Page 34 - Policies

d. Actions taken by the agency.
e. Who was notified.
f. Actions taken by the Administrator to prevent the alleged or suspected abuse,

neglect, or exploitation from occurring in the future.

2. Maintain a copy of the investigation report for twelve months after the date of the
investigation report.

D. Suspected Child Abuse or Neglect

1. Knowledge of suspected child abuse or neglect may be reported to the Department of
Children’s Services with or without a resident’s consent.

2. Any employee or volunteer who observes or receives knowledge of suspected child abuse
or neglect will notify the Executive Director.

3. The situation will be reported to the Department of Children’s Services if there is clear
observation of an abused/neglected child or if the child reports abuse or neglect.

4. A part of the assessment process will be to make a preliminary phone call to the
Department of Children’s Services giving no resident/suspected abuser or child
identifying information but describing the situation and inquiring whether or not the
situation is reportable and the level of response which could be expected from the
Department of Children’s Services.

5. If it is determined a referral should be made to the Department of Children’s Services:

a. The resident will be encouraged to call the Department of Children’s Services
with Administrative Staff present.

b. The resident will be informed that Hopess will report to the Department of
Children’s Services or;

c. The referral will be made to the Department of Children’s Services without
resident notification.

6. A report to the Department of Children’s Services will identify the Hopess employee as
“an employee of a behavioral health Agency” and the identified resident only “as a
resident of this Agency.” Neither the employee nor the resident will be identified with or
associated with a substance abuse program. The report to Child Protective Services will

be fully documented in the resident’s medical record.

7. Physical abuse and non-accidental injury are terms used interchangeably. You will find
that there are many definitions of abuse within the culture and value system of the
community in which it occurs. The term "physical abuse" implies that the child victim

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Hopess – Policy and Procedure Manual