1. (a) Within forty-five (45) calendar days of receipt of a report from the Child Abuse Hotline (or within sixty (60) calendar days for those investigations for which an extension was granted as outlined above) a child maltreatment investigation will be either administratively closed pursuant to Arkansas Code § 12-18-601 without a determination, or closed with a determination of either:

   1. (1) Unsubstantiated;
   2. (2) True;

   3. (3) True but exempted for:

      1. (A) Neglect as defined by Arkansas Code § 12-18-103(14)(B) (i.e., Garrett’s Law);
      2. (B) Religious beliefs;
      3. (C) Underaged juvenile offenders; or
      4. (D) Juvenile offenders less than fourteen (14) years of age; or
   4. (4) Inactive.

2. (b) Administrative closures.

   1. (1) In order to conduct an administrative closure, the FSW will:

      1. (A) Initiate the investigation by interviewing the alleged victim outside the presence of the alleged offender;
      2. (B) Complete an assessment of the alleged victim’s home environment, as appropriate;
      3. (C) Interview a collateral witness;
      4. (D) Review prior history of child maltreatment related to the family of the child and to the alleged offender; and
      5. (E) After the preliminary investigation steps above have occurred, submit a request for administrative closure if:

3. (i) 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;

   1. (ii) FSW has determined based on review of prior child maltreatment history that the health and safety of the child can be ensured without further investigation by the Division of Children and Family Services; and

      1. (iii) FSW determines that:
4. (a) (a) Abuse or neglect of the child did not occur; and

5. (b) (b) At least one (1) of the following criteria are met:

   1. (1) (1) There are indications of malicious reporting;
   2. (2) (2) Details of the allegations are insufficient to investigate;
   3. (3) (3) Reporter was anonymous, and no evidence exists to corroborate the report; or
   4. (4) (4) There is no available evidence to support or refute the allegation or allegations due to the passage of time between the alleged occurrence of the maltreatment and the time the report was made.

   5. (2) The FSW Supervisor will:

      1. (A) Review the request for administrative closure to ensure:

         1. (i) The victim child was interviewed outside the presence of the alleged offender;
         2. (ii) The home environment of the victim child was assessed as appropriate given the maltreatment allegation; and
         3. (iii) Collateral witness interview or interviews occurred; and

      2. (B) Determine if the request meets criteria for administrative closure and within two (2) business days of receipt:

         1. (i) Submit for three-tier closure approval if criteria are met; or
         2. (ii) If criteria for administrative closure are not met:
6. (a) (a) Deny request for administrative closure; and

7. (b) (b) Complete a case consultation with FSW to discuss the reasons for denial of administrative closure request and develop a plan for completion of the investigation.

   1. (3) The Director of the Division of Children and Family Services or designee will:

      1. (A) Determine if the request meets criteria for administrative closure within two (2) business days of receipt; and

      2. (B) Approve administrative closure request if criteria have been met or deny request for administrative closure adding details of denial in the comments section.

         1. (c) Exempted no-risk selections.

   2. (1) When considering whether the offender named in an investigation with the determination of true may pose a risk to vulnerable populations, the FSW will:

      1. (A) Consider the following factors:

         1. (i) The severity of the child maltreatment;
         2. (ii) The nature and severity of an injury or other adverse impact caused by the child maltreatment;
         3. (iii) The current or future access the offender has or could have to a vulnerable population;
         4. (iv) Offender’s previous child maltreatment history and whether there are similar fact patterns related to current offense and past child maltreatment history;
         5. (v) Subsequent reports of child maltreatment against the offender;
         6. (vi) Criminal history of the offender; and
         7. (vii) Risk assessment tool rating;
      2. (B) Participate in a case consultation with direct supervisor to determine if the offender may pose a risk of maltreatment to a vulnerable population;
      3. (C) Enter explanation of risk to a vulnerable population decision in the CHRIS findings recommendation screen; and
      4. (D) If there is a decision that the offender does not pose a risk to a vulnerable population, select “Exempt-No Risk” from the findings dropdown menu and submit for three-tier approval.

   3. (2)

      1. (A) When considering whether the offender may pose a risk to vulnerable populations, the FSW Supervisor will review “Exempt-No Risk” selections because the recommendation from the FSW Investigator is that the offender does not pose a risk to a vulnerable population.

      2. (B) This will include a review of the narrative in CHRIS findings recommendation screen and associated information in the investigation to ensure appropriate selection has been recommended and if:

         1. (i) Approving based on review, submit “Exempt-No Risk” for third-tier approval; or
         2. (ii) Denying based on review:
8. (a) (a) Deny request and enter comments regarding the denial in the denial comments; and

9. (b) (b) Complete a consultation with FSW regarding denial.

   1. (3) When considering whether the offender may pose a risk to vulnerable populations, the director or designee will:

      1. (A) Determine if “Exempt-No Risk” is appropriate based on review of the narrative in the CHRIS findings recommendation screen and associated information in the investigation; and

      2. (B) Approve request if appropriate or deny request adding details of denial in the comments section.

         1. (d) Other determinations.

   2. (1) For all other determinations, the FSW Investigator will:

      1. (A)

         1. (i)
10. (a) (a) Document the investigative determination on the “Investigation Finding” screen.

11. (b) (b) CHRIS will automatically populate the overall finding (unsubstantiated, true, true but exempted, or inactive) based on the individual findings.

    1. (ii) For true but exempted determinations involving underaged juvenile offenders with sexual abuse allegations:
12. (a) (a) Select the “Alleged Juvenile Offender–Under Age Fourteen” in the role and referral select box on the abuse/neglect screen in referral or investigation in CHRIS;

13. (b) (b) Select “Exempted from Finding (Underaged Juvenile Offender)” as the individual finding in the investigation findings screen in CHRIS; and

    1. (c)
    2. (1) (c)(1) When “Exempted from Finding (Underaged Juvenile Offender)” appears in the individual finding, the overall finding for the investigation will be exempted (underage juvenile offender at time of incident) provided that there are no other allegations associated with the report.
    3. (2) (2) If true is selected for another allegation in the investigation, the overall finding will be changed to true.

    4. (3) (3) If the individual findings for any other allegations in the investigation are unsubstantiated and the individual finding is “Exempted (Underage Juvenile Offender at Time of Incident)” for the sexual abuse allegation with the underage juvenile offender, the overall finding will be “Exempted (Underage Juvenile Offender at Time of Incident)”;

       1. (B)

          1. (i) Document any additional information deemed necessary pertaining to the investigation/determination on the “Investigation Closure” screen and request supervisory approval of the determination.
          2. (ii) The request for approval will automatically go to the worker’s supervisor’s box for approval; and

       2. (C)

          1. (i) Ensure child maltreatment investigative determination notices, whether true or unsubstantiated, are issued to all persons pursuant to Arkansas Code § 12-18-703 et seq.
          2. (ii) See 9 CAR § 40-1501, notices regarding child maltreatment, and related procedures.

    5. (2) The FSW Supervisor will:

       1. (i) Conference with the FSW Investigator as needed regarding the determination;

          1. (ii) Review the investigative determination and other pertinent screens in CHRIS;
          2. (iii) Approve the investigation closure as appropriate on the “Investigation Closure” screen; and
          3. (iv) For substantiated investigation, complete/approve the “Investigation Case Connect” screen as appropriate and assign and open a case if appropriate.

Codification Notes: This section as promulgated prior to codification into the Code of Arkansas Rules provided as follows: "02/2020"