Virginia Administrative Code › Title 22 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Agency 40 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter 705 - CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES › Section 22VAC40-705-60 - Authorities of local departments

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A.
				When responding to valid complaints or reports, local departments have the
				following authorities:
1. To talk to any
				child suspected of being abused or neglected, or child's siblings, without the
				consent of and outside the presence of the parent or other caretaker, as set
				forth by §
										63.2-1518
				of the Code of Virginia.
2. To take
				or arrange for photographs and x-rays of a child who is the subject of a
				complaint without the consent of and outside the presence of the parent or
				other caretaker, as set forth in §
										63.2-1520
				of the Code of Virginia.
3. To take
				a child into custody on an emergency removal under such circumstances as set
				forth in §
										63.2-1517
				of the Code of Virginia.
a. A child protective
				services worker planning to take a child into emergency custody shall first
				consult with a supervisor. However, this requirement shall not delay action on
				the child protective services worker's part if a supervisor cannot be contacted
				and the situation requires immediate action.
b. When circumstances warrant that a child be
				taken into emergency custody during a family assessment, the report shall be
				reassigned immediately as an investigation.
c. Any person who takes a child into custody
				pursuant to §
											63.2-1517
				of the Code of Virginia shall be immune from any civil or criminal liability in
				connection therewith, unless it is proven that such person acted in bad faith
				or with malicious intent.
d. The
				local department shall have the authority to have a complete medical
				examination made of the child including a written medical report and, when
				appropriate, photographs and x-rays pursuant to §
											63.2-1520
				of the Code of Virginia.
e. When a
				child in emergency custody is in need of immediate medical or surgical
				treatment, the local director of social services or his designee may consent to
				such treatment when the parent does not provide consent and a court order is
				not immediately obtainable.
f. When
				a child is not in the local department's custody, the local department cannot
				consent to medical or surgical treatment of the child.
g. When a child is removed, every effort must
				be made to obtain an emergency removal order within four hours. Reasons for not
				doing so shall be stated in the petition for an emergency removal
				order.
h. Every effort shall be
				made to provide notice of the removal in person to the parent or guardian as
				soon as practicable.
i. Within 30
				days of removing a child from the custody of the parents or legal guardians,
				the local department shall exercise due diligence to identify and notify in
				writing all maternal and paternal grandparents and other adult relatives of the
				child (including any other adult relatives suggested by the parents) and all
				parents who have legal custody of any siblings of the child being removed and
				explain the options they have to participate in the care and placement of the
				child, subject to exceptions due to family or domestic violence. These
				notifications shall be documented in the state automated system. When
				notification to any of these relatives is not made, the local department shall
				document the reasons in the state automated system.