1. An
employee or contracted receives knowledge or has reason to believe that a child
or an adult has been, or is likely to be abused and/or neglected.
2. Immediately,
the employee or contractee shall report the situation to their own Community
Care supervisor or designated staff.� If
after normal business hours then the employee of contractee shall report the
situation to Community Care Emergency Pager (1-800-299-7771).
3. When
the report concerns a client and allegations against the foster parent(s)
caring for that client, the client�s Case Coordinator will be immediately contacted
by the supervisor or the individual on emergency pager.� The Case Coordinator will immediately
contact the client�s guardian to determine if the client should be placed on
emergency respite until the situation has been resolved.� Documentation of reports addressing
allegations against foster parent(s) must be submitted to the (Dr. Q)
4. The
employee or contractee must report the situation to the Department of Human
Services (DHS), Child Emergency Services (CES) at 1-800-452-1999 for child
abuse reports or to the DHS, Adult Emergency Services (AES) at 1-800-624-8404
for adult abuse reports.
5. In all
cases the individual making the report must document the date, time, and the
name of the person taking the report on the Documentation
of Report to Child/Adult Protective Services. �If CES/AES refuses the report, the individual must document this
refusal on this form.
6. With in
24 hrs, this documentation must submitted to the individuals supervisor and a
copy set to the client�s legal guardian.
7. When
the nature of the situation meets the criteria for a critical incident, the
employee or contractee shall also complete a Critical Incident Report form.
8.
Following the report being made a Community Care
representative will contact the client�s legal guardian to notify them of the
report and to determine any follow up action.
If any direct service employee is accused of abusing a
client or child, that employee shall be immediately removed from direct client
contact by either being placed on administrative leave, paid or unpaid, or by
being reassigned to other non-client contact duties.� The employee shall remain in such a capacity until the abuse
allegation and/or investigation has been resolved.� Depending on the outcome of that investigation, the employee may
be subject to discipline, as outlined in Disciplinary Procedures &
Dismissal for Cause (7.ME.20), up to and including termination.