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340:75-3-14. Statewide hotline and after hours response

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Revised 5-12-05

In order to facilitate 24-hour response to reports of abuse and neglect and to address other emergency situations that occur after working hours, the Child Welfare (CW) program utilizes a statewide toll-free 24-hour child abuse hotline (SWHL), 1-800-522-3511.

(1) SWHL is utilized for receipt of reports concerning child abuse and neglect when the:
- (A) county office is closed; or
- (B) reporting party is not clear about the appropriate county office to contact or does not want to report to the county office.
(2) Procedures for documenting referrals for Child Protective Services are delineated in OAC 340:75-3-5. • 1

INSTRUCTIONS TO STAFF 340:75-3-14

1. (a) Functions of SWHL.

(1) Statewide hotline (SWHL) staff:
- (A) documents reports of abuse and neglect;
- (B) provides information concerning emergency after-hours investigations; and
- (C) processes abuse and neglect reports for response by the appropriate county.
(2) SWHL is not a message service for Child Welfare (CW) staff or the public.
(3) The SWHL number is provided to the public for reporting abuse and neglect.
(4) The ongoing responsibilities of SWHL staff are listed in (A) through (G).
- (A) Reports received through SWHL are documented in KIDS and a determination is made whether the allegations in the report indicate the need for an emergency response. If so, the SWHL staff informs county CW staff immediately for response.
- (B) While it is not the responsibility of the SWHL staff to prioritize all reports, SWHL staff is trained in prioritizing reports to determine whether any report meets the criteria of a Priority I or an emergency that requires immediate contact with county CW staff for response.
- (C) SWHL staff conducts, after hours, Information Management System (IMS) and KIDS searches on all Priority I reports. When a KIDS search is not conducted due to KIDS down time, SWHL documents such on the report.
- (D) Inquiries from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for information concerning the history of a deceased child are documented as a report in KIDS by SWHL staff and sent to the county of last contact with the child and family. SWHL staff:
  - (i) provides the medical examiner with initial information obtained through KIDS and IMS searches;
  - (ii) informs the medical examiner of which county will be notified and may be contacted for additional and more current information;
  - (iii) if there is no record of contact with the child or family, sends the KIDS referral to the county of address. The county of address must contact the medical examiner to ensure that all information on KIDS is current;
  - (iv) if it appears that the medical examiner inquiry indicates the need for an investigation, immediately notifies the county of address; and
  - (v) forwards information concerning the medical examiner inquiry to Children and Family Services Division Child Protective Services (CPS) Section for documentation of the child's death.
- (E) Reports received that are appropriate for investigation by the Office of Client Advocacy are documented in KIDS by SWHL staff and sent via KIDS to the county of the child's location for information only. The report is screened out for CPS investigation by the county. SWHL staff faxes a copy of the report, Form CWS-KIDS-1, Referral Information Report, to the Office of Client Advocacy.
- (F) SWHL staff do not release on-call pager numbers or CW workers' personal phone numbers.
- (G) SWHL staff sends a reminder message to the county CW offices by e-mail to maintain a current on-call list.

(b) County notification during office hours. SWHL staff enters child abuse and neglect reports through KIDS and forwards the report via KIDS to the county where the child victim is located. If the referral is a Priority I, the county is also contacted by phone. Reports are sent only to those counties in which child victims are located, even when other family members live in another county. It is the responsibility of the county where the child victim is located to determine any other counties that need to be involved and to notify and coordinate the investigation with any other counties. If changes are made to the on-call list, SWHL staff is immediately notified by e-mail, phone, or fax.
(c) County notification after office hours.
- (1) When SWHL staff determines that a referral meets the Priority I criteria or there is another situation, such as the need for medical consent or notification of absent without leave (AWOL) status of a child, then SWHL staff:
  - (A) determines the on-call worker by reviewing the on-call list from KIDS;
  - (B) determines the most expeditious method of notifying the on-call worker, either by pager or phone; and
  - (C) notifies and verbally informs the appropriate on-call worker after hours of all report information.
- (2) The on-call worker takes the complete referral or emergency information and contacts any appropriate staff to address the issue.
  - (A) If the on-call worker does not respond by phone, then the worker is paged by SWHL staff.
  - (B) If there is no response from the on-call worker to the page after 20 minutes, the worker's supervisor is contacted by phone or page. The supervisor takes the complete referral or emergency information and locates the on-call worker or arranges for another worker to respond. (C) If the on-call worker does not agree that the referral is a Priority I, the worker takes the complete report information and contacts his or her supervisor to determine whether emergency response to the referral is required.
(d) County responsibilities in working with SWHL staff. County responsibilities in coordinating with SWHL staff are listed in (1) through (8).
- (1) Counties are responsible for maintaining a current on-call list that is accessible through KIDS. The on-call schedule for the upcoming month is entered in KIDS by the end of the preceding month. The on-call list includes the name, home phone number, and on-call dates of each person on-call. The on-call list also indicates the person responsible for on-call back-up.
- (2) When contacted by SWHL staff, the on-call worker takes complete report information and any other necessary information concerning after hours emergencies. Each county:
  - (A) must have a protocol for response to SWHL calls that concern after hours emergencies; and
  - (B) designates whether the on-call worker is responsible for responding to the emergency or notifying another staff person in the county to address the emergency.
- (3) In order to properly respond to after-hours calls, the on-call worker for each county must have the current statewide on-call list, phone number of the appropriate supervisor, county director, and any other local providers, such as foster parents and shelters.
- (4) The SWHL number is given as the number to report abuse or neglect. The number is not used as an after hours message number or indicated as such on CW staff business cards.
- (5) The on-call worker returns pages to SWHL staff on the outgoing line, not through the toll-free SWHL number. If call backs are long distance and the on-call worker does not have access to a long distance calling card, the call is returned by SWHL staff.
- (6) The on-call worker leaves the pager on at all times after 5:00 p.m. and weekends. The pager must be positioned so that the worker is aware of all pages.
- (7) County CW staff forward any abuse and neglect reports that are determined by the county to have an address that is in another county. If at the time of the SWHL call, the county recognizes that the address belongs in another county, then SWHL staff makes the call to the appropriate county.
- (8) If a Priority I report is not assigned during office hours, it is the responsibility of county staff to refer the call to the on-call worker.

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