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

Date: January 2024

Establishment

Citation: Ann. Code § 80-2-1001

The Division of Child and Family Services shall develop and implement a management information system that meets the requirements of this section and Federal law and regulation.

Purpose

Citation: Ann. Code § 80-2-1001

The information and records in the system may, to the extent required by titles IV-B or IV-E of the Social Security Act, be provided by the division for the following purposes:

  • To comply with abuse and neglect registry checks requested by other States
  • To the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for purposes of maintaining an electronic national registry of substantiated cases of abuse and neglect

Contents

Citation: Ann. Code § 80-2-1001

Regarding all child welfare cases, the management information system shall provide each caseworker and the department's Office of Licensing with a complete history of each child in that worker's caseload exclusively for the purposes of foster parent licensure and monitoring, including the following:

  • A record of all past actions taken by the division regarding that child and the child's siblings
  • The complete case history and all reports and information in the control or keeping of the division regarding that child and the child's siblings
  • The number of times the child has been in the custody of the division
  • The cumulative period of time the child has been in the custody of the division
  • A record of all reports of abuse or neglect received by the division regarding that child's parent, parents, or guardian, including the following:
    • For each report, documentation of the latest status or final outcome or determination
    • Information that indicates whether each report was found to be supported, unsupported, substantiated by a juvenile court, unsubstantiated by a juvenile court, or without merit
  • The number of times the child's parent or parents failed any child and family plan
  • The number of different caseworkers who have been assigned to that child in the past

Regarding all child protective services cases, the management information system shall do the following:

  • Monitor the compliance of each case with division rule and policy, State law, and Federal law and regulation
  • Include the age and date of birth of the alleged perpetrator at the time the abuse or neglect is alleged to have occurred, in order to ensure accuracy regarding the identification of the alleged perpetrator

Maintenance

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 80-2-1001; 80-2-1003

The management information system also shall do the following:

  • Contain all key elements of each family's current child and family plan, including dates and number of times the plan has been judicially reviewed, the number of times the parent has failed that child and family plan, and the exact length of time the plan has been in effect
  • Alert caseworkers regarding deadlines for completion of compliance with policy, including child and family plans 

The division shall maintain a separation of reports as follows: 

  • Those that are supported
  • Those that are unsupported
  • Those that are without merit
  • Those that are unsubstantiated under the law in effect before May 6, 2002 
  • Those that are substantiated under the law in effect before May 6, 2002
  • Those that are consented-to supported findings under § 62A-4a-1005(3)(a)(iii)

The division shall delete any reference in the management information system or licensing information system to a report to which either of the following apply:

  • The division determines is without merit if no subsequent report involving the same alleged perpetrator occurs within 1 year after the division makes the determination.
  • A court of competent jurisdiction determines is unsubstantiated or without merit if no subsequent report involving the same alleged perpetrator occurs within 5 years after the court makes the determination.

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