Arkansas Code of 1987 (2023) › Title 9 - FAMILY LAW (§§ 9-2-101 — 9-34-204) › Subtitle 3 - MINORS (§§ 9-25-101 — 9-34-204) › Chapter 32 - CHILD WELFARE (§§ 9-32-101 — 9-32-207) › Subchapter 2 - ARKANSAS CHILD WELFARE PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY ACT (§§ 9-32-201 — 9-32-207) › Section 9-32-204 - Annual performance reports - Arkansas Child Welfare Report Card

(a)
(1)
(A)
The Division of Youth Services, the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services, and the Division of Children and Family Services shall issue an annual report on the performance of the child welfare system on a county-by-county basis.
(B)
The Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services will report information by mental health catchment areas with state totals.
(2)
This annual report will be known as the "Arkansas Child Welfare Report Card".
(b)
The Arkansas Child Welfare Report Card shall contain, but not be limited to, for each county and the state as a whole:
(1)
Client outcome information;
(2)
Case status information;
(3)
Compliance information;
(4)
Management indicators; and
(5)
Other data specified by the Senate Interim Committee on Children and Youth.
(c)
The Arkansas Child Welfare Report Card shall be published and transmitted to the Senate Interim Committee on Children and Youth no later than December 1 of each year, and it must be published in a format that can be easily understood by the general public.
(d)
(1)
The Division of Children and Family Services shall report on the fatality or near fatality of a child that is reported to the Child Abuse Hotline under the Child Maltreatment Act, §
12-18-101
et seq.
(2)
The data on a reported fatality or near fatality shall include the:
(A)
Age, race, and gender of the child;
(B)
Date of the child's death or incident;
(C)
Allegations or preliminary cause of death or incident;
(D)
County and type of placement of the child at the time of the incident;
(E)
Generic relationship of the alleged offender to the child;
(F)
Agency conducting the investigation;
(G)
Legal action by the Department of Human Services; and
(H)
Services offered or provided by the department presently and in the past.
(3)
The data of a fatality shall also include the name of the child.
(e)
(1)
The department shall report hotline reports received on a child in the custody of the department, and the department may identify if the child maltreatment act or omission occurred before or after the child was placed in the custody of the department.
(2)
The data on a report of maltreatment on a foster child shall include the:
(A)
Age, race, and gender of the child;
(B)
Allegations of maltreatment;
(C)
County and type of placement of the child at the time of the incident;
(D)
Generic relationship of the alleged offender to the child; and
(E)
Action taken by the department.
(f)
(1)
The department shall report when a child dies if that child was in an out-of-home placement as defined under §
9-27-303
.
(2)
The data on the death of a child in an out-of-home placement shall include the:
(A)
Age, race, and gender of the child;
(B)
Date of the child's death;
(C)
Preliminary cause of death;
(D)
County and type of placement of the child at the time of the incident; and
(E)
Action by the department.
(g)
The department shall place any noncase-specific recommendations of the department's internal Child Death Review Committee on the department's web page.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 913,§ 31, eff. 8/1/2017
Amended by Act 2013, No. 1181,§ 3, eff. 8/16/2013
Acts 1995, No. 1222, § 4; 1997, No. 312, § 5; 2001, No. 1727, § 3; 2009, No. 674, § 3