1. (a) The full investigation shall be completed no more than 45 days after the receipt of the first notice of the suspected abuse or neglect; except, that the full investigation shall be completed no more than 60 days after the receipt of the first notice of the suspected abuse or neglect if the investigation involves:

   1. (1) A child fatality;
   2. (2) Abuse or neglect in a foster home, group home, or licensed day care facility;
   3. (3) Sex trafficking or a severe form of trafficking in persons, as those terms are defined in section 103(12) and (11)(A) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, approved October 28, 2000 (114 Stat. 1469; 22 U.S.C. § 7102(12) and (11)(A)), respectively;
   4. (4) A commercial sex act, as that term is defined in § 22-1831(4); or
   5. (5) Sex trafficking of children, as described in § 22-1834.

2. (b) The investigation shall determine:

   1. (1) The nature, extent, and cause of the abuse or neglect, if any;
   2. (2) If mental injury, as defined in § 16-2301(31), is suspected, an assessment of the suspected mental injury by a physician, a psychologist, or a licensed clinical social worker;

   3. (3) If the suspected abuse or neglect is determined to be substantiated:

      1. (A) The identity of the person responsible for the abuse or neglect;
      2. (B) The name, age, sex, and condition of the abused or neglected child and all other children in the home;
      3. (C) The conditions in the home at the time of the alleged abuse or neglect;
      4. (D) Whether there is any child in the home whose health, safety, or welfare is at risk; and
      5. (E) Whether any child who is at risk should be removed from the home or can be protected by the provision of resources, such as those listed in §§ 4-1303.03 and 4-1303.03a.

3. (c)

   1. (1) Within 5 business days after the completion of the investigation, the Agency shall complete a final report of its findings.
   2. (2) The Agency shall provide a copy of a report regarding suspected abuse or neglect that addresses possible criminal activity to the Metropolitan Police Department, the Office of the Attorney General, and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.
4. (d) If the Agency determines that a report was made in bad faith, the Agency shall refer the report to the Office of the Attorney General, which shall determine whether prosecution of the person making the report in bad faith is warranted.
5. (e) Nothing in this section shall be read as abrogating the responsibility of the Metropolitan Police Department for criminal investigations.

History

Sept. 23, 1977, D.C. Law 2-22, title I, § 106, 24 DCR 3341

Apr. 4, 2001, D.C. Law 13-277, § 2(d), 48 DCR 2043

Apr. 12, 2005, D.C. Law 15-341,§ 2(c), 52 DCR 2315

Mar. 21, 2025, D.C. Law 25-299, § 2(c)

Editor's Notes

For applicability of D.C. Law 13-277, see note following § 4-1303.01a.

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 15-341 rewrote the section.

D.C. Law 13-277, in subsec. (a), substituted “with the Agency” for “with the Division” and substituted “either the Agency” for “either the department of Human Services”.

Prior Codifications

1973 Ed., § 6-2104.

1981 Ed., § 6-2104.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 4-1301.06a, § 4-1303.03, and § 16-2353.