Virginia Administrative Code › Title 22 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Agency 40 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter 705 - CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES › Section 22VAC40-705-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall
				  have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise.
"Abuser or neglector" means any person who is found to have
				  committed the abuse or neglect of a child pursuant to Chapter 15 (§
				  63.2-1500 et seq.) of Title 63.2 of the Code of Virginia.
"Administrative appeal rights" means the child protective
				  services appeals procedures for a local level informal conference and a state
				  level hearing pursuant to § 63.2-1526 of the Code of Virginia, under which
				  an individual who is found to have committed abuse or neglect may request that
				  the local department's determination or records be amended.
"Alternative treatment options" means treatments used to
				  prevent or treat illnesses or promote health and well-being outside the realm
				  of modern conventional medicine.
"Appellant" means (i) anyone who has been found to be an
				  abuser or neglector and appeals the founded disposition to the director of the
				  local department of social services or to an administrative hearing officer and
				  (ii) anyone who has been found to be an abuser or neglector and seeks judicial
				  review of a decision by an administrative hearing officer.
"Assessment" means the process by which child protective
				  services workers determine a child's and family's needs.
"Caretaker" means any individual having the responsibility of
				  providing care and supervision of a child and includes the following: (i) a
				  parent or other person legally responsible for the child's care; (ii) an
				  individual who by law, social custom, expressed or implied acquiescence,
				  collective consensus, agreement, or any other legally recognizable basis has an
				  obligation to look after a child left in his care; and (iii) persons
				  responsible by virtue of their positions of conferred authority.
"Case record" means a collection of information maintained by
				  a local department, including written material, letters, documents, audio or
				  video recordings, photographs, film, or other materials, regardless of physical
				  form, about a specific child protective services investigation, family, or
				  individual.
"Central Registry" means a subset of the child abuse and
				  neglect information system and is the name index with identifying information
				  of individuals named as an abuser or neglector in founded child abuse or
				  neglect complaints or reports not currently under administrative appeal,
				  maintained by the department.
"Child abuse and neglect information system" means the
				  statewide computer system that collects and maintains information gathered by
				  local departments regarding incidents of child abuse and neglect involving
				  parents or other caretakers. The computer system is composed of three parts:
				  the statistical information system with nonidentifying information, the Central
				  Registry of founded complaints not on administrative appeal, and a database
				  that can be accessed only by the department and local departments that contains
				  all nonpurged child protective services reports. This system is the official
				  state automated system required by federal law.
"Child protective services" means the identification,
				  receipt, and immediate response to complaints and reports of alleged child
				  abuse or neglect for children younger than 18 years of age. It also includes
				  assessment, and arranging for and providing necessary protective and
				  rehabilitative services for a child and the child's family when the child has
				  been found to have been abused or neglected or is at risk of being abused or
				  neglected.
"Child protective services worker" means an individual who is
				  qualified by virtue of education, training, and supervision and is employed by
				  the local department to respond to child protective services complaints and
				  reports of alleged child abuse or neglect.
"Chronically and irreversibly comatose" means a condition
				  caused by injury, disease, or illness in which a patient has suffered a loss of
				  consciousness with no behavioral evidence of self-awareness or awareness of
				  surroundings in a learned manner other than reflexive activity of muscles and
				  nerves for low-level conditioned response and from which to a reasonable degree
				  of medical probability there can be no recovery.
"Collateral" means a person whose personal or professional
				  knowledge may help confirm or rebut the allegations of child abuse or neglect
				  or whose involvement may help ensure the safety of the child.
"Complaint" means any information or allegation that a child
				  is an abused or neglected child as defined in § 63.2-100 of the Code of
				  Virginia made orally or in writing.
"Consultation" means the process by which the alleged abuser
				  or neglector may request an informal meeting to discuss the investigative
				  findings with the local department prior to the local department rendering a
				  founded disposition of abuse or neglect against that person pursuant to §
				  63.2-1526 A of the Code of Virginia.
"Controlled substance" means a drug, substance, or marijuana
				  as defined in § 18.2-247 of the Code of Virginia including those terms as
				  they are used or defined in the Drug Control Act, Chapter 34 (§ 54.1-3400
				  et seq.) of Title 54.1 of the Code of Virginia. The term does not include
				  alcoholic beverages or tobacco as those terms are defined or used in Title 3.2
				  or Title 4.1 of the Code of Virginia.
"Department" means the Virginia Department of Social
				  Services.
"Differential response system" means the system by which
				  local departments may respond to valid reports or complaints of child abuse or
				  neglect by conducting either a family assessment or an investigation.
"Disposition" means the determination of whether or not child
				  abuse or neglect occurred and that identifies the individual responsible for
				  the abuse or neglect of the child.
"Documentation" means information and materials, written or
				  otherwise, concerning allegations, facts, and evidence.
"Family Advocacy Program representative" means the individual
				  employed by the United States Armed Forces who has responsibility for the
				  program designed to address prevention, identification, evaluation, treatment,
				  rehabilitation, follow-up, and reporting of family violence, pursuant to
				  22VAC40-705-50
				  and
				  22VAC40-705-140.
"Family assessment" means the collection of information
				  necessary to determine:
1. The immediate safety needs of the child;
2. The protective and rehabilitative services needs of the
				  child and family that will deter abuse or neglect;
3. Risk of future harm to the child; and
4. Alternative plans for the child's safety if protective and
				  rehabilitative services are indicated and the family is unable or unwilling to
				  participate in services. These arrangements may be made in consultation with
				  the caretaker of the child.
"First source" means any direct evidence establishing or
				  helping to establish the existence or nonexistence of a fact. Indirect evidence
				  and anonymous complaints do not constitute first source evidence.
"Founded" means that a review of the facts gathered as a
				  result of an investigation shows by a preponderance of the evidence that child
				  abuse or neglect has occurred. A determination that a case is founded shall be
				  based primarily on first source evidence; in no instance shall a determination
				  that a case is founded be based solely on indirect evidence or an anonymous
				  complaint.
"Human trafficking assessment" means the collection of
				  information necessary to determine:
1. The immediate safety needs of the child;
2. The protective and rehabilitative services needs of the
				  child and the child's family that will deter abuse and neglect; and
3. Risk of future harm to the child.
"Identifying information" means name, social security number,
				  address, race, sex, and date of birth.
"Indirect evidence" means any statement made outside the
				  presence of the child protective services worker and relayed to the child
				  protective services worker as proof of the contents of the statement.
"Informed opinion" means that the child has been informed and
				  understands the benefits and risks, to the extent known, of the treatment
				  recommended by conventional medical providers for the child's condition and the
				  alternative treatment being considered as well as the basis of efficacy for
				  each, or lack thereof.
"Investigation" means the collection of information to
				  determine:
1. The immediate safety needs of the child;
2. The protective and rehabilitative services needs of the
				  child and family that will deter abuse or neglect;
3. Risk of future harm to the child;
4. Alternative plans for the child's safety if protective and
				  rehabilitative services are indicated and the family is unable or unwilling to
				  participate in services;
5. Whether or not abuse or neglect has occurred;
6. If abuse or neglect has occurred, who abused or neglected
				  the child; and
7. A finding of either founded or unfounded based on the
				  facts collected during the investigation.
"Investigative narrative" means the written account of the
				  investigation contained in the child protective services case record.
"Legitimate interest" means a lawful, demonstrated privilege
				  to access the information as defined in § 63.2-105 of the Code of
				  Virginia.
"Life-threatening condition" means a condition that if left
				  untreated more likely than not will result in death and for which the
				  recommended medical treatments carry a probable chance of impairing the health
				  of the individual or a risk of terminating the life of the individual.
"Local department" means the city or county local agency of
				  social services or department of public welfare in the Commonwealth of Virginia
				  responsible for conducting investigations or family assessments of child abuse
				  or neglect complaints or reports pursuant to § 63.2-1503 of the Code of
				  Virginia.
"Local department of jurisdiction" means the local department
				  in the city or county in Virginia where the alleged victim child resides or in
				  which the alleged abuse or neglect is believed to have occurred. If neither of
				  these is known, then the local department of jurisdiction shall be the local
				  department in the county or city where the abuse or neglect was
				  discovered.
"Mandated reporters" means those persons who are required to
				  report suspicions of child abuse or neglect pursuant to § 63.2-1509 of the
				  Code of Virginia.
"Monitoring" means ongoing contacts with the child, family,
				  and collaterals that provide information about the child's safety and the
				  family's compliance with the service plan.
"Multidisciplinary teams" means any organized group of
				  individuals representing, but not limited to, medical, mental health, social
				  work, education, legal, and law enforcement which will assist local departments
				  in the protection and prevention of child abuse and neglect established
				  pursuant to § 63.2-1503 K of the Code of Virginia. Citizen representatives
				  may also be included.
"Near fatality" means an act that, as certified by a
				  physician, places the child in serious or critical condition. Serious or
				  critical condition is a life-threatening condition or injury.
"Notification" means informing designated and appropriate
				  individuals of the local department's actions and the individual's
				  rights.
"Particular medical treatment" means a process or procedure
				  that is recommended by conventional medical providers and accepted by the
				  conventional medical community.
"Plan of safe care" means a guide developed by service
				  providers with their clients to ensure mothers and other caretakers of a
				  substance-exposed infant have the necessary resources to safely care for the
				  infant. The plan should address the needs of the child, mother, and other
				  caretakers, as appropriate.
"Preponderance of evidence" means just enough evidence to
				  make it more likely than not that the asserted facts are true. "Preponderance
				  of evidence" is evidence that is of greater weight or more convincing than the
				  evidence offered in opposition.
"Purge" means to delete or destroy any reference data and
				  materials specific to subject identification contained in records maintained by
				  the department and the local department pursuant to §§ 63.2-1513 and
				  63.2-1514 of the Code of Virginia.
"Reasonable diligence" means the exercise of persistent
				  effort that is justifiable and appropriate under the circumstances.
"Report" means (i) a complaint as defined in this section or
				  (ii) an official document on which information is given concerning abuse or
				  neglect.
"Response time" means the time for the local department to
				  initiate an investigation or family assessment after receiving a valid report
				  of suspected child abuse or neglect based upon the facts and circumstances
				  presented at the time the complaint or report is received.
"Safety plan" means an immediate course of action designed to
				  protect a child from abuse or neglect.
"Service plan" means a plan of action to address the service
				  needs of a child or the child's family in order to protect a child and the
				  child's siblings to prevent future abuse and neglect and to preserve the family
				  life of the parents and children whenever possible.
"Sex trafficking" means the recruitment, harboring,
				  transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person
				  for the purpose of a commercial sex act as defined in § 18.2-357.1 of the
				  Code of Virginia.
"State automated system" means the "child abuse and neglect
				  information system" as previously defined.
"Sufficiently mature" is determined on a case-by-case basis
				  and means that a child has no impairment of his cognitive ability and is of a
				  maturity level capable of having intelligent views on the subject of his health
				  condition and medical care.
"Terminal condition" means a condition caused by injury,
				  disease, or illness from which to a reasonable degree of medical probability a
				  patient cannot recover and (i) the patient's death is imminent or (ii) the
				  patient is chronically and irreversibly comatose.
"Unfounded" means that a review of the facts does not show by
				  a preponderance of the evidence that child abuse or neglect occurred.
"Valid report or complaint" means a report or complaint of
				  suspected child abuse or neglect for which the local department must conduct an
				  investigation or family assessment because the following elements are
				  present:
1. The alleged victim child is younger than 18 years of age
				  at the time of the complaint or report;
2. The alleged abuser is the alleged victim child's parent or
				  other caretaker or, for purposes of abuse or neglect described in subdivision 4
				  of the definition of "abused or neglected child" in § 63.2-100 of the Code
				  of Virginia, an intimate partner of such parent or caretaker;
3. The local department receiving the complaint or report is
				  a local department of jurisdiction; and
4. The circumstances described allege suspected child abuse
				  or neglect.
"Withholding of medically indicated treatment" means the
				  failure to respond to the infant's life-threatening condition by providing
				  treatment (including appropriate nutrition, hydration, and medication) that in
				  the treating physician's reasonable medical judgment will most likely be
				  effective in ameliorating or correcting all such conditions.
Statutory Authority: § 63.2-217 of the Code of
					 Virginia.