Ky.gov
Effective: 06/05/2023

2.6 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. 


The Structured Decision Making (SDM®) tool is completed for all reports of alledged 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 guides whether a report requires a CPS intervention, and if so, how quickly to begin the  investigation.

Practice Guidance

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. Policy regarding non-investigatory response pathways can be found in SOP 2.4 Court Requested CPS Activity​​. No further SDM assessments are applied 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 is selected, the report will be screened in 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.   Consider both policy and discretionary overrides. Override policy can be found in SOP 2.4. If any overrides are applied to screen in a report, no further SDM® assessments are required.
  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 forty five (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 forty-eight (48) hours if the report indicates moderate risk to the child.

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


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. Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) or private child-placing (PCP) foster and adoptive homes;
    2. Private child-caring (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.