California Code of Regulations › Title 11 - Law › Division 1 - Attorney General › Chapter 9 - Report of Child Abuse › Article 1 - Administration of the Child Abuse Central Index › Section 902 - Responsibilities of Agencies Submitting Reporting Form

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) In order to fully meet its obligations under
				  CANRA, an agency required to report instances of known or suspected child abuse or
				  severe neglect must complete all of the information on the BCIA 8583. Only
				  information from a fully completed BCIA 8583 will be entered into the CACI.
				  Incomplete forms will be returned to the submitting agency and the agency must
				  resubmit a completed form to fulfill its reporting responsibilities under CANRA and
				  Penal Code section
				  11169(a).
				  Penal Code section
				  11170(a)(2)
				  provides that the submitting agency is responsible for the accuracy and completeness
				  of the report required by CANRA and states that the DOJ is only responsible for
				  ensuring that the CACI accurately reflects the report it receives from the
				  submitting agency. Accordingly, the DOJ presumes that the information provided by
				  the submitting agency on the BCIA 8583 is accurate. The DOJ does not conduct an
				  investigation to verify the accuracy of the information submitted nor does it
				  investigate the quality or accuracy of the abuse or severe neglect investigation
				  conducted by the submitting agency.
(b)
				  A submitting agency must immediately notify the DOJ of any changes to information
				  previously provided on a BCIA 8583 by submitting an amended BCIA 8583. Instances
				  when an amended BCIA 8583 is required includes, but is not limited to, a
				  circumstance where the submitting agency, acting pursuant to a court order or
				  otherwise, changes a prior finding of substantiated or inconclusive abuse or severe
				  neglect to one of unfounded. Conversely, if an original finding of an unfounded
				  allegation of abuse or severe neglect is later reclassified as inconclusive or
				  substantiated, the investigating agency must submit a BCIA 8583 to meet its
				  reporting obligations under CANRA.
(c) A
				  primary purpose of CACI is to permit authorized entities to locate prior reports
				  detailing investigations of known or suspected child abuse or severe neglect. The
				  submitting agency must permanently retain investigative reports for which it has
				  submitted a BCIA 8583, or earlier version thereof, if the investigative report
				  substantiated allegations of abuse or severe neglect unless the agency, acting
				  pursuant to court order or otherwise, determines that the allegations investigated
				  are unfounded. If the investigative report was inconclusive about the existence of
				  child abuse or severe neglect, the report must be retained for ten years unless
				  there is an investigation of subsequent allegations of child abuse or severe neglect
				  against the same child or by the same suspect(s) which determines the allegations
				  are not unfounded. If the investigation of subsequent allegations is inconclusive,
				  the original investigative report and the subsequent investigative report must be
				  retained for ten years after filing the BCIA 8583 for the subsequent instance of
				  abuse or severe neglect with DOJ. When the subsequent investigation determines that
				  the subsequent allegations of abuse or severe neglect are substantiated, all prior
				  remaining investigative reports involving the same victims or suspects must be
				  retained permanently.
(d) If a
				  submitting agency has lost, destroyed or otherwise no longer retains or pursuant to
				  court order has sealed the investigatory report(s) for a prior report that are
				  indexed on CACI, the submitting agency shall immediately notify the DOJ of the loss,
				  destruction sealing, or non-retention of the investigatory report by filing an
				  amended BCIA 8583 indicating that the investigatory report is no longer retained.
				  The DOJ will remove from CACI the names of individuals identified in the lost,
				  destroyed sealed or no longer retained investigatory report(s) indexed in
				  CACI.
1. New section
					 filed 7-17-98; operative 7-17-98 pursuant to Government Code section
					 11343.4(d)
					 (Register 98, No. 29).
2. Amendment of section and NOTE filed 4-22-2002;
					 operative 5-22-2002 (Register 2002, No. 17).
3. Amendment filed
					 5-12-2006; operative 6-11-2006 (Register 2006, No. 19).
4. Amendment of
					 section heading, repealer and new section and amendment of NOTE filed 1-5-2010;
					 operative 1-5-2010 pursuant to Government Code section
					 11343.4
					 (Register 2010, No. 2).
Note: Authority cited: Section
						11170(a)(1),
						Penal Code. Reference: Sections
						11169(a),
						11169(c),
						11170(a)(1),
						11170(a)(2)
						and
						11170(a)(3),
						Penal Code.