Section 40. Involvement of regulatory agencies

The authority of the local department to investigate valid complaints of alleged child abuse or neglect in regulated facilities overlaps with the authority of the public agencies which have regulatory responsibilities for these facilities to investigate alleged violations of standards.

1. For valid complaints in state regulated facilities and religiously exempted child day programs, the local department shall contact the regulatory authority and share the valid complaint information. The regulatory authority will appoint a staff person to participate in the investigation to determine if there are regulatory concerns.

2. The CPS worker assigned to investigate and the appointed regulatory staff person will discuss their preliminary joint investigation plan.

a. The CPS worker and the regulatory staff person shall review their respective needs for information and plan the investigation based on when these needs coincide and can be met with joint interviews or with information sharing.

b. The investigation plan must keep in focus the policy requirements to be met by each party as well as the impact the investigation will have on the facility's staff, the victim child or children, and the other children at the facility.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR615-45-5 § 2.3, eff. January 26, 1994; amended, Volume 19, Issue 03, eff. November 20, 2002; Volume 30, Issue 06, eff. January 1, 2014.

Statutory Authority

§ 63.2-217 of the Code of Virginia.