The Florida Senate

415.504  Mandatory reports of child abuse or neglect; mandatory reports of death; central abuse hotline.--

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

(a)  Physician, osteopathic physician, medical examiner, chiropractor, 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; or

(f)  Law enforcement officer,

who knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that a child is an abused, abandoned, or neglected child 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 or neglect pursuant to this section, except those solely under ¹s. 827.04(4), 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 ¹s. 827.04(4), 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 ¹s. 827.04(4), 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)  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. 415.51.

(c)  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.

(d)  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 part III, 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.

(e)  Hotline counselors shall receive periodic training in encouraging reporters to provide their names when reporting abuse. Callers shall be advised of the confidentiality provisions of s. 415.51. 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 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. 415.51.

(3)  Any person required to report or investigate cases of suspected child abuse or neglect who has reasonable cause to suspect that a child died as a result of child abuse or neglect shall report his or her suspicion to the appropriate medical examiner. The medical examiner shall accept the report for investigation pursuant to s. 406.11 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. 415.51.

(4)

(a)  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:

1.  Immediately identify and locate prior reports or cases of child abuse or neglect through utilization of the department's automated tracking system.

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

3.  Track critical steps in the investigative process to ensure compliance with all requirements for any report of abuse or neglect.

4.  Maintain and produce aggregate statistical reports monitoring patterns of both child abuse and child neglect. The department shall collect and analyze child-on-child sexual abuse reports and include the information in aggregate statistical reports.

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

6.  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.

(b)  Upon receiving an oral or written report of known or suspected child abuse or neglect, the central abuse hotline shall determine if the report requires an immediate onsite protective investigation. For reports requiring an immediate onsite protective investigation, the central abuse hotline shall immediately notify the department's designated children and families district staff responsible for protective investigations to ensure that an onsite investigation is promptly initiated. For reports not requiring an immediate onsite protective investigation, the central abuse hotline shall notify the department's designated children and families district staff responsible for protective investigations in sufficient time to allow for an investigation, or if the district determines appropriate, a family services response system approach to be commenced within 24 hours. When a district decides to respond to a report of child abuse or neglect with a family services response system approach, the provisions of part III apply. If, in the course of assessing risk and services or at any other appropriate time, responsible district staff determines that the risk to the child requires a child protective investigation, then the department shall suspend its family services response system activities and shall proceed with an investigation as delineated in this part. At the time of notification of district staff with respect to the report, the central abuse hotline shall also provide information on any previous report concerning a subject of the present report or any pertinent information relative to the present report or any noted earlier reports.

(c)  Upon commencing an investigation under this part, the child protective investigator shall inform any subject of the investigation of the following:

1.  The names of the investigators and identifying credentials from the department.

2.  The purpose of the investigation.

3.  The right to obtain his or her own attorney and ways that the information provided by the subject may be used.

(d)  The department shall make and keep records of all cases brought before it pursuant to this part and shall preserve the records pertaining to a child and family until 7 years after the last entry was made or until the child is 18 years of age. The department shall then destroy the records, except where the child has been placed under the protective supervision of the department, the court has made a finding of dependency, or a criminal conviction has resulted from the facts associated with the report and there is a likelihood that future services of the department may be required.

(e)  Information in the central abuse hotline may not be used for employment screening. Access to the information shall only be granted as set forth in s. 415.51.

(5)  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 or neglect, to again report to the central abuse hotline the abuse or neglect that was the subject of the referral for treatment.

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.

¹Note.--Redesignated as s. 827.04(3) to conform to the deletion of former subsections (1) and (2) and redesignation of former subsection (3) as new subsections (1) and (2) by s. 10, ch. 96-322.

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