The Florida Senate

¹39.201  Mandatory reports of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect; mandatory reports of death; central abuse hotline.--

(1)  Any person, including, but not limited to, any:

(a)  Physician, osteopathic physician, medical examiner, chiropractic physician, nurse, or hospital personnel engaged in the admission, examination, care, or treatment of persons;

(b)  Health or mental health professional other than one listed in paragraph (a);

(c)  Practitioner who relies solely on spiritual means for healing;

(d)  School teacher or other school official or personnel;

(e)  Social worker, day care center worker, or other professional child care, foster care, residential, or institutional worker;

(f)  Law enforcement officer; or

(g)  Judge,

who knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that a child is abused, abandoned, or neglected by a parent, legal custodian, caregiver, or other person responsible for the child's welfare shall report such knowledge or suspicion to the department in the manner prescribed in subsection (2).

(2)(a)  Each report of known or suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect pursuant to this section, except those solely under s. 827.04(3), shall be made immediately to the department's central abuse hotline on the single statewide toll-free telephone number, and, if the report is of an instance of known or suspected child abuse by a noncaretaker, the call shall be immediately electronically transferred to the appropriate county sheriff's office by the central abuse hotline. If the report is of an instance of known or suspected child abuse involving impregnation of a child under 16 years of age by a person 21 years of age or older solely under s. 827.04(3), the report shall be made immediately to the appropriate county sheriff's office or other appropriate law enforcement agency. If the report is of an instance of known or suspected child abuse solely under s. 827.04(3), the reporting provisions of this subsection do not apply to health care professionals or other persons who provide medical or counseling services to pregnant children when such reporting would interfere with the provision of medical services.

(b)  The department must consider valid and accept for investigation any report received by the central abuse hotline from a judge, teacher or other professional school official, or physician, as specified in paragraph (1)(a), paragraph (1)(d), or paragraph (1)(g), who is acting in his or her professional capacity, alleging harm as defined in s. 39.01.

(c)  Reporters in occupation categories designated in subsection (1) are required to provide their names to the hotline staff. The names of reporters shall be entered into the record of the report, but shall be held confidential as provided in s. 39.202.

(d)  Reports involving known or suspected institutional child abuse or neglect shall be made and received in the same manner as all other reports made pursuant to this section.

(e)  Reports involving a known or suspected juvenile sexual offender shall be made and received by the department.

1.  The department shall determine the age of the alleged juvenile sexual offender if known.

2.  When the alleged juvenile sexual offender is 12 years of age or younger, the department shall proceed with an investigation of the report pursuant to this part, immediately electronically transfer the call to the appropriate law enforcement agency office by the central abuse hotline, and send a written report of the allegation to the appropriate county sheriff's office within 48 hours after the initial report is made to the central abuse hotline.

3.  When the alleged juvenile sexual offender is 13 years of age or older, the department shall immediately electronically transfer the call to the appropriate county sheriff's office by the central abuse hotline, and send a written report to the appropriate county sheriff's office within 48 hours after the initial report to the central abuse hotline.

(f)  Hotline counselors shall receive periodic training in encouraging reporters to provide their names when reporting abuse, abandonment, or neglect. Callers shall be advised of the confidentiality provisions of s. 39.202. The department shall secure and install electronic equipment that automatically provides to the hotline the number from which the call is placed. This number shall be entered into the report of abuse, abandonment, or neglect and become a part of the record of the report, but shall enjoy the same confidentiality as provided to the identity of the caller pursuant to s. 39.202.

(g)  The department shall voice-record all incoming or outgoing calls that are received or placed by the central abuse hotline which relate to suspected or known child abuse, neglect, or abandonment. The recording shall become a part of the record of the report, but is subject to the same confidentiality as is provided to the identity of the caller under s. 39.202.

(3)  Any person required to report or investigate cases of suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect who has reasonable cause to suspect that a child died as a result of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect shall report his or her suspicion to the appropriate medical examiner. The medical examiner shall accept the report for investigation and shall report his or her findings, in writing, to the local law enforcement agency, the appropriate state attorney, and the department. Autopsy reports maintained by the medical examiner are not subject to the confidentiality requirements provided for in s. 39.202.

(4)  The department shall establish and maintain a central abuse hotline to receive all reports made pursuant to this section in writing or through a single statewide toll-free telephone number, which any person may use to report known or suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect at any hour of the day or night, any day of the week. The central abuse hotline shall be operated in such a manner as to enable the department to:

(a)  Immediately identify and locate prior reports or cases of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect through utilization of the department's automated tracking system.

(b)  Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the department's program for reporting and investigating suspected abuse, abandonment, or neglect of children through the development and analysis of statistical and other information.

(c)  Track critical steps in the investigative process to ensure compliance with all requirements for any report of abuse, abandonment, or neglect.

(d)  Maintain and produce aggregate statistical reports monitoring patterns of child abuse, child abandonment, and child neglect. The department shall collect and analyze child-on-child sexual abuse reports and include the information in aggregate statistical reports.

(e)  Serve as a resource for the evaluation, management, and planning of preventive and remedial services for children who have been subject to abuse, abandonment, or neglect.

(f)  Initiate and enter into agreements with other states for the purpose of gathering and sharing information contained in reports on child maltreatment to further enhance programs for the protection of children.

(5)  The department shall be capable of receiving and investigating reports of known or suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If it appears that the immediate safety or well-being of a child is endangered, that the family may flee or the child will be unavailable for purposes of conducting a child protective investigation, or that the facts otherwise so warrant, the department shall commence an investigation immediately, regardless of the time of day or night. In all other child abuse, abandonment, or neglect cases, a child protective investigation shall be commenced within 24 hours after receipt of the report. In an institutional investigation, the alleged perpetrator may be represented by an attorney, at his or her own expense, or accompanied by another person, if the person or the attorney executes an affidavit of understanding with the department and agrees to comply with the confidentiality provisions of s. 39.202. The absence of an attorney or other person does not prevent the department from proceeding with other aspects of the investigation, including interviews with other persons. In institutional child abuse cases when the institution is not operating and the child cannot otherwise be located, the investigation shall commence immediately upon the resumption of operation. If requested by a state attorney or local law enforcement agency, the department shall furnish all investigative reports to that agency.

(6)  Information in the central abuse hotline may not be used for employment screening, except as provided in s. 39.202(2)(a) and (h). Information in the central abuse hotline and the department's automated abuse information system may be used by the department, its authorized agents or contract providers, the Department of Health, or county agencies as part of the licensure or registration process pursuant to ss. 402.301-402.319 and ss. 409.175-409.176.

(7)  This section does not require a professional who is hired by or enters into a contract with the department for the purpose of treating or counseling any person, as a result of a report of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect, to again report to the central abuse hotline the abuse, abandonment, or neglect that was the subject of the referral for treatment.

(8)  Nothing in this chapter or in the privatization of foster care and related services as specified in s. 409.1671 shall be construed to remove or reduce the duty and responsibility of any person, including any employee of the privatization provider, to report a suspected or actual case of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect or the sexual abuse of a child to the department's central abuse hotline.

(9)  On an ongoing basis, the department's quality assurance program shall review reports to the hotline involving three or more unaccepted reports on a single child in order to detect such things as harassment and situations that warrant an investigation because of the frequency or variety of the source of the reports. The assistant secretary may refer a case for investigation when it is determined, as a result of this review, that an investigation may be warranted.

History.--ss. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ch. 63-24; s. 941, ch. 71-136; ss. 1, 1A, ch. 71-97; s. 32, ch. 73-334; s. 65, ch. 74-383; s. 1, ch. 75-101; s. 1, ch. 75-185; s. 4, ch. 76-237; s. 1, ch. 77-77; s. 3, ch. 77-429; ss. 1, 2, ch. 78-322; s. 3, ch. 78-326; s. 22, ch. 78-361; s. 1, ch. 78-379; s. 181, ch. 79-164; s. 1, ch. 79-203; s. 7, ch. 84-226; s. 37, ch. 85-54; s. 68, ch. 86-163; s. 34, ch. 87-238; s. 21, ch. 88-337; s. 33, ch. 89-294; s. 6, ch. 90-50; s. 51, ch. 90-306; s. 7, ch. 91-57; s. 17, ch. 91-71; s. 6, ch. 93-25; s. 59, ch. 94-164; ss. 22, 44, ch. 95-228; s. 9, ch. 95-266; s. 51, ch. 95-267; s. 133, ch. 95-418; s. 1, ch. 96-215; s. 14, ch. 96-268; s. 14, ch. 96-402; s. 271, ch. 96-406; s. 1041, ch. 97-103; s. 43, ch. 97-264; s. 257, ch. 98-166; s. 31, ch. 98-403; s. 4, ch. 99-168; s. 10, ch. 99-193.

¹Note.--Section 21, ch. 99-168, provides that "[t]he Department of Children and Family Services shall contract with an independent entity for the purpose of evaluating the central abuse hotline within the department to determine its effectiveness and efficiency in performing its statutory responsibilities pursuant to chapter 39, Florida Statutes. This evaluation must include, but need not be limited to, the criteria and the application of criteria by which calls are accepted or denied. This evaluation must also address the need to monitor the central abuse hotline on an ongoing basis and, if recommended, must propose the monitoring process."

Note.--Former ss. 828.041, 827.07(3), (4), (9), (13); s. 415.504.