Current through Vol. 42, No. 1, September 16, 2024
(a)
Child
protective services purpose. Child protective services (CPS) is a child
welfare services provision that focuses on preventing, identifying, and
treating child abuse and neglect and ensuring child safety. Efforts are made to
maintain and protect the child in the child's own home when safety threats can
be managed and controlled. The primary purpose of CPS intervention is to:
(1) protect the child;
(2) assess family strengths and needs;
and
(3) provide services to remedy
the conditions and behaviors that cause abuse, neglect, or safety
threats.
(b)
Child
protective services philosophy. The child welfare (CW) program
emphasizes child safety and family preservation when the child is safely
maintained within the family. While family reunification or rehabilitation is
an optimum means for protecting the child, the right to family integrity is
limited by the child's right to be protected from abuse and neglect, per
Section 1-1-102 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes (10A O.S. §
1-1-102).
(1) Consistent with federal and
state requirements:
(A) reasonable efforts are
made when possible to prevent or eliminate the need for the child's removal;
or
(B) intervention is directed
toward child and family reunification when the child will be safe in the
home.
(2) When the child
cannot be safely maintained in the home, court intervention and the child's
removal from the home may be necessary.
(3) Oklahoma Department of Human Services
(OKDHS) recognizes that when the child is removed from the home, timely
achievement of the child's permanency plan is in the child's best
interests.
(c)
Legal authority for child protective services.
(1) 10A O.S. §§ 1-2-101 through
1-2-110 requires that suspected abuse and neglect be reported to OKDHS. OKDHS
conducts a safety analysis and forwards the assessment conclusions or
investigation findings to the appropriate district attorney's (DA's)
office.
(2) 10A O.S. § 1-2-108
requires that OKDHS maintain an information system of the assessment
conclusions or investigation findings in addition to other child abuse and
neglect related information.
(3)
10A O.S. § 1-4-201 sets forth methods by which custody of a child may be
assumed. Law enforcement officers or designated employees of the court are
authorized to assume protective custody without a court order in defined
circumstances, or the court may issue an order for emergency custody after an
application, supported by an affidavit, is submitted by the DA to the
court.
(d)
Scope
of child protective services.
(1) CPS
intervention is mandated by 10A O.S. § 1-1-102 when a child is abused,
neglected, drug-endangered, or at risk of significant harm because of willful
acts, intent to act, or omissions by the person responsible for the child's
(PRFC) health, safety, or welfare. CPS addresses intra-familial abuse or
neglect and assesses or investigates allegations of abuse or neglect when the
perpetrator is identified as:
(A) the child's
custodial or noncustodial parent;
(B) the child's legal guardian or
custodian;
(C) an adult residing in
the child's home including an adult who is cohabitating with the child's
parent; or
(D) a person other than
a PRFC when it is necessary to determine whether the PRFC's actions contributed
to the child's abuse or neglect and reflects the PRFC's unwillingness or
inability to protect the child.
(2) OKDHS is mandated per 10A O.S. §
1-2-105 to investigate alleged abuse or neglect by a PRFC as defined in 10A
O.S. § 1-1-105 that includes:
(A) a
foster parent per OAC
340:75-3-410;
(B) an owner, operator, or employee of a
child care facility, child care center, or child care home, as defined in 10
O.S. §
402,
whether licensed or unlicensed per OAC
340:75-3-110
and
340:75-3-420;
and
(C) an agent or employee of a
public or private residential home institution facility or day treatment
program as defined by 10 O.S. §
175.20.
(3) Except when employed in a
child care facility, school teachers and officials, OKDHS employees, and other
persons providing services to the child are not PRFCs.
(4) Reports alleging child abuse or neglect
in settings above the foster care level are investigated by the Office of
Client Advocacy per OAC
340:2-3-32.
Reserved at 30 Ok Reg
389, eff 7-1-13; Added at 30 Ok Reg 1361, eff
7-1-13
