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AS70 – Child Abuse-Neglect Reporting by School Personnel

  • Effective: 5/23/1978
  • Revision: 11/11/1986
  • Reviewed: 5/28/2013
  1. Board Directive
    Utah law requires the reporting of child abuse and neglect by any person who has reason to believe that a child has been abused or neglected.  To implement this law, the Board authorizes the District Administration to develop procedures for school employees to comply with the Child Abuse Reporting Law – Duty to Notify (Utah Code 62A-4a-403) and Child Abuse – Neglect Reporting by Education Personnel (Board Rule 277-401).
  2. Administrative Policy
    1. The Administration recognizes that in order to fully implement the law on reporting of child abuse and neglect, school personnel must be fully informed and made aware of their responsibilities in this area.  Therefore, the Administration shall cause that any school employee who knows or reasonably suspects that a child's health or welfare has been or appears to have been harmed as a result of abuse and neglect shall report and cause reports to be made in accordance with the procedures in this policy.
    2. The Administration shall provide to school employees annual training on the subject of identifying and reporting children suspected of being abused or neglected.
    3. The Administration shall post the District's procedures for reporting suspected child abuse or neglect and the District's Report of Child Abuse-Neglect form.   Reporting information is located in the Planning and Student Services Manual.
    4. If a school employee knows or reasonably suspects that a child is being abused or neglected, the employee shall immediately make an oral report to the school principal or his/her designee.  Together, the principal or his/her designee and the employee must make immediate contact with the nearest peace officer, local law enforcement agency, or Division of Family and Child Services (DCFS) to report the suspected abuse or neglect.
    5. Within 24 hours after making the oral report to the school principal and reporting the suspected abuse or neglect to local law enforcement agency, the school employee initiating the report shall complete and give to the principal or his/her designee the District's Report of Child Abuse-Neglect form available from the principal.
    6. Upon receiving the District's Report of Child Abuse-Neglect form, the principal or his/her designee shall:
      1. Forward a copy within 24 hours to the local law enforcement agency receiving the oral report.
      2. Mail one copy within 24 hours to the Department of Planning and Student Services to be put in the Child Abuse-Neglect file at the District Office.
      3. Place one copy of the Report of Child Abuse-Neglect form in a confidential file to be maintained by the principal or his/her designee.  The Report of Child Abuse-Neglect form shall not be placed in the child's personal file.
    7. It is not the responsibility of the school employee to:  (1) prove that the child has been abused or neglected, or (2) determine whether the child is in need of protection.
    8. School employees shall not make contact with the child's family or other persons (relatives, friends, neighbors, etc.) for the purpose of determining the cause of the injury and/or possible neglect.
    9. School employees are immune from any civil and/or criminal liability when reporting in good faith suspected child abuse or neglect.  (Board Rule R277-401-3)
    10. District policies shall ensure that the anonymity of those reporting or participating in the investigation of the alleged child abuse or neglect is preserved in a manner required by Utah Code §62A-4a-412.
    11. Any school employee who willfully fails to report a case of suspected child abuse or neglect, may face legal and/or disciplinary action.  (Utah Code §62A-4a-411 Annotated 1953, as enacted in 1978)