Pennsylvania § 6334 - Disposition of complaints received.

§ 6334. Disposition of complaints received.

(a) Receipt of reports by county agencies and law enforcement.--After ensuring the immediate safety of the child and any other child in the child's home, a county agency or law enforcement official that receives a report of suspected child abuse shall immediately notify the department of the report. If the report is an oral report by telephone, the county agency or law enforcement official shall attempt to collect as much of the information listed in section 6313(c) (relating to reporting procedure) as possible and shall submit the information to the department within 48 hours through a report in writing or by electronic technologies.

(b) Receipt of reports by department and referral to county agency.--The department shall immediately transmit an oral notice or a notice by electronic technologies to the county agency of the county where the suspected child abuse is alleged to have occurred. The notice shall contain the following information:

(1) That a report of suspected child abuse by a perpetrator has been received.

(2) The substance of the report.

(3) The existence in the Statewide database of a prior report or a current investigation or assessment concerning a subject of the report.

(c) Receipt of reports by department and referral to law enforcement.--If the department receives a report of suspected child abuse that also alleges that a criminal offense has been committed against the child, the department shall immediately transmit an oral notice or notice by electronic technologies to the appropriate law enforcement official in the county where the suspected child abuse is alleged to have occurred. The notice shall contain the following information, consistent with section 6340(a)(9) and (10) (relating to release of information in confidential reports):

(1) That a report of suspected child abuse has been received.

(2) The substance of the report.

(3) The existence in the Statewide database under section 6331 (relating to establishment of Statewide database) of a prior report or a current investigation or assessment concerning a subject of the report.

(d) Notice of joint referrals.--When a report is referred to the county agency under subsection (b) and is also referred to a law enforcement official under subsection (c), the notice shall include information as to the name and contact information of any persons receiving the referral, if known.

(e) Jurisdictional overlap.--If the residency of any subject of a report is a factor that requires the cooperation of more than one county agency, the department shall develop procedures to ensure the cooperation of those agencies in carrying out the requirements of this chapter.

(f) Referral for services or investigation.--If the report received does not suggest a need for protective services but does suggest a need for social services or other services or investigation, the department shall transmit the information to the county agency or other public agency for appropriate action. The information shall not be considered a child abuse report unless the agency to which the information was referred has reasonable cause to suspect after investigation that abuse occurred. If the agency has reasonable cause to suspect that abuse occurred, the agency shall notify the department, and the initial report shall be considered to have been a child abuse report.

(g) Recording of pending reports.--Upon receipt of a report of suspected child abuse, the department shall maintain a record of the complaint of suspected child abuse in the Statewide database. Upon receipt of a report under section 6353.2 (relating to responsibilities of county agency), the department shall maintain a record of the report in the Statewide database under section 6331.

(h) Child abuse in another state where the victim child and the alleged perpetrator are residents of the Commonwealth.--A report of suspected child abuse by a resident perpetrator occurring in another state shall be referred by the department to the county agency where the child resides in this Commonwealth and shall be investigated by the county agency as any other report of suspected child abuse by a perpetrator if the other state's child protective services agency cannot or will not investigate the report.

(i) Child abuse in another state where only the alleged perpetrator is a resident of this Commonwealth.--If suspected child abuse occurs in a jurisdiction other than this Commonwealth and only the alleged perpetrator is a resident of this Commonwealth, the report of suspected child abuse shall be referred to the county agency where the alleged perpetrator resides. The county agency shall do all of the following:

(1) Notify the children and youth social service agency of the jurisdiction in which the suspected child abuse occurred.

(2) If requested by the other agency, assist in investigating the suspected child abuse.

(j) Child abuse in another state where only the victim child is a resident of this Commonwealth.--A report of suspected child abuse occurring in another state where only the victim child resides in this Commonwealth and where the other state's child protective services agency cannot or will not investigate the report shall be assigned as a general protective services report to the county agency where the child resides.

(k) Copies of report.--A copy of a report of suspected child abuse under subsections (h), (i) and (j) shall be provided to the other state's child protective services agency and, if appropriate, to law enforcement officials where the incident occurred.

(l) Communication.--Reports and information under subsections (h), (i) and (j) shall be provided within seven calendar days of completion of the investigation.

(Dec. 16, 1994, P.L.1292, No.151, eff. July 1, 1995; July 7, 2005, P.L.196, No.43, eff. imd.; Apr. 7, 2014, P.L.388, No.29, eff. Dec. 31, 2014)

References in Text. Section 6353.2, referred to in this section, was repealed by the act of May 14, 2014 (P.L.645, No.44) and by the act of May 14, 2014 (P.L.653, No.45).

Cross References. Section 6334 is referred to in sections 6304, 6335, 6368 of this title.