North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 10A - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 70 - CHILDREN'S SERVICES › Subchapter A - PROTECTIVE SERVICES › Section .0100 - GENERAL › Section 70A .0102 - CONFIDENTIALITY: CENTRAL REGISTRY: RESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUALS LIST: ABUSE AND NEGLECT CASES

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
(a) Information
				  submitted by county departments of social services to the central registry of
				  abuse, neglect and dependency cases is confidential except as otherwise
				  required by law. Non-identifying statistical information and general
				  information about the scope, nature and extent of the child abuse, neglect and
				  dependency problem in North Carolina is not subject to this Rule of
				  confidentiality.
(b) Access to the
				  central registry of child abuse, neglect and dependency cases is restricted to:
(1) staff of the Division of Social Services
				  and staff of the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
				  Services who require access in the course of performing duties pertinent to
				  management, maintenance and evaluation of the central registry and evaluation
				  of and research into abuse and neglect cases reported in accordance with
				  Chapter 7B, Article 3. Management of the central registry includes the
				  provision of information on a case by division staff to a North Carolina county
				  department of social services or to an out-of-state social services agency to
				  assure that protective services will be made available to such child and the
				  child's family as quickly as possible to the end that such child will be
				  protected and that further abuse or neglect will be prevented.
(2) individuals who may receive approval to
				  conduct studies of cases in the central registry. Such approval must be
				  requested in writing to the Director of the Division of Social Services. The
				  written request shall specify and be approved on the basis of:
(A) an explanation of how the findings of the
				  study have potential for expanding knowledge and improving professional
				  practices in the area of prevention, identification and treatment of child
				  abuse and neglect;
(B) a
				  description of how the study will be conducted and how the findings will be
				  used;
(C) a presentation of the
				  individual's credentials in the area of critical investigation; and
(D) a description of how the individual will
				  safeguard information.
Access shall be denied when in the judgment of the Director
					 the study will have minimal impact on either knowledge or
					 practice.
(3) the
				  county director in order to identify whether a child who is the subject of an
				  abuse, neglect or dependency investigation has been previously reported as
				  abused or neglected, or whether a child is a member of a family in which a
				  child fatality due to suspected abuse or neglect has occurred in any county in
				  the state. Information from the central registry shall be shared with law
				  enforcement or licensed physicians or licensed physician extenders when needed
				  to assist the county director in facilitating the provision of child protective
				  services to assure that the child and the child's family shall receive
				  protective services as quickly as possible so that such child can be protected
				  and further abuse, neglect or dependency prevented. Information shared from the
				  central registry for child abuse and neglect shall be limited to:
(A) the child's name, date of birth, sex,
				  race;
(B) the county that
				  investigated the report;
(C) the
				  type of maltreatment that was reported;
(D) the case decision;
(E) the date of the case decision;
(F) the type of maltreatment found;
				  and
(G) the relationship of the
				  perpetrator to the victim child.
(4) the Chief Medical Examiner's office and
				  law enforcement in the event of a child fatality and there is a need to
				  determine if their investigation or evaluation should consider child abuse,
				  neglect or dependency as a factor in the death. Information shall be limited to
				  that outlined in Subparagraphs (b)(3)(A) through (G) of this Rule.