Ky.gov
Effective: 7/15/2024

2.4 Non-Investigatory Response

Legal Authority

Introduction

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The Department for Community Based Services (DCBS/Department) is required to react to other case scenarios outside of abuse and neglect reports. These efforts fall under non-investigatory response cases. The court may order the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS/Cabinet) to complete certain activities on behalf of families. In custody or divorce proceedings, the court may require the Cabinet to provide assistance in interviewing parties to the case, negotiating visitation arrangements, or to conduct a full custodial assessment. However, any reports received by the Cabinet must meet acceptance criteria (please see SOP 2.3 Acceptance Criteria and Reports that do not Meet) prior to Division of Protection and Permanency (DPP) staff initiating an investigation, no matter who the reporting source may be (refer to CHFS v. Hon. Eleanore Garber and Hon. Jerry Bowles).


Practice Guidance


  • There may be a non-investigatory response required by DCBS. If any of the following are selected, no further Structured Decision Making® (SDM®) assessments are required.  
  • A non-investigatory response pathway is selected when a report does not meet the statutory and regulatory definitions of abuse or neglect, however, will require a worker response for one of the following pathways;
  • Any report received by the court or law enforcement should be screened for acceptance criteria. 
  • If any of the following are selected, no further SDM® assessments are required.  
  • ​​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.
  • Non-investigatory response pathways will have a completion timeframe of forty-five (45)​​​ working days. 


Procedure

The Central Intake Worker:

  1. Enters the report received and assigns to the appropriate path listed below when necessary; 
  2. Enters the order from the court on the "Safety Check and Review Path/Court Ordered" path; 
  3. Contacts the Central Intake Branch manager or designee and the service region associate (SRA) or designee if​ the court orders a child protective services (CPS) investigation into allegations that do not meet acceptance criteria; and
  4. Reviews allegations and documents a non-investigatory response override in the SDM​​ ®​intake assessment for acceptance for law enforcement assist paths and dependency paths.1
​​Safe Infant Path​​​​

  • ​The safe infant path is based on the parameters of the Kentucky Safe Infants Act. This path is selected by the intake SSW when there are no other indicators of abuse or neglect, and a child(ren) less than thirty (30) days old that is not otherwise abused or neglected is abandoned or relinquished at an appropriate safe place, such as an emergency medical provider, hospital, police station, fire station, or a participating place of worship. Please see SOP 2.7 Safe Infant Act Intake.
Safety Net Path 

  • The safety net path is selected by the CI SSW when family support staff report a discontinuance from the K-Tap program and refers a family to DCBS for a needs assessment and potential distribution of safety net funds.
Status Offender Path

  • ​​​The status offender path is selected by the CI SSW when a report involves a child who has been adjudicated as a status offender by a court of competent jurisdiction and referred by the court to DCBS for a status offender assessment. This report can be opened for services and requires a worker to complete a court report. The safety check and review path/court ordered path cannot be moved to the ongoing function and should not be selected for status offender reports. 

​Safety Check and Review Path/Border Agreement 

​​
​​Safety Check and Review Path/Court Ordered

  • ​The safety check and review path/court ordered is selected by the CI SSW when a relative/fictive kin caregiver is being assessed for placement of a child or when the court orders an assessment of a relative/fictive kin caregiver's home. The safety check and review path/court ordered path cannot be moved to the ongoing function.
​
Non-Specific Court Or​​der/Court Ordere​d Activity Path

  • The non-specific court orders/court-ordered​ activity path is selected by the CI SSW when a court orders a specific action other than a safety check and review path/court order, a status offender case, or a guardianship action. 
  • Petitions, motions, and court actions that are sent to DCBS should be screened for possible acceptance for dependency, abuse, or neglect. Entering a referral on this path is not necessary unless there is a court order for DCBS to perform a specific task and the report does not meet the criteria under another path. The court-ordered assessment and home evaluation path​ cannot be moved to the ongoing function and should not be selected for status offender reports.  


​​​Out-of-State Requests for Assistance Path
​
  • The ​out-of-state requests for assistance path is selected by the CI SSW when a request from another state is made for KY DCBS to conduct a walkthrough of a home, interview a child/individual, or provide service referral information to a family. This does not include a safety check and review, a background check (AOC/CANS), or request for court documents. 

If you have any questions regarding interstate placement of children, please contact CHFS.INTERSTATE@ky.gov (email box) or the following individuals:​

Kristin Breeden, Out-of-Home Care Branch Manager or
Lisa Shaeffer, Social Service Specialist
275 East Main Street, 3E-D
Frankfort, KY 40621
(502) 564-2147 (phone)
(502) 564-5995 (fax)

If you have any questions regarding interstate adoptive placements, please contact:

Dana Radford, Social Service Specialist
275 East Main Street, 3E-D
Frankfort, KY 40621
(502) 564-2147 (phone)
(502) 564-5995 (fax)​

​​​​​Placement/Supervision Request Path
(Automatic selection from ICPC/NIECE)

  • The placement/supervision request path is utilized when the Kentucky Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children (ICPC) office enters the necessary information for assignment via TWIST. This will create a new intake ID to be assigned to the region.
  • CHFS requires any out-of-state agency requesting to place a child in Kentucky to submit an ICPC referral packet to the Kentucky ICPC office by electronic submission via TWIST, or if unavailable via mail or emailing to CHFS.Interstate@ky.gov.
  • In accordance with federal law, the ICPC referral process must be completed no later than sixty (60) calendar days after the initial request is received by the Kentucky ICPC office. In order to meet this time requirement, the Kentucky ICPC office requires that the local DCBS office complete a home study or DPP-1277 Safety Check and Review within forty-five (45) calendar days of the date it receives the referral packet. 
  • Additional information can be found in SOP Chapter 10 Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children​​. 
Extended Commitment Path 
(Automatic selection created from and existing commitment case)

  • The extended commitment path is automatically generated in TWIST. This information can be found in SOP 4.29.2 Transition Planning for Youth Aging Out of OOHC or Extending Commitment​.  
  • Extended commitment is used when a person who is age eighteen (18) to nineteen (19) has been committed to the Cabinet as dependent, neglected, or abused, and is requesting to extend his or her commitment to the Cabinet to participate in state or federal educational programs or to establish independent living arrangements.

​​Law Enforcement Assist Path
  • The law enforcement assist (LEA) path is selected when the CI SSW receives a report that indicates law enforcement has requested assistance from DCBS staff. Any report received by the Cabinet must meet acceptance criteria prior to DPP staff initiating an investigation/assessment, whoever the reporting source (refer to CHFS v. Hon. Eleanore Garber and Hon. Jerry Bowles). 
  • If assistance is requested, an SSW may aid an officer on the law enforcement’s investigation by providing support during an interview with a child. An SSW may also assist an officer by providing resource information for community supports/services to a family. When an SSW is providing assistance on a referral designated to the law enforcement assist path, the SSW should not make contact with the family or conduct interviews etc. without the officer being present. 
  • If law enforcement requests assistance from an SSW on a non-caretaker report, the SSW may assist the officer in scheduling forensic interviews or by providing service referrals for the family. The worker should then document the assistance in their LEA report.
  • If an SSW is assisting an officer and observes concerns of abuse or neglect, then a new report must be made prior to DPP staff initiating an investigation/assessment.
  • LEA should not be utilized for information sharing purposes only. Timeframes for providing assistance are agreed upon with the FSOS/SSW and law enforcement officer. 
  • State law prohibits the Cabinet from disclosing any confidential information about a case to anyone except as prescribed by statute: Custodial parents, alleged perpetrators, court personnel, law enforcement, and specific professional providers (including school personnel) with a legitimate interest in the case.

Note: 
KRS 620.050 Central Intake Protocol
(11) Identifying information concerning the individual initiating the report under KRS 620.030 shall not be disclosed except:
(a) To law enforcement officials that have a legitimate interest in the case;
(b) To the agency designated by the cabinet to investigate or assess the report;
(c) To members of multidisciplinary teams as defined by KRS 620.020 that operated under KRS 431.600
(d) Under a court order, after the court has conducted an in-camera review of the record of the state related to the report and has found reasonable cause to believe that the reporter knowingly made a false report; or
(e) The external child fatality and near fatality review panel established by KRS 620.055.
922 KAR 1:330: Child Protective Services
​(23) At the request of law enforcement, the cabinet shall, pursuant to KRS 620.040(3): 
(a) Provide assistance in interviewing an alleged child abuse victim in a non-caretaker report; and 
(b) Not be the lead investigator in a non-caretaker investigation.
​
KRS 620.040
(6) The cabinet shall make efforts as soon as practicable to determine any military status of a parent or legal guardian of a child who is the subject of an investigation or assessment pursuant to this section. If the cabinet determines that the parent or legal guardian is a member of the United States Armed Forces, the cabinet shall notify the Department of Defense family advocacy program operating within the service member's assigned installation of the investigation or assessment and provide case information.


​​​​Dependency Path​
​
  • The dependency path is selected by the CI SSW when a report is received regarding any child, other than an abused or neglected child, who is under improper care, custody, control, or supervision that is not due to an intentional act of the parent, guardian, or person exercising custodial control or supervision of the child (922 KAR 1:330). Some examples of this are when a caretaker dies or is incapacitated, and no alternative caretaker is available or if a minor is in the United States without an adult to care for them (unaccompanied minor). Another example is a minor re-entering the community setting from a Department for Juvenile Justice (DJJ) commitment but does not have a safe home or custodian to return to.

Recommitment Path
​
  • The recommitment path is selected by the CI SSW when a report is received regarding an eligible youth requesting to be permitted to reinstate their commitment to the Cabinet prior to attaining age twenty (20). There must be documentation that his or her request was submitted on kyrise.ky.gov​ prior to attaining twenty (20) years of age. This reinstatement or recommitment will allow the youth to be committed to the Cabinet until age twenty-one (21) and to receive transitional living support.
  • An eligible youth is a person who is or has been committed to the Cabinet as dependent, neglected, or abused, is age eighteen (18) to twenty (20), and who is requesting to extend or reinstate his or her commitment to the Cabinet to participate in state or federal educational programs or to establish independent living arrangements. The court may grant an extension or reinstatement of a youth's commitment even if the concurrence of the Cabinet occurs after the youth attains twenty (20) years of age. A youth may opt in or out of extended commitment up to two (2) times prior to attaining twenty (20) years of age. If a youth selects to reinstate their commitment and then exits care, they must wait at least ninety (90) days from their discharge date to request to reinstate their commitment a second (2nd) time. 
  • Additional information can be found in SOP 4.29.2 Transition Planning for Youth Aging Out of OOHC or Extending Commitment​​.  
  • If the youth contacts the local DCBS office, the SSW may provide the youth with information on how to submit a recommitment request through kyrise.ky.gov.

Footnotes

  1. ​Status offender cases should generally not be entered under dependency paths unless the court has changed or amended the status offender petition or finding to dependency and has requested a DCBS assessment.
​

Documents

Revisions

​7/24/2023 Addition:

  • The dependency path will be selected when reports are received from a court-designated worker (CDW) or designee reporting on behalf of the family accountability, intervention, and response (FAIR) team. Once the FAIR team has reviewed referrals involving cases when the child failed to appear for a preliminary intake inquiry, declined to enter into a diversion agreement, or failed to complete the terms of the agreement, and status cases that have been determined no further action is necessary; the dependency report can be accepted if no other report of abuse or neglect is provided. ​

12/2023 Addition: 

Petitions, motions, and court actions that are sent to DCBS should be screened for possible acceptance for dependency, abuse, or neglect. Entering a referral on this path is not necessary unless there is a court order for DCBS to perform a specific task and the report does not meet criteria under another path.

12/2023 Deletion: 

​Court orders that specify that DCBS staff perform a specific task that requires staff to contact with the family outside of any contact made with the family during the court proceeding. Petitions, motions, and court actions that are sent to DCBS should be screened for possible acceptance for dependency, abuse, or neglect. Entering a referral on this path is not necessary unless there is a court order for DCBS to perform a specific task and the report does not meet criteria under another path. The court ordered risk assessment and home evaluation path cannot be moved to the ongoing function and should not be selected for status offender reports. ​​​

Please see SOP 2.7 Safe Infant Act Intake SOP 4.21 Safe Infants Act​.


7/15/2024

KRS 620.040
(6) The cabinet shall make efforts as soon as practicable to determine any military status of a parent or legal guardian of a child who is the subject of an investigation or assessment pursuant to this section. If the cabinet determines that the parent or legal guardian is a member of the United States Armed Forces, the cabinet shall notify the Department of Defense family advocacy program operating within the service member's assigned installation of the investigation or assessment and provide case information.


  • The dependency path will be selected when reports are received from a court-designated worker (CDW) or designee reporting on behalf of the family accountability, intervention, and response (FAIR) team. Once the FAIR team has reviewed referrals involving cases when the child failed to appear for a preliminary intake inquiry, declined to enter into a diversion agreement, or failed to complete the terms of the agreement, and status cases that have been determined no further action is necessary; the dependency report can be accepted if no other report of abuse or neglect is provided. 


If the youth contacts the local DCBS office, the SSW may provide the youth with information on how to submit a recommitment request through kyrise.ky.gov.​ forward the youth’s recommitment request to CI for entry into TWIST and case assignment.​

Non-investigatory response pathways will have a completion timeframe of forty-five (45)  thirty (30) working days.