Virginia Administrative Code › Title 22 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Agency 40 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter 705 - CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES › Section 22VAC40-705-50 - Actions to be taken upon receipt of a complaint or report

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. All complaints
				and reports of suspected child abuse or neglect shall be recorded in the child
				abuse and neglect information system and either screened out or determined to
				be valid upon receipt by the local department of jurisdiction and if valid,
				acted on within the determined response time. A record of all reports and
				complaints made to a local department or to the department that were not valid
				shall be purged one year after the date of the report or complaint unless a
				subsequent report or complaint is made.
B. Pursuant to §
									63.2-1506.1A
				of the Code of Virginia, the local department shall conduct a human trafficking
				assessment when a report or complaint alleges that a child is a victim of sex
				trafficking or severe forms of trafficking, which is defined in §
									63.2-100
				of the Code of Virginia; the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000
				(22
				USC §
										7102 et seq.); and the federal
				Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 (42 USC
				§
										5101 et seq.) as a commercial sex act
				that is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to
				perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age or the recruitment,
				harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or
				services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of
				subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery, unless
				at any time during the human trafficking assessment the local department
				determines that an investigation or family assessment is required pursuant to
				§
									63.2-1505
				or
				63.2-1506
				of the Code of Virginia.
C. For all
				valid complaints or reports of child abuse or neglect the local department of
				social services shall determine whether to conduct an investigation or a family
				assessment.
Pursuant to §
										63.2-1508
				  of the Code of Virginia, a valid report or complaint regarding a child who has
				  been identified as a victim of sex trafficking or severe forms of trafficking
				  as defined in §
										63.2-100
				  of the Code of Virginia; the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000
				  (22
				  USC §
											7102 et seq.); and the federal
				  Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 (42 USC
				  §
											5101 et seq.) may be established if
				  the alleged abuser is the alleged victim child's parent, other caretaker, or
				  any other person suspected to have caused such abuse or
				  neglect.
D. The local
				department shall not conduct a family assessment or investigate complaints or
				reports of child abuse or neglect that are not valid.
E. The local department shall report certain
				cases of suspected child abuse or neglect to the local attorney for the
				Commonwealth and the local law-enforcement agency pursuant to §
									63.2-1503D
				of the Code of Virginia.
F.
				Pursuant to §
									63.2-1503D
				of the Code of Virginia, the local department shall develop, where practical, a
				memoranda of understanding for responding to reports of child abuse and neglect
				with local law enforcement and the local office of the commonwealth's
				attorney.
G. The local department
				shall report to the following when the death of a child is involved:
1. When abuse or neglect is suspected in any
				case involving the death of a child, the local department shall report the case
				immediately to the regional medical examiner and the local law-enforcement
				agency pursuant to §
										63.2-1503E
				of the Code of Virginia.
2. When
				abuse or neglect is suspected in any case involving the death of a child, the
				local department shall report the case immediately to the attorney for the
				Commonwealth and the local law-enforcement agency pursuant to §
										63.2-1503D
				of the Code of Virginia.
3. The
				local department shall contact the department immediately upon receiving a
				complaint involving the death of a child and at the conclusion of the
				investigation.
4. The department
				shall immediately, upon receipt of information, report on all child fatalities
				to the state board in a manner consistent with department policy and procedures
				approved by the board. At a minimum, the report shall contain information
				regarding any prior statewide child protective services involvement of the
				family, alleged abuser or neglector, or victim.