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.
If the referral does not involve a child under 18 (does not apply in reports of death of the only child or all children in household where death is suspected to be related to abuse or neglect), is a duplicate referral; is being referred to another county, or concerns a safely surrendered baby, select 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, select all criteria that apply. Do not select 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. Response Priority). Note that not all referrals assigned for in-person response require the same investigatory action. Refer to state regulatory guidance, the Policy and Procedures sections of the SDM safety and risk assessments, and local protocol to determine the type of CWS response required and the SDM tools that will apply. If no criteria are selected, the referral will be evaluated out (for differential response counties, go to Step IV. 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.
Final Response Priority
Indicate a final response priority.
If reported concerns involve alleged harm in out-of-home care to a dependent or ward child/youth, the county where the facility is geographically located should respond to reports with a 24-hour response priority. Reports with a 10-day response priority should be referred to the placing county as soon as possible.
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.
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).