The purpose of the hotline tools is to assess:

• Whether a referral meets the statutory threshold for an in-person CWS response;
• If not, whether a referral to an alternative community response is appropriate; and
• If so, how quickly to respond and the path of response.

All referrals that are created in CWS/CMS.

All referrals that meet statutory threshold for an in-person response, per the Preliminary Screening and Appropriateness of a Child Abuse/Neglect Report for Response tools.

All referrals that did not meet the statutory threshold for in-person response are assessed using A, Path Decision for Evaluate Out.
All referrals that meet statutory threshold for in-person response are assessed using B, Path Decision for In-Person Response.

Worker receiving the referral.

Worker receiving the referral.

Worker receiving the referral OR the designated differential response worker.

Immediately upon receipt of the call.

Immediately upon receipt of the call.

Referrals with a 24-hour response priority—complete immediately.
Referrals with a 10-day response priority—complete within 24 hours.
Referrals that are evaluated out—complete within five working days.

Does the referral meet statutory threshold for in-person CWS response (yes or no)?

How quickly to respond. First face-to-face contact should begin or be attempted within 24 hours or within 10 days.

Records the path of response decision and documents criteria present at the time of the referral.

If a referral was/will be created in CWS/CMS, complete a hotline tool.

Complete all assessment header information as indicated.

• Record the referral number and date of the hotline assessment.
• Intake staff must inquire whether the reporting party has any information that indicates that a child in the household is or may be an Indian child, as required by WIC § 224.2(a) and ACL 20-38.
• If there is reason to believe that a child is or may be an Indian child, intake staff shall contact all appropriate tribe(s) as soon as possible for information gathering about the child’s membership, citizenship, or eligibility.
• If known, or if there is reason to know, that a child is an Indian child, intake staff should make efforts to contact all appropriate tribe(s) as soon as possible for further information gathering and collaborative assessment and decision making. This contact should not prevent or delay the agency from responding within the required timeframe, when indicated.
• Details of the contact/attempted contact with tribe(s), a summary of information, and the impact on decision making mustbe documented in CWS/CMS.
• If intake staff are unable to contact the tribe(s) and the referral is screened in, child welfare staff are required to continue efforts to engage the tribe in information gathering and shared decision making throughout the investigation, as described in MPP 31-101.522.

If the referral does not involve a child under 18; is a duplicate referral; is being referred to another county; is limited to alleged harm in a group home, residential treatment facility, or other institution; or concerns a safely surrendered baby, mark the specific reason under “review of screening criteria is not required.”

In these cases, the screening decision is complete. Step II, Appropriateness of a Child Abuse/Neglect Report for Response; Step III, Response Priority; and Step IV, Path of Response Decision are not required.

Record the specific reasons in CWS/CMS.

A. Screening Criteria Based on the caller's concerns, mark all criteria that apply. Do not mark items if the caller's information does not reach the threshold of the definition for an item.

B. Screening Decision Indicate the screening decision. If one or more criteria are marked, the referral is assigned for an in-person CWS response (proceed to Step III). If no criteria are marked, the referral will be evaluated out (for differential response counties, go to Step IV, Path of Response Decision, then A, Path Decision for Evaluate Out; all others require no further action).

Overrides If an override is used to assign a referral for in-person response when no screening criteria are marked in Step II, Section A, no further SDM assessments are required.

Tribal Agreement If it has been indicated that the child is an Indian child, or there is reason to know a child is an Indian child, and contact with the tribe(s) has been made, review the screening decision collaboratively with the tribe(s). While agreement with the decision is not required, document the tribe’s position on the final screening decision.

A. Decision Trees

• Allegation concerns maltreatment by current substitute care provider AND county policy requires response within 24 hours (automatic 24-hour). Mark if the child is in out-of-home care and the allegations concern the substitute care provider AND county policy requires a response within 24 hours, making the referral an automatic 24-hour response. If not applicable, proceed to the decision trees.
• Child is already in custody (automatic 24-hour). If a child has already been taken into protective custody, the referral will be an automatic 24-hour response. Workers in differential response counties should proceed to Step IV, Path of Response Decision.

Select the response priority decision tree that corresponds with the allegation type (physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, or sexual abuse). If there is more than one allegation, begin with the most serious allegation. Start with the first question, and gather information from the caller that will lead to an answer of yes or no. Be sure to consult definitions. The response will lead to either a decision regarding response time or to another question. Continue to ask as many questions as are required to arrive at a recommended response time.

• Additional allegations. Once a response time of 24 hours is reached, it is not necessary to complete additional decision trees, even if there are other allegations. If the first tree leads to a time of 10 days, complete additional decision trees until all allegations are completed or a 24-hour response time has been determined, whichever comes first.
• Unknown answers. If the reporter's information cannot clearly distinguish between a yes or no response to a question, try asking additional questions, or asking questions in different ways. If it remains unclear, answer in the way that is most protective of the child.

B. Overrides
After completing all required decision trees, proceed to the overrides and determine whether any apply. Consider overrides even if response priority trees have been bypassed based on screening criteria.

• Policy. If 10 days is the presumptive response, consider whether any of the policy overrides to 24 hours apply. If 24 hours is the presumptive response, consider whether any of the policy overrides to reduce response priority by one level apply.
• Discretionary. If the caller reported any information, or information from any other source suggests that the child's safety, permanency, or well-being is best served by a different response time than the presumptive response, mark whether the response time will be increased or decreased. For example, consider the ability to locate child/caregiver and protective capacities. Briefly describe the fact(s) that led to this conclusion. Discuss a discretionary override with a supervisor and obtain approval.

Final Response Priority
Indicate a final response priority.

Based on screening criteria, complete either Path Decision for Evaluate Out OR Path Decision for In-Person Response.

A. Path Decision for Evaluate Out
If the county has a differential response system, all referrals that were evaluated out will be considered for Path 1 assignment. Mark any applicable items listed that were present at the time of the referral based on reported information. Record the path decision for referrals that did not meet any screening criteria (No Response or Path 1).

B. Path Decision for In-Person Response
If the county has a differential response system, all referrals that are assigned for in-person response should be forwarded to the differential response coordinator. If the response priority decision is within 24 hours, the worker may bypass the criteria and mark “yes” for automatic Path 3 response. The criteria that resulted in the 24-hour response time would often also result in a Path 3 decision. Alternatively, the worker may review the criteria and base the path decision on the criteria.

1. Secondary referrals. If, after gathering all information from the reporter, it is apparent that all of the allegations made by the reporter are identical to allegations made in an existing open referral, the worker should create a second referral in CWS/CMS and mark it accordingly. This second referral may contain an additional description of the family/events but should not contain a new incident or allegation. No new hotline tool is required for a secondary referral. (If the second call contains information that would change screening, response priority, or path decision, that is an indicator that it is NOT a secondary referral.)
2. Associated referrals. If a second or subsequent call is received that does contain new information, but the worker has not yet made a first face-to-face contact with the family, the referrals should be combined in CWS/CMS as an associated referral. The hotline worker should complete a new hotline tool to determine whether the response should change. However, the investigating worker will complete only one safety and risk assessment that will be linked to all associated referrals. If the second call is received AFTER an initial safety assessment was completed but BEFORE a risk assessment was completed, the worker should associate the referrals in CWS/CMS. In webSDM, complete the risk assessment in the first referral. With rare exceptions, a second safety assessment should be added to the first referral based on changing circumstances.
3. Changing decisions. Prior to worker contact with the family, it is possible that additional information will lead to different answers to the various components of the hotline tool. Retain the original completed tool to show what decision was made and the basis for that decision. In webSDM, open the FIELD UPDATE option and indicate the NEW decision. Provide a brief explanation of the basis for the change. THE CHANGE MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH DECISION CRITERIA, OR AN APPROPRIATE OVERRIDE REASON SHOULD BE STATED.

Workers will make every effort to elicit information from the reporter to make the key hotline decisions of whether to initiate an in-person response, how quickly to respond, and the path of response. To the extent time allows and if the reporter has additional information, the worker should also elicit information regarding the reporter's knowledge of family strengths, use of services, and the reporter's perspective on family needs.

In all calls, workers will gather as much identifying information as the reporter has available, information on the family's language, cultural identity, current location of child and ability to locate, and issues that have an impact on the safety of responding workers (e.g., weapons, propensity to violence, dangerous animals).