Establishment and Maintenance of Central Registries for Child Abuse or Neglect Reports - Indiana

Establishment

Citation: Ann. Code § 31-33-26-2

The Department of Child Services shall establish and maintain a centralized, computerized child protection index to organize and access data regarding substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect that the department receives from throughout Indiana.

Purpose

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 31-33-26-3; 31-33-26-10

The index must include the following:

• Automated risk assessment for reviewing a substantiated child abuse or neglect case to determine prior case history
• The capability to allow supervisors to monitor child abuse and neglect cases and reports 
• The automated production of standard reports that compiles information gathered on forms used by family case managers to report on child abuse and neglect cases
• The automation of other data for planning and evaluation
• The capability of same-day notification and transfer of statistical information to the department regarding new and closed child abuse and neglect cases
• The capability to allow child welfare supervisors to review a child abuse or neglect determination at any point after the assessment is initially classified as substantiated, to confirm the status of the case, and to allow for the consolidated management of cases
• The capability for adjusting the index's programming at a later date if additional reporting requirements occur
• A word-processing capability to allow case notes to be recorded with each substantiated case

The department shall administer the index in a manner that enables the department to do the following:

• Immediately identify and locate prior reports of child abuse or neglect through the use of the department's computerized tracking system and automated risk-assessment system 
• Track steps in the investigative process to ensure compliance with all requirements for a report of child abuse or neglect 
• Maintain and produce aggregate statistical reports monitoring patterns of child abuse and neglect that the department shall make available to the public upon request
• Serve as a resource for the evaluation, management, and planning of preventive and remedial services to children who have been subject to child abuse or neglect

Contents

Citation: Ann. Code § 31-33-26-6

The department shall store data regarding child abuse or neglect reports in a manner that allows the data to be retrieved based on the following if known:

• The child's name
• The child's date of birth
• The alleged perpetrator's name
• The child's mother's name
• The child's father's name
• The name of a sibling of the child
• The name of the child's guardian or custodian, if applicable

Maintenance

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 31-33-26-18; 31-33-27-3

The department shall maintain and administer all reports and documents transferred to and included in the child protection index as provided in this chapter.

The department may retain information relating to an unsubstantiated assessment of child abuse or neglect in paper or digital form or in other media that is accessible only by department employees with access rights established by the department through policy or rule. Information that is retained in the records of the department may be used by the department to facilitate its assessment of a subsequent report concerning the same child or family. The department may not rely solely on information available under this section to support substantiation of a later report if information obtained in the assessment of the later report is otherwise insufficient to support a substantiated determination.