AR 5141.4
Students
Child Abuse Reporting
Procedures
Definitions
Child abuse or neglect includes the following: (Penal Code 11165.5, 11165.6)
1. A
physical injury inflicted by other than accidental means on a child by another
person
2. Sexual
abuse of a child as defined in Penal Code 11165.1
3. Neglect
as defined in Penal Code 11165.2
4. Willful
harming or injuring of a child or the endangering of the person or health of a
child as defined in Penal Code 11165.3
5. Unlawful
corporal punishment or injury as defined in Penal Code 11165.4
Child abuse or neglect does not include:
1. A
mutual affray between minors
(Penal Code 11165.6)
2. An
injury caused by reasonable and necessary force used by a peace officer acting within
the course and scope of his/her employment
(Penal Code 11165.6)
3. An
injury resulting from the exercise by a teacher, assistant principal,
principal, or other certificated employee of the same degree of physical control over a student that a parent/guardian
would be privileged to exercise, not exceeding the amount of physical control reasonably necessary to maintain
order, protect property, protect the health and safety of students, or maintain
proper and appropriate conditions
conducive to learning (Education Code 44807)
4. An
injury caused by a school employee's use of force that is reasonable and necessary to quell a disturbance threatening
physical injury to persons or damage
to property, to protect himself/herself, or to obtain weapons or other
dangerous objects within the control of the student (Education Code 49001)
5. Physical
pain or discomfort caused by athletic competition or other such recreational
activity voluntarily engaged in by the student (Education
Code 49001)
Mandated reporters include but are not limited to
teachers; instructional aides; teacher's aides or assistants; classified
employees; certificated pupil personnel employees; administrative officers or
supervisors of child attendance; administrators and employees
of a licensed day care facility; Head Start teachers;
district police or security officers; and administrators, presenters, or
counselors of a child abuse prevention program.
(Penal Code 11165.7)
Reasonable suspicion means that it is objectively
reasonable for a person to entertain a suspicion, based upon facts that could
cause a reasonable person in a like position, drawing when appropriate on
his/her training and experience, to suspect child abuse or neglect. (Penal Code 11166)
Reportable Offenses
A mandated reporter shall make a report using the
procedures provided below whenever, in his/her professional capacity or within
the scope of his/her employment, he/she has knowledge of or observes a child
whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of
child abuse or neglect. (Penal Code
11166)
Any mandated reporter who has knowledge of or who
reasonably suspects that a child is suffering serious emotional damage or is at
a substantial risk of suffering serious emotional damage based on evidence of
severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or untoward aggressive behavior toward
self or others, may make a report to the appropriate agency. (Penal Code 11166.05)
Any person shall notify a peace officer if he/she
reasonably believes that he/she has observed the commission of a murder, rape,
or lewd or lascivious act by use of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of
immediate and unlawful bodily injury, where the victim is a child under age
14. (Penal Code 152.3, 288)
Responsibility for Reporting
The reporting duties of mandated reporters are
individual and cannot be delegated to another person. (Penal Code 11166)
When two or more mandated reporters jointly have
knowledge of a known or suspected instance of child abuse or neglect, and when
there is agreement among them, the report may be made by a member of the team
selected by mutual agreement and a single report may be made and signed by the
selected member of the reporting team. Any member who has knowledge that the
member designated to report has failed to do so shall thereafter make the
report. (Penal Code 11166)
No supervisor or administrator shall impede or
inhibit a mandated reporter from making a report. (Penal Code 11166)
Any person not identified as a mandated reporter who
has knowledge of or observes a child whom he/she knows or reasonably suspects
has been a victim of child abuse or neglect may report the known or suspected
instance of child abuse or neglect to the appropriate agency. (Penal Code 11166)
Reporting Procedures
1. Initial
Telephone Report
Immediately or as soon as practicably possible after
knowing or observing suspected child abuse or neglect, a mandated reporter
shall make a report by telephone to any police department (excluding a school
district police/security department), sheriff's department, county probation
department if designated by the county to receive such reports, or county
welfare department. (Penal Code 11166)
Child
Protective Services of
408-299-2071
2. Written
Report
Within 36 hours of receiving the information
concerning the incident, the mandated reporter shall prepare and send to the
appropriate agency a written report which includes a completed Department of
Justice form. (
Mandated reporters may obtain copies of the above form
from either the district or the appropriate agency.
Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect shall
include, if known: (Penal Code 11167)
a. The name, business address, and
telephone number of the person making the report and the capacity that makes
the person a mandated
reporter
b. The child's name and address, present
location and, where applicable, school, grade, and class
c. The names, addresses, and telephone
numbers of the child's parents/guardians
d. The information that gave rise to the
reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect and the source(s) of that
information
e. The name, address, telephone number,
and other relevant personal information about the person(s) who might have
abused or neglected
the child
The
mandated reporter shall make a report even if some of this information is not
known or is uncertain to him/her. (Penal
Code 11167)
Information
relevant to the incident of child abuse or neglect may also be given to an
investigator from an agency that is investigating the case. (Penal Code 11167)
3. Internal
Reporting
Employees reporting child abuse or neglect to the
appropriate agency are required to notify the director or designee as soon as
possible after the initial telephone report to the appropriate agency. When so
notified, the principal shall inform the Superintendent or designee.
The director or designee so notified shall provide
the mandated reporter with any assistance necessary to ensure that reporting
procedures are carried out in accordance with law, Board policy and
administrative regulation. At the mandated reporter's request, the principal
may assist in completing and filing the necessary forms.
The mandated reporter shall not be required to
disclose his/her identity to the director of designee. (Penal Code 11166)
He/she may provide or mail a copy of the written
report to the director, Superintendent or designee without his/her signature or
name.
Reporting the information to an employer, supervisor,
school principal, school counselor, co-worker, or other person shall not be a
substitute for making a mandated report to the appropriate agency. (Penal Code 11166)
Training
Training of mandated reporters shall include child
abuse identification and reporting. (Penal
Code 11165.7)
Training shall also include guidance in the
appropriate discipline of students, physical contact with students, and
maintenance of ethical relationships with students to avoid actions that may be
misinterpreted as child abuse.
Victim Interviews
Whenever a representative of an agency investigating
suspected child abuse or neglect deems it necessary, a suspected victim may be
interviewed during school hours, on school premises, concerning a report of
suspected child abuse or neglect that occurred within the child's home or
out-of-home care facility. The child shall be given the choice of being
interviewed in private or in the presence of any adult school employee or
volunteer aide selected by the child.
(Penal Code 11174.3)
A staff member or volunteer aide selected by a child
may decline to be present at the interview. If the selected person accepts, the
director or designee shall inform him/her of the following requirements: (Penal Code 11174.3)
1. The
purpose of the selected person's presence at the interview is to lend support
to the child and enable him/her to be as comfortable
as possible.
2. The
selected person shall not participate in the interview.
3. The
selected person shall not discuss the facts or circumstances of the case with
the child.
4. The
selected person is subject to the confidentiality requirements of the Child
Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, a violation of which is punishable as specified in Penal Code
11167.5.
If a staff member agrees to be present, the interview
shall be held at a time during school hours when it does not involve an expense
to the school. (Penal Code 11174.3)
Release of Child to Peace Officer
When a child is released to a peace officer and taken
into custody as a victim of suspected child abuse or neglect, the
Superintendent or designee and/or director shall not notify the
parent/guardian, but rather shall provide the peace officer with the address
and telephone number of the child's parent/guardian. It is the responsibility of
the peace officer or agent to notify the parent/guardian of the situation. (Education Code 48906)
Peace officers shall be asked to sign an appropriate
release or acceptance of responsibility form.
Parent/Guardian Complaints
Upon request, the Superintendent or designee shall
provide parents/guardians with procedures that describe how to report suspected
child abuse occurring at a school site to appropriate agencies. For parents/guardians whose primary language
is other than English, such procedures shall be in the primary language of the
parent/guardian and, when communicating orally regarding those procedures, an
interpreter shall be provided.
To file a complaint against a district employee or
other person suspected of child abuse or neglect at a school site,
parents/guardians may file a report by telephone, in person or in writing with
any appropriate agency identified above under "Reporting Procedures."
If a parent/guardian makes a complaint to any district employee, that employee
shall notify the parent/guardian of procedures for filing a complaint with the
appropriate agency. The employee also is
obligated pursuant to Penal Code 11166 to file a report himself/herself using
the procedures described above for mandated reporters.
In addition, if the child is enrolled in special
education, a separate complaint may be filed with the California Department of
Education pursuant to 5 CCR 4650.
Notifications
The Superintendent or designee shall provide all new
employees who are mandated reporters a statement that informs them that they
are mandated reporters, of their reporting obligations under Penal Code 11166,
and of their confidentiality rights under Penal Code 11167. The district shall also provide these new
employees with a copy of Penal Code 11165.7, 11166, and 11167. (Penal
Before beginning employment, employees shall sign the
statement indicating that they have knowledge of the reporting obligations
under Penal Code 11166 and that they will comply with those provisions. The signed statements shall be retained by
the Superintendent or designee. (Penal
Code 11166.5)
Employees who work with dependent adults shall be
notified of legal responsibilities and reporting procedures pursuant to Welfare
and Institutions Code 15630-15637.
The Superintendent or designee shall also notify all
employees that:
1. A
mandated reporter who reports a known or suspected instance of child abuse or
neglect shall not be held civilly or criminally liable for making a report and this immunity shall
apply even if the mandated reporter acquired the knowledge or reasonable
suspicion of child abuse or neglect
outside of his/her professional capacity or outside the scope of his/her
employment. Any other person making a report shall
not incur civil or criminal liability unless it can be proven that he/she
knowingly made a false report or made a report with reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the
report. (Penal Code 11172)
2. If a
mandated reporter fails to report an incident of known or reasonably suspected
child abuse or neglect, he/she is guilty of a misdemeanor
punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment.
(Penal Code 11166)
3. No
employee shall be subject to any sanction by the district for making a
report. (Penal Code 11166)
Adopted:
Revised: