Section 130. Report family assessment or investigation conclusions

A. Pursuant to § 63.2-1514 of the Code of Virginia, the local department shall report all unfounded case dispositions to the child abuse and neglect information system when disposition is made.

1. The department shall retain unfounded complaints or reports in the child abuse and neglect information system to provide local departments with information regarding prior investigations.

2. This record shall be kept separate from the Central Registry and accessible only to the department and to local departments.

3. The record of the unfounded case shall be purged one year after the date of the complaint or report if there are no subsequent founded or unfounded complaints and/or reports regarding the individual against whom allegations of abuse and/or neglect were made or regarding the same child in that one year.

4. The record of the family assessment shall be purged three years after the date of the complaint or report if there are no subsequent complaints and/or reports regarding the individual against whom allegations of abuse and/or neglect were made or regarding the same child in those three years.

5. If the individual against whom allegations of abuse and/or neglect were made or if the same child is involved in subsequent complaints and/or reports, the information from all complaints and/or reports shall be maintained until the last purge date has been reached.

6. The individual against whom unfounded allegations of abuse and/or neglect were made may request in writing that the local department retain the record for an additional period of up to two years.

7. The individual against whom allegations of abuse and/or neglect were made may request in writing that both the local department and the department shall immediately purge the record after a court rules that the report was made in bad faith or with malicious intent pursuant to § 63.2-1514 of the Code of Virginia.

B. The local department shall report all founded case dispositions to the child abuse and neglect information system for inclusion in the Central Registry pursuant to subdivision 5 of § 63.2-1505 of the Code of Virginia and 22VAC40-700-30. Identifying information about the abuser and/or neglector and the victim child or children reported include demographic information, type of abuse or neglect, and date of the complaint. The identifying information shall be retained based on the determined level of severity of the abuse or neglect pursuant to the regulation dealing with retention in the Central Registry, 22VAC40-700-30.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 13, Issue 25, eff. January 1, 1998; amended, Virginia Register Volume 19, Issue 06, eff. January 1, 2003; Volume 20, Issue 05, eff. January 1, 2004.

Statutory Authority

§ 63.2-217 of the Code of Virginia.