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After taking the report of child abuse or maltreatment/neglect
from a mandated reporter, staff at the SCR, based on the information
provided will make a determination if the report is to be
registered and investigated by the local Child Protective
Service (CPS), if it will be referred to law enforcement or
if the report is not registered (see Figure 2. The New York
State Child Protective Services System).
Figure 2. The New York State Child Protective
Services System
New York State has allowed each county to institute voluntary alternative response if desired. Currently some counties are using this alternative response, which in New York State is called the Family Assessment Response (FAR) (NYS-OCFS, nd).
Chapter 452 of the Laws of 2007 authorized local departments of social services (LDSS), other than in New York City, to apply to the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to use a family assessment and services approach for a subset of families that are reported to the Statewide Central Register (SCR) for child maltreatment. The family assessment response (FAR) is a child protective response that does not require an investigation and determination of allegations and individual culpability for families reported to the SCR. It is an alternative approach to providing protection to children by focusing on engaging families in informal and formal support services that meet their needs and increases their ability to care for their children. FAR requires an initial assessment of child safety. If a child is assessed to be in danger, the report may not be handled using a family assessment response. States have found that a family assessment approach is less threatening to and is more engaging of families. It allows the family to have a larger role in determining what services will benefit their children and the LDSS is more likely to be viewed by the family as a helping entity in the future should issues arise that create risk to children (NYS-OCFS, nd).
CPS may take a child into protective custody if it is necessary
for the protection from further abuse or maltreatment. Based
upon an assessment of the circumstances, CPS may offer the
family appropriate services. The CPS caseworker has the obligation
and authority to petition the Family Court to mandate services
when they are necessary for the care and protection of a child.
After conducting interviews with family members, the alleged
child victim, and sometimes other people familiar with the
family, the CPS agency makes a determination concerning whether
the child is a victim of abuse or neglect, or is at risk of
abuse or neglect. This determination is often called a disposition.
CPS has 60 days after receiving the report to determine whether
the report is "indicated" or "unfounded". The law requires
CPS to provide written notice to the parents or other subjects
of the report concerning the rights accorded to them by the
New York State Social Services Law. The CPS investigator will
also inform the SCR of the determination of the investigation.
The SCR may refer the report to law enforcement. This may
occur if the "Subject of the Report" is not someone who meets
the legal definition. The perpetrator of the abuse may not
be someone who has the legal responsibility for the child.
In such cases, referrals to law enforcement agencies are made
in order to execute the appropriate legal action. There are
situations in which both law enforcement and CPS will be involved,
depending on who is the subject of the report and the nature
of the injury and if any crimes have been committed.
In some cases, perhaps such as in Case #2 of Juanita, if
the nurse practitioner had decided to report the family to
the SCR, the report may not have been taken by the SCR staff.
This may occur when there is information provided by the mandated
reporter that indicates a more appropriate intervention would
be family resolution or referral to a community resource.
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