Ky.gov
Effective: 11/25/2025

C2.7 Initiating the Report

Legal Authority

Introduction

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​A report is considered initiated when face-to-face contact with the reported victim(s) occurs. ​​​​

Practice Guidance

  • After a report is assigned, if the initial interview proves that most of the individuals involved in the case reside in a different county, the case may be transferred to the county where the family is residing. 
  • Requesting out of county/state interviews:
    • An onsite request to another county or region for information regarding an investigation is made to assist in obtaining:
      • Interviews;
      • Police reports;
      • Hospital or other medical records; and
      • Legal documentation (from courthouse, etc.).
  • Any request to another county or region for onsite services, particularly in regard to initiation response timeframes of an investigation, for the purpose of interviews, will be completed within the same timeframes as any other investigation, as outlined in this standard of practice (SOP).
  • Filing out-of-county/region petitions:
    • A petition may be filed regarding a family either in the county where they reside or where the incident occurred.  The former is preferred to avoid unnecessary travel for the family.
    • In cases where abuse, neglect, or dependency petitions have been filed, the investigating SSW who filed the petition(s) and the onsite SSW attend the court hearing.
    • To provide continuity of services to the families and children served during an investigation, it is preferred for the assigned worker to complete all interviews if the distance is not prohibitive.


Procedure

Intake and Investigation:
  1. Initiation response timeframes begin from the moment the central intake FSOS approves the report and assigns it to the investigative FSOS in TWIST, or in after-hours situations, upon decision by the on-call FSOS to accept the report.
  2. Referrals are assigned to and initiated in the county where the victim resides. However, in cases where allegations of abuse or neglect are made against a staff member in a specialized setting, the referral is assigned and initiated in the county where the facility/home is located.   
Central Intake:
  1. ​Determines the initiation response timeframe by utilizing the Structured Decision Making© (SDM) Intake Assessment Tool based on the following:
    1. ​Information gathered by agency staff must be analyzed to assess the urgency for response. The response time criteria structure analysis will 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 determine the response time level.
    2. Consider all overrides. An override 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. The available overrides are those that accelerate or slow the response time by one level.
    3. Please see Section 3. Response Time and Type Decision in the KY ​SDM Intake Manual Intake Assessment Manual for directions.


The SSW:
  1. ​Checks for prior reports and records for all adult household members, prior to or as soon as possible, via:
    1. ​TWIST; EPO-DVO Search website (refer to EPO-DVO Administrato​r User Guide, EPO-DVO User Guide, and TWIST Account Request with EPO-DVO​); and
    2. Courtnet 2.0 background check from the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) (Provided by central intake or other designee). ​
  2. ​Proceeds with the initiation of the investigation, seeking assistance from other staff as necessary to ensure worker safety;
  3. 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;
    3. The worker may utilize appropriate response timeframe overrides 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 override 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. Alleged incident occurred more than six (6) months ago, and no abuse or neglect is alleged to have occurred in the intervening time period.
  4. ​​​Coordinates investigations with law enforcement and the local Children’s Advocacy Center, pursuant to administrative regulation 922 KAR 1:330:
    1. ​​To coordinate the interview and medical examination for a child during a sexual abuse investigation;
    2. To utilize a forensic interviewer as needed (when available); and
    3. As a neutral interview location when appropriate.
  5. Makes legitimate attempts to locate the child, including, but not limited to:
    1. Visiting the location where the child is believed to be; and/or
    2. Contacting collaterals that could help verify an address or help locate the child or family, to include the following:
      1. Family Support;
      2. Child care agencies;
      3. School system;
      4. Court records;
      5. Neighbors;
      6. Family members;
      7. Post office;
      8. Landlords;
      9. Family resource centers;
      10. Law enforcement, or​
      11. Other agencies that may be involved with the family;
    3. ​Contacting the FSOS within twenty-four (24) hours, including weekends, for consultation if all efforts by the SSW to locate the alleged victim(s) have failed;
    4. SSW must have documented efforts to locate the child with local law enforcement pursuant to KRS 620.040, which states that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (Cabinet/FFCHFS) shall contact local law enforcement to assist in locating the child if unable to locate the child based on the following guidelines:
      1. If A is not applicable, the SSW shall physically locate the children within 14 calendar days of the initial determination that a report meets acceptance criteria for abuse or neglect. If the child is under the age of five (5), or has developmental or cognitive delays, or a significant medical or mental health condition, the SSW shall physically locate the child within five (5) working days of the initial determination.
      2. If A is not applicable, the SSW shall physically locate the children within fourteen (14) calendar days of the initial determination that a report meets acceptance criteria for abuse or neglect..​​​​​​​

  6. ​​Requests onsite interviews or assistance, as necessary, to complete the referral, as directed in SOP G1.11 Onsite Provision of Services​;
  7. Shares the case in TWIST so that onsite work can be documented as necessary by the onsite worker;
  8. Makes a preliminary report within seventy-two (72) hours (exclusive of weekends and holidays) on the DPP-115 concerning the action that has been taken on any investigation, as directed by KRS 620.040 (1)(c);
    1. ​Forwards the report to:
      1. ​​The commonwealth attorney or county attorney; and
      2. The local law enforcement agency or Kentucky state police;
  9. ​​The Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) may respond to other case scenarios outside of abuse and neglect reports; these efforts fall under non-investigatory response cases. Non-investigatory response pathways will not be assigned a formal response time in TWIST, except for dependency cases that should have a seventy-two (72) hour automatic response timeframe, unless there are documented needs that would require a worker to assess at a faster rate. Please see SOP C2.4 Non-Investigatory Response ​ for additional information​
The worker providing onsite services:

  1. Completes and documents all information in TWIST within fourteen (14) working days.​


​Contingencies and Clarifications

  1. When new allegations/concerns of maltreatment are discovered within the first fifteen (15) calendar days of an open investigation, it may be considered a 2nd incident. This information must be sent to central intake (CI) for screening purposes within that fifteen (15) calendar day window to be taken as a 2nd incident​.  The SSW does the following: 
    1. Initiates a 2nd incident with the reported victim(s) within the specified initiation response timeframes that is assigned through utilization of the SDM® Intake Assessment Tool; and 
    2. Documents the details of the 2nd incident in the Assessment and Documentation Tool (ADT). ​
  2. ​For any report that is utilizing the CPS SDM Pathway, please refer to SOP C2.12 Structured Decision Making Safety and Risk Assessment​ for further instruction on documentation.  
  3. DCBS must notify the Department of Defense's (DOD) Family Advocacy Program when a parent or legal guardian of a child is a member of the United States Armed Forces and is the subject of an investigation or assessment. Upon receiving such a report, the SSW shall notify the DOD by sending the Department of Defense Notification Letter to the DOD Family Advocacy Program within the service member’s assigned installation.1 SSW shall document all notifications in the case record, including the date, recipient, and summary of information provided.​

​F​OOTNOTES​​

  1. Notifications to Fort Knox can be received at: dha.knox.ireland-ahc.mbx.fap@health.mil​.  Notifications to Fort Campbell can be received at: usarmy.campbell.medcom-bach.mesg.family-advocacy-program@health.mil​​


Documents

Revisions

​Delete: 

9.  Adheres to court or other agency timeframes for requests that do not meet criteria for an investigation such as court reports, home evaluations, or other general reports that are not required to be initiated by the timeframes specified in procedure #4.

6/27/2025

D.  SSW​ must have documented efforts to locate the child with local law enforcement pursuant to KRS 620.040, which states that the Cabinet shall contact local law enforcement to assist in locating the child if unable to locate the child based on the following guidelines:

    1. If A is not applicable, the SSW shall physically locate the children within 14 calendar days of the initial determination that a report meets acceptance criteria for abuse or neglect. If the child is under the age of five (5), or has developmental or cognitive delays, or a significant medical or mental health condition, the SSW shall physically locate the child within five (5) working days of the initial determination.
    2. If A is not applicable, the SSW shall physically locate the children within 14 calendar days of the initial determination that a report meets acceptance criteria for abuse or neglect..​​​​​​
​
​11/4/2025

3.  DCBS must notify the Department of Defense's (DOD) Family Advocacy Program when a parent or legal guardian of a child is a member of the United States Armed Forces and is the subject of an investigation or assessment. Upon receiving such a report, the SSW shall notify the DOD by sending the Child Protective Services Department of Defense Notification of Investigation/Assessment to the DOD Family Advocacy Program within the service member’s assigned installation.1 SSW shall document all notifications in the case record, including the date, recipient, and summary of information provided.

FOOTNOTES
Notifications to Fort Knox can be received at: dha.knox.ireland-ahc.mbx.fap@health.mil.  Notifications to Fort Campbell can be received at: usarmy.campbell.medcom-bach.mesg.family-advocacy-program@health.mil​