Ky.gov
Effective: 03/16/2026

C2.5 Completing the CPS Intake

Legal Authority

Introduction

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The purpose of the intake assessment is to assess if a child protective services (CPS) report meets agency criteria for a child abuse investigation or assessment. 


The Structured Decision Making (SDM®) tool is completed for all reports of alleged child abuse or neglect. This includes reports by telephone and any other method.  It also includes new reports of child abuse or neglect on open cases.

The tool is completed as soon as possible when processing the report, no later than the end of the worker’s shift. Reports that do not meet criteria must be approved by a supervisor before the end of the worker’s shift.

The tool assists staff in determining whether a report requires a CPS intervention and, if so, how quickly to initiate the investigation.


Practice Guidance

​

  • Response times are only utilized for cases that meet acceptance criteria for abuse, neglect, or dependency. Non-investigatory response cases do not meet the criteria (with the only exception being dependency cases, as stated in Kentucky Administrative Regulations) and will not have a designated response timeframe. Non-investigatory response cases should be completed in a timely manner.  The case should be assessed/assigned by the FSOS and completed by the SSW within (forty-five) 45 working days of receipt. The FSOS then has five (5) additional working days to review and approve.  
  • A consultative decision may be applied if, after consideration of response time criteria, the worker and supervisor determine that there are unique conditions not captured by the tool that warrant a different response time. 
  • Response time for initiation begins at the time the report is accepted and approved by the central intake or the on-call FSOS,
  • Alternative response reports automatically have a five (5) working day response time.

​



Procedure

After gathering all available information from the reporting source, the intake SSW:

  1. Advises the reporting source that they will submit the report to the FSOS or designee for intake determination;
  2. Completes the pre-screening criteria. 
    1. ​​​​​​Select any of these criteria that apply. If any pre-screening items apply, the report will not be screened using the SDM® assessment tool. No further SDM® assessments are applied, and this will end the intake assessment.
  3. Completes the non-investigatory response criteria​.
    1. ​Select any of the criteria that apply. If any of the​ criteria apply, actions outside of a CPS investigation are required. The policy on non-investigatory response pathways is in SOP C2.4, Non-Investigatory Response. No further SDM® assessments will be conducted, and this will end the intake assessment.
  4. ​​​Completes the screening assessment. 
    1. ​​​Select the specific criteria for all the allegations indicated in the report under the appropriate maltreatment category. If any maltreatment criteria are selected, the report will be screened for acceptance as a CPS investigation. Reports that do not meet any of the screen-in criteria will not be accepted for a CPS investigation. 
  5. ​Review for consultative decisions; refer to SDM® Intake Manual for a list of consultative decision selections. 
  6. Utilizes the SDM® Intake Assessment to determine response time as it aligns with 922 KAR 1:330;
    1. The response timeframe will be four (4) hours if any of the following items are present; if none are selected, move to the next set of criteria:
      1. ​Child fatality or near fatality;
      2. Child is unsupervised, abandoned, or dependent and requires immediate care and supervision;
      3. Inflicted, non-accidental, or suspicious injury to a child under five (5) years old, a child of any age with developmental vulnerabilities, or a non-mobile child of any age;
      4. Sexual abuse allegations, and the alleged perpetrator is unknown or may have access to the child within the next four (4) hours;
      5. Human trafficking or female genital mutilation is suspected, and the alleged perpetrator may have access within the next four (4) hours.
    2. The response timeframe will be twenty-four (24) hours if any of the following items are present; if none are selected, the automatic response timeframe will be forty-eight (48) hours: 
      1. ​​Child may require same-day medical or mental health attention, and the caretaker is unwilling/unavailable to obtain needed treatment; 
      2. Child has an injury that was inflicted or is suspicious, unexplained, or consistent with abuse, and the caretaker who is alleged to have caused the injury is unknown or may have access to the child within the next twenty-four (24) hours; 
      3. Child is alone or inadequately supervised (consider age, ability, and developmental status) and likely to be harmed or injured due to unsafe conditions within the next twenty-four (24) hours; 
      4. Extreme hazardous physical environment immediately threatening a child’s health and/or well-being, given the child’s developmental status and age; 
      5. Child has been or likely will be exposed to violence in the next twenty-four (24) hours, and no caretaker is demonstrating or able to demonstrate protective actions; or 
      6. An infant is substance affected, and assistance with a safe hospital discharge plan is required;T
    3. ​The worker may utilize appropriate response timeframe consultative decisions to increase or decrease the selected response timeframe by following the appropriate steps in the KY SDM® Intake Manual Intake Assessment Manual. 
      1. ​​A seventy-two (72) hour response timeframe could be assigned if the response timeframe override, slowing the response time by one (1), was selected when the preliminary response timeframe was forty-eight (48) hours. This will consultative decision the response timeframe to a seventy-two (72) hour response timeframe and would be utilized in the following situations;
        1. ​A caretaker is demonstrating protective actions, or the child is in an alternate safe environment; 
        2. Allegations are regarding educational neglect, and no other maltreatment types are present; 
        3. Child safety requires a strategically slower response (the child’s current location is such that initiating contact may create a threat to the child’s safety, or the value of coordinating a response from multiple agencies outweighs the need for an immediate response). 
        4. The alleged incident occurred more than six (6) months ago, and no abuse or neglect is alleged to have occurred in the intervening time period.
​​​Alternative Response Ineligibility Criteria

If any​ allegations meet one (1) of the following criteria, the report will not be eligible for​ an alternative response assessment, and an investigation will be required.  
  1. Reports that require a four (4) hour response time;
  2. A caregiver in the household has a substantiated determination of fatality/near fatality, human trafficking, or sexual abuse of a child;
  3. Any report designated as an employee investigation;
  4. Allegations in the report involve:
    1. Human trafficking;
    2. Sexual abuse;
    3. Physical abuse;
    4. Intimate partner violence;
    5. Substance-affected infant; or
    6. Emotional injury.
  5. Any report where allegations are against an individual who provides foster care services (Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) or private child caring (PCC)) or is a relative/fictive kin placement; and 
  6. Law enforcement or another authorized professional implemented a safety intervention in response to immediate danger to the child that changed the caregiving arrangement. 
    1. Safety intervention is a prompt action taken by law enforcement, a prosecutor, or a court to address immediate danger to a child AND involves a change in the child’s caregiving arrangement as reported during intake screening.
  7. Any report where allegations are against an individual who is a school employee, group home employee, or daycare employee. (Or any other non-familial investigations that fall under the specialized category).


The FSOS or designee:

  1. Reviews the intake information received, including the history of the family, and then makes a determination regarding:​
    1. If the report is approved or if it needs to be pended back in TWIST to the worker for corrections; and
    2. If the tool selections and response time are accurate, considering the allegations and history. Whether the call contains protective service allegations;
  2. Completes the intake approval screens and submits through appropriate channels.
  3. Ensures that specialized investigation reports are entered in TWIST under the alleged perpetrator’s name and referenced back to the facility or other setting;
  4. Ensures that human trafficking reports are entered in TWIST under the name of the child’s custodial parent/caretaker; 1
  5. Immediately notifies the SRA or designee of all reports meeting criteria for a specialized investigation, which include:
    1. DCBS or private child-placing (PCP) foster and adoptive homes;
    2. PCC facilities;
    3. Crisis stabilization units;
    4. Registered family child care homes or licensed child care facilities;
    5. Registered (subsidized) or family child care providers;
    6. DCBS employees
    7. School personnel;
    8. Supports for community living (SCL);
    9. Community mental health and mental retardation center (CMHC);
    10. Psychiatric residential treatment facilities (PRTF);
    11. Psychiatric hospitals;
    12. Camps;
    13. Day treatment facilities;
    14. Child fatalities and near fatalities; and
    15. Human trafficking.

The SRA or designee:

  1. Assigns staff to conduct specialized investigations, taking into consideration whether to assign staff who have direct knowledge of the case or if there is a need to assign the investigation to another county or request assistance from another service region.​
  • ​Notes that no further SDM® assessments are required throughout the investigative process. ​​


​

​Footnotes

  1. If the parent/caretaker is not named as responsible for the human trafficking, the parent should be listed in the referral screen only, not the incident screen.  The non-caretaker who is responsible for the human trafficking should be listed in the incident screen.
    ​

Documents

Revisions

​3/21/23 Addition:

5.  ​Response times are only utilized for cases that meet acceptance criteria for abuse, neglect, or dependency. Non-investigatory response cases do not meet the criteria (with the only exception of dependency cases as stated in Kentucky Administrative Regulations) and will not have a designated response timeframe assigned. Non-investigatory response cases should be completed in a timely manner.  The case should be assessed/assigned by the FSOS and completed by the SSW within thirty (30) forty five (45) working days of receipt. The FSOS then has five (5) additional working days to review and approve.   

3/12/26

The purpose of the intake assessment is to assess if a child protective services (CPS) report meets agency criteria for a child abuse investigation or assessment.
Practice Guidance

  • Response times are only utilized for cases that meet acceptance criteria for abuse, neglect, or dependency. Non-investigatory response cases do not meet the criteria (with the only exception being dependency cases, as stated in Kentucky Administrative Regulations) and will not have a designated response timeframe​. Non-investigatory response cases should be completed in a timely manner.  The case should be assessed/assigned by the FSOS and completed by the SSW within (forty-five) 45 working days of receipt. The FSOS then has five (5) additional working days to review and approve.  
  • A consultative decision may be applied if, after consideration of response time criteria, the worker and supervisor determine that there are unique conditions not captured by the tool that warrant a different response time. 
  • Response time for initiation begins at the time the report is accepted and approved by the central intake or the on-call FSOS,
  • Alternative response reports automatically have a five (5) working day response time.
  1. ​​​Select the specific criteria for all the allegations indicated in the report under the appropriate maltreatment category. If any maltreatment criteria are selected, the report will be screened for acceptance as a CPS investigation.   Reports that do not meet any of the screen-in criteria will not be accepted for a CPS investigation. Review for consultative decisions; refer to SDM® Intake Manual for a list of consultative decision selections  Consider both policy and discretionary overrides. The override policy can be found in SOP C 2.4. If any overrides are applied to screen in a report, no further SDM® assessments are required
​​5.  Review for consultative decisions; refer to SDM® Intake Manual for a list of consultative decision selections. 
6.  Utilizes the SDM® Intake Assessment to determine response time as it aligns with 922 KAR 1:330;
    1. The response timeframe will be four (4) hours if any of the following items are present; if none are selected, move to the next set of criteria:
      1. ​Child fatality or near fatality;
      2. Child is unsupervised, abandoned, or dependent and requires immediate care and supervision;
      3. Inflicted, non-accidental, or suspicious injury to a child under five (5) years old, a child of any age with developmental vulnerabilities, or a non-mobile child of any age;
      4. Sexual abuse allegations, and the alleged perpetrator is unknown or may have access to the child within the next four (4) hours;
      5. Human trafficking or female genital mutilation is suspected, and the alleged perpetrator may have access within the next four (4) hours.
    2. The response timeframe will be twenty-four (24) hours if any of the following items are present; if none are selected, the automatic response timeframe will be forty-eight (48) hours: 
      1. ​​Child may require same-day medical or mental health attention, and the caretaker is unwilling/unavailable to obtain needed treatment; 
      2. Child has an injury that was inflicted or is suspicious, unexplained, or consistent with abuse, and the caretaker who is alleged to have caused the injury is unknown or may have access to the child within the next twenty-four (24) hours; 
      3. Child is alone or inadequately supervised (consider age, ability, and developmental status) and likely to be harmed or injured due to unsafe conditions within the next twenty-four (24) hours; 
      4. Extreme hazardous physical environment immediately threatening a child’s health and/or well-being, given the child’s developmental status and age; 
      5. Child has been or likely will be exposed to violence in the next twenty-four (24) hours, and no caretaker is demonstrating or able to demonstrate protective actions; or 
      6. An infant is substance affected, and assistance with a safe hospital discharge plan is required;T
    3. ​The worker may utilize appropriate response timeframe consultative decisions to increase or decrease the selected response timeframe by following the appropriate steps in the KY SDM® Intake Manual Intake Assessment Manual. 
      1. ​​A seventy-two (72) hour response timeframe could be assigned if the response timeframe override, slowing the response time by one (1), was selected when the preliminary response timeframe was forty-eight (48) hours. This will consultative decision the response timeframe to a seventy-two (72) hour response timeframe and would be utilized in the following situations;
        1. ​A caretaker is demonstrating protective actions, or the child is in an alternate safe environment; 
        2. Allegations are regarding educational neglect, and no other maltreatment types are present; 
        3. Child safety requires a strategically slower response (the child’s current location is such that initiating contact may create a threat to the child’s safety, or the value of coordinating a response from multiple agencies outweighs the need for an immediate response). 
        4. The alleged incident occurred more than six (6) months ago, and no abuse or neglect is alleged to have occurred in the intervening time period.

5.  Completes the response time: 
  1. ​Response times are only utilized for cases that meet acceptance criteria for abuse, neglect, or dependency. Non-investigatory response cases do not meet the criteria (with the only exception of dependency cases as stated in Kentucky Administrative Regulations) and will not have a designated response timeframe assigned. Non-investigatory response cases should be completed in a timely manner.  The case should be assessed/assigned by the FSOS and completed by the SSW within 45 working days of receipt. The FSOS then has five (5) additional working days to review and approve.   
  2. Information gathered by agency staff must be analyzed to assess the urgency for response. The response time criteria is structured to determine a response time level. The response time criteria sections ask a series of questions. Answers to each question, consisting of yes or no responses, will lead to a response time level.
  3. Consider both policy and discretionary overrides. A discretionary override may be applied if, after consideration of response time criteria and application of policy overrides, the worker and supervisor determine that there are unique conditions not captured by the tool that warrant a different response time. A discretionary override may accelerate or slow the response time by one level.
  4. Response time for initiation begins at the time the report is accepted and approved by the central intake or the on-call FSOS.
Response Timeframes: 

  • A report is initiated within four (4) hours if the report: 
  1. ​​Includes a child who is:
    1. ​The alleged victim of a fatality or near fatality; or
    2. A surviving child in the care of the alleged perpetrator of a child fatality or near fatality; or
  2. ​​​Indicates a high risk to the child requiring immediate protective intervention.

  • ​​A report is initiated within twenty-four (24) hours if the report includes: 
  1. ​​A high risk to the child; or
  2. Human trafficking or female genital mutilation allegation that does not fall within the four (4) hour initiation timeframe.

  • A report is initiated within 48 hours if the report indicates moderate risk to the child.

  • ​​A report is initiated within 72 hours if the report indicates low risk to the child.
  1. ​​A 72-hour response timeframe is only applied using an override in the SDM® Intake Assessment.
  2. Dependency cases will automatically be assigned a 72-hour response timeframe, but can be upgraded to a faster response time based on the report. 

Alternative Response Ineligibility Criteria

If any allegations meet one of the following guidelines, the report would not be eligible to receive an alternative response assessment, and an investigation will be required.  
  1. Reports that require a four (4) hour response time;
  2. A caregiver in the household has a substantiated determination of fatality/near fatality, human trafficking, or sexual abuse of a child;
  3. Any report designated as an employee investigation;
  4. Allegations in the report involve:
    1. Human trafficking;
    2. Sexual abuse;
    3. Physical abuse;
    4. Intimate partner violence;
    5. Substance-affected infant; or
    6. Emotional injury.
  5. Any report where allegations are against an individual who provides foster care services (DCBS or private child caring (PCC)) or is a relative/fictive kin placement; and 
  6. Law enforcement or another authorized professional implemented a safety intervention in response to immediate danger to the child that changed the caregiving arrangement. 
    1. Safety intervention is a prompt action taken by law enforcement, a prosecutor, or a court to address immediate danger to a child AND involves a change in the child’s caregiving arrangement as reported during intake screening.
  7. ​Any report where allegations are on an individual who is a school employee, group home employee, or daycare employee. (Or any other non-familial investigations that fall under the specialized category).​