E-1 1. The Risk Assessment Profile .. E-1 2. Risk rating and the provision of Services .. E-2 3. Risk rating and case determination .. E-3 4. Referrals for early intervention Services .. E-3 Interviews .. F-1 1. Interviewing the source of the report .. F-1 2. Interviewing the family .. F-2 Addressing Limited English Proficiency .. F-2 Providing the notice of existence .. F-2 Chapter 6 New York State Child Protective Services Manual March 2020 Maintaining source confidentiality .. F-2 3. Interviews with children .. F-5 Determining who is present during a Child interview.

3 F-5 Location of the interview with the Child .. F-6 Interviewing the Child at school .. F-7 4. Interviews with collateral contacts .. F-9 5. Follow-up contacts with household members .. F-10 6. Uncooperative subjects13F .. F-11 Pre-petition court orders for access .. F-11 Protocols when considering seeking a court order for access .. F-12 Obtaining information about physical injuries and health .. G-1 1. Observation of physical injuries .. G-1 Observation of normally clothed areas of a Child s body .. G-1 Is it necessary to observe normally clothed areas of the Child 's body? .. G-2 Parent/ Child consent for observation of a Child s body .. G-2 Conducting an observation of normally clothed areas of a Child body .. G-4 2. Medical examinations and evaluations.

4 G-4 3. Photographs .. G-7 Evaluation of need for Protective removal .. H-1 CPS investigation progress notes .. I-1 Special considerations for cases with infants .. J-1 1. Safe Sleep15F .. J-1 CPS responsibility for infant sleeping conditions assessment .. J-2 Evaluating sleeping conditions for infants .. J-2 2. Positive toxicology of newborns .. J-3 Addressing reports involving positive toxicology of infants .. J-3 Creating a plan of safe care .. J-4 3. Early intervention referrals .. J-5 Child fatalities .. K-1 1. 24-Hour Fatality Report and 24-Hour Safety Assessment .. K-1 2. 30-day fatality report and 30-day safety assessment .. K-2 New York State Child Protective Services Manual Chapter 6 March 2020 3. Conclusion safety assessment.

5 K-3 4. Investigation of re-reports of Child fatalities .. K-3 5. LDSS responsibilities for reporting Child fatalities .. K-4 Collaborating with the Criminal Justice System .. L-1 1. Overview .. L-1 2. Communication with district attorney and police agencies .. L-1 Local agreements for information sharing .. L-1 State-required information sharing .. L-2 Suspected false reports .. L-2 Reporting crimes to law enforcement .. L-3 Sharing CPS information for a law enforcement investigation .. L-3 Special procedures for when a Child is missing .. L-3 3. Development of cooperative investigative procedures with the district attorney .. L-4 4. Coordinating CPS and criminal Investigations .. L-4 Cooperative efforts between CPS and law enforcement.

6 L-5 Requesting police protection .. L-5 5. Multidisciplinary Teams (MDT) and Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) .. L-7 Multidisciplinary Teams (MDT) .. L-7 Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) .. L-7 6. Missing or abducted children25F .. L-8 Commercial sexual exploitation of children and human trafficking27F .. M-1 1. Overview of sex trafficking .. M-1 2. Child Welfare requirement to screen for sex trafficking .. M-2 3. Requirement to report sex trafficking .. M-2 Domestic violence .. N-1 1. Indicators of domestic violence .. N-2 2. Considerations for conducting a CPS investigation when there is domestic violence .. N-3 3. CPS interventions when there is domestic violence .. N-4 4. CPS determination decisions in relation to domestic violence .. N-6 5.

7 Coordination in cases with domestic violence .. N-8 Law enforcement .. N-8 Chapter 6 New York State Child Protective Services Manual March 2020 Community resources / domestic violence programs .. N-9 Reports involving person(s) residing in residential programs for victims of domestic violence .. N-10 Determinations / Investigation conclusions .. O-1 1. Standards for making a O-1 Elements of neglect / maltreatment .. O-1 Elements of abuse .. O-2 2. Indicated reports .. O-2 3. Unfounded reports .. O-3 4. Determining the investigation conclusion closure reason .. O-4 Case closing .. P-1 1. Decision .. P-1 2. Other considerations and procedures for closing a case .. P-2 New York State Child Protective Services Manual Chapter 6 Section A Page | A-1 Child Protective Services Investigations March 2020 Summary of statutory requirements regarding CPS investigations0F1 Section 424 of the Social Services Law (SSL) enumerates the duties of Child Protective Services (CPS) concerning reports of Child abuse and/or maltreatment.

8 Among the duties that CPS must fulfill are the following. (Please note that Title Six of Article Six of the SSL is the Title that sets forth the statutory requirements for Child Protective Services .) Section 424(1) CPS must receive on a twenty-four hour, seven day a week basis all reports of suspected Child abuse or maltreatment. SSL Section 424(3) Not later than seven days after receipt of the initial report, CPS must send a preliminary written report of the initial investigation, including evaluation and actions taken or contemplated, to the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR) in the form or manner prescribed by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). This requirement is fulfilled by completing the seven-day safety assessment.

9 SSL Section 424(4) CPS must provide telephone notice and immediately forward a copy of a report alleging Child abuse or maltreatment to the appropriate district attorney for the following categories of reports: Any report involving the death of a Child . A report containing any allegations specified in a prior written request to the CPS from the district attorney for notice and copies of reports. The written request must specify the kinds of allegations for which the district attorney requires such notice and copies and must include a copy of the relevant provisions of the law. SSL Sections 424(5-a) CPS must immediately give telephone notice and forward a copy of the report to the appropriate local law enforcement agency when CPS receives a report that contains any of the following: Allegations of suspected physical injury by other than accidental means which causes or creates a substantial risk of death, serious or protracted disfigurement, protracted impairment of physical or emotional health, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ; Allegations of sexual abuse of a Child ; or Allegations of the death of a Child .

10 Investigations of these reports must be conducted by an approved multi-disciplinary team (MDT), where one In counties without an MDT, Investigations of these reports must be conducted jointly by local Child Protective Services and local law enforcement. CPS and law enforcement should develop a joint protocol detailing the procedures to be followed for the investigation of reports that are subject to the joint Investigations . If such a protocol exists, CPS would follow the protocol and is not required to provide a separate notification to law enforcement. If the LDSS and law enforcement 1 Note: These legal requirements apply to those reports that are addressed by an investigation. There are separate requirements that apply to those CPS reports that are addressed by a family assessment response (FAR), which are described in Chapter 5.