Miss. Code. tit. 18, pt. 6, ch. 1, 18-6-1-B, 18-6-1-B-IV, app 18-6-1-B-IV-A
Reports which may be screened out at intake:
* Dirty houses or dirty children and no indication of life or health endangering situation. If school/day care officials report dirty children, they should be requested to talk to parents first. If their attempts to meet with parents or to correct situation fail, then accept report.
* Children inappropriately dressed and no indication of neglect of a life or health endangering situation.
* Allegations that speak more to the parent's behaviors rather than the child's condition; (e.g., parent drinks beer or takes drugs; mother has boyfriend) and there is no indication of neglect or life or health endangering situation. - Exception: All reports of mother/child testing positive for drugs will be screened in.
* Reports of crowded conditions or too many people living in a home and no indication of neglect or life or health endangering situation.
* Allegations that parent is not spending TANF, Food Stamps, Child Support or other income on children, and there is no indication of neglect of basic necessities, or of a life or health endangering situation. Reporters should be referred to local Economic Assistance office.
* Reports which suggest a need to be addressed by another agency and there is no indication of a life or health endangering situation. (i.e., lack of school attendance, presence of lice, delinquency, lead/asbestos poisoning). These reports should be referred to the appropriate agency for handling (i.e., school attendance officer, health department).
* Reports on teen pregnancy where there is no suspicion of abuse/neglect.
* Sufficient information is not provided to enable the Department to locate the family, and this information cannot be secured through other sources after all reasonable efforts have been made.
* Reports of incidents that occurred when a person now eighteen (18) or over was a child. When adults report that abuse/neglect was perpetrated on them as children, they must have some other information or reason to believe that children presently cared for by perpetrator are being abused/neglected.
* Reports on an unborn child and there are no other children at risk. Reports of sexual relations involving victims age 16 and over that meet all of the criteria below. If any one criteria does not apply, the report should be considered for investigation.
a. Alleged victim was age sixteen (16) or over at the time incident occurred, and
b. Alleged victim is a normally functioning child, and
c. Alleged victim, age 16 or over, willfully consented, and
d. Alleged perpetrator is not a parent, guardian, relative, custodian or person responsible for the child's care or support and resides in the child's home, or an employee of a residential child care facility licensed by MDHS, and or a person in a position of trust or authority.
e. No parental or caretaker neglect is suspected.
If a report is considered outside the jurisdiction of the DFCS, the report shall be documented and be referred to law enforcement of proper jurisdiction for investigation. Other services of the Department may be provided.
* Reports of rape, sexual molestation, or exploitation of any age child that meet all of the criteria below. If either (a) or (b) does not apply, the report should be considered for investigation.
a. Alleged perpetrator is not a caretaker, friend of caretaker, relative, other person living in the home, or employee of a child care facility where the child attends or lives.
b. No parental or caretaker neglect is suspected.
c. Law Enforcement has been informed of the report.
If law enforcement has not been contacted, County DFCS will immediately make the report to them. Other services of County DFCS will be offered to law enforcement (i.e., interviewing children) and the family (i.e., mental health referrals, counseling) as needed.
* Reports of children who have not had their immunizations. Reporter should be referred to the County Health Department by County DFCS to contact a public health social worker or to the school attendance officer as appropriate.
* Threats or attempts of suicide by children if there is no suspicion of parental/caretaker abuse or neglect. If the nature of the report suggests that the child is in immediate danger of self harm, a referral should be made immediately to Mental Health and/or Law Enforcement. If reporter is a professional, they should be requested to refer the family to counseling. If family does not follow through, then case can be referred to DFCS for neglect. If reporter is a non-professional, the DFCS should determine if family is seeking counseling. If not, DFCS should investigate for neglect. If reporter feels suspicion exists just because suicide attempt was made, DFCS will investigate.
* Physical injury committed by one child on another that meet all of the following criteria:
a. Child is not in a caretaking role over the other child.
b. No parental or caretaker neglect is suspected.
c. Child victim and perpetrator are not in a residential child caring facility or a home licensed or approved by DFCS.
Additional and Duplicate Reports:
The DFCS sometimes receives additional reports regarding an incident or situation that has already been investigated. If a report regarding abuse or neglect is received and it includes any of the following information, it must be investigated as a new report if a DFCS Assessment is not currently in progress:
* A new alleged perpetrator;
* A new victim;
* A new category of child maltreatment not previously reported;
* A new incident involving the same type of child maltreatment(s).
In order to classify a report as the duplicate report and to screen it out for investigation, the CPS social worker must determine if the new information includes:
* Same alleged perpetrator(s);
* Same victim(s);
* Same types of child maltreatment(s); and
* Same incident
Before any decision is made to screen out any report as being the same report, the ASWS must always make sure the prior report was thoroughly investigated.
Second reports of abuse or neglect will not be investigated if it is the same report, same victim and same incident.
Miss. Code. tit. 18, pt. 6, ch. 1, 18-6-1-B, 18-6-1-B-IV, app 18-6-1-B-IV-A