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12-18-601. Assignment to investigative agency.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
12-18-601. Assignment to investigative agency.
(a)(1) If a report of child maltreatment is accepted by the Child Abuse Hotline, an investigation shall be conducted under procedures established by the Department of Human Services.
(2) The procedures established by the Department of Human Services shall require the:
(A) Assignment of a report of child maltreatment to the Department of Human Services or the Division of Arkansas State Police as the investigating agency;
(B) Assignment of a report of child maltreatment to the Division of Arkansas State Police if the report involves:
(i) Severe maltreatment;
(ii) A person, agency, corporation, or partnership that provides substitute care for a child who is in the custody of the Department of Human Services; or
(iii) A person, agency, corporation, or partnership that provides substitute care for a child who is in the custody of an employee of the Department of Human Services or another person who resides in the home of an employee of the Department of Human Services; and
(C) Assignment of a report of child maltreatment that qualifies for triage procedures that are developed and implemented under this section and as prescribed by triage procedures in lieu of an assignment for investigation by the Department of Human Services or the Division of Arkansas State Police.
(b)(1)(A) After the assignment of a report of child maltreatment, the investigating agency shall initiate an investigation as provided under this subchapter.
(B) After initiating the investigation and interviewing the alleged victim, the investigating agency shall review the report of child maltreatment to determine if the investigation should be administratively closed under § 12-18-702 without complying with the requirements of this subchapter
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 12-18-601
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
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Stable record: arkansas_code:legal_authorities:12-18-601
Source file: gov.ar.code.title.12.odt
Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded
Passage SHA-256: 1a30089bb644a84d855692f159332a94673fde818cc4dc86f583725178d3ae3c
Source location: content.xml paragraph 9745
Stored source content
12-18-601. Assignment to investigative agency.
(a)(1) If a report of child maltreatment is accepted by the Child Abuse Hotline, an investigation shall be conducted under procedures established by the Department of Human Services.
(2) The procedures established by the Department of Human Services shall require the:
(A) Assignment of a report of child maltreatment to the Department of Human Services or the Division of Arkansas State Police as the investigating agency;
(B) Assignment of a report of child maltreatment to the Division of Arkansas State Police if the report involves:
(i) Severe maltreatment;
(ii) A person, agency, corporation, or partnership that provides substitute care for a child who is in the custody of the Department of Human Services; or
(iii) A person, agency, corporation, or partnership that provides substitute care for a child who is in the custody of an employee of the Department of Human Services or another person who resides in the home of an employee of the Department of Human Services; and
(C) Assignment of a report of child maltreatment that qualifies for triage procedures that are developed and implemented under this section and as prescribed by triage procedures in lieu of an assignment for investigation by the Department of Human Services or the Division of Arkansas State Police.
(b)(1)(A) After the assignment of a report of child maltreatment, the investigating agency shall initiate an investigation as provided under this subchapter.
(B) After initiating the investigation and interviewing the alleged victim, the investigating agency shall review the report of child maltreatment to determine if the investigation should be administratively closed under § 12-18-702 without complying with the requirements of this subchapter regarding a complete investigation.
(C) If an investigation is not administratively closed under § 12-18-702, the investigating agency shall comply with the requirements of this subchapter regarding a complete investigation.
(2)(A) The investigating agency shall administratively close an investigation under procedures that are established by the Department of Human Services.
(B) The procedures established by the Department of Human Services shall require the:
(i) Closure of an investigation if there is no evidence to support the report of child maltreatment other than the report made to the Child Abuse Hotline;
(ii) Closure of an investigation if there is insufficient detail to investigate the report of child maltreatment;
(iii)(a) Closure of an investigation that is based on an allegation made by an anonymous reporter if there is no evidence to corroborate the report of child maltreatment after the investigating agency has conducted a preliminary investigation to determine whether there is any evidence to corroborate the report of child maltreatment.
(b) A preliminary investigation shall include:
(1) An interview with the alleged victim;
(2) A visit to the home of the alleged victim if appropriate given the type of child maltreatment alleged; and
(3) Evidence from a collateral witness;
(iv) Closure of an investigation if:
(a) There has not been an additional report of abuse or neglect that has been committed by the alleged offender who is the subject of the current report;
(b) The investigator reviews the prior history of child maltreatment related to the family of the child and to the offender and determines that the health and safety of the child can be assured without further investigation by the Department of Human Services or the Division of Arkansas State Police; and
(c) The investigator determines that abuse or neglect of the child did not occur; and
(v) Approval of the:
(a) Director of the Division of Children and Family Services of the Department of Human Services or his or her designee for the administrative closure of an investigation that is conducted by the Department of Human Services; or
(b) Director of the Division of Arkansas State Police or his or her designee for the administrative closure of an investigation conducted by the Division of Arkansas State Police.
(c)(1) The Department of Human Services and the Division of Arkansas State Police may develop and implement triage procedures for accepting and documenting reports of child maltreatment of a child not at risk of imminent harm.
(2) The Department of Human Services and the Division of Arkansas State Police shall not implement this section until rules necessary to carry out this subsection have been promulgated pursuant to the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq.
(d)(1) With regard to the procedures established in accordance with subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the Department of Human Services shall assess the safety of a child upon the receipt of an accepted child maltreatment report.
(2) The assessment under subdivision (d)(1) of this section shall include each underlying issue or additional child maltreatment concern that may not have been identified in the original Child Abuse Hotline report.
(e) The Department of Human Services shall work with families related to an accepted child maltreatment report to remedy the conditions or issues that resulted in the child maltreatment report.
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Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
12-18-702. Investigative determination.
(a) Upon completion of an investigation under this chapter, the Department of Human Services and the Division of Arkansas State Police shall determine whether the allegations of child maltreatment are:
(1)(A) Unsubstantiated.
(B) An unsubstantiated determination shall be entered when the allegation is not supported by a preponderance of the evidence;
(2)(A) True.
(B) A true determination shall be entered when the allegation is supported by a preponderance of the evidence;
(3)(A) True but exempted.
(B) A determination of true but exempted is a true determination where the offender's name shall not be placed in the Child Maltreatment Central Registry, shall be entered if:
(i) A parent practicing his or her religious beliefs does not, for that reason alone, provide medical treatment for a child, but in lieu of treatment the child is being furnished with treatment by spiritual means alone, through prayer, in accordance with a recognized religious method of healing by an accredited practitioner;
(ii) The offender is an underaged juvenile offender;
(iii) The report was true for neglect as defined under § 12-18-103(14)(B); or
(iv) The offender is a juvenile less than fourteen (14) years of age at the time of the offense; or
(4)(A) Inactive.
(B) If the investigation cannot be completed, the investigation shall be determined incomplete and placed in inactive status.
(b) An investigation of a report of child maltreatment that is closed under § 12-18-601 shall be documented as administratively closed without a determination of whether the allegation is unsubstantiated, true, true but exempt, or inactive.
(c)(1) If the Department of Human Services or the Division of Arkansas State Police determines that a report
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 12-18-702
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 12-18-702. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
25-15-201. Title.
This subchapter shall be known and cited as the “Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act”.
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 25-15-201
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 25-15-201. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.