Okla. Admin. Code § 310:678-3-9

Current through Vol. 42, No. 7, December 16, 2024

Section 310:678-3-9 - [Effective until 9/14/2025] Program Review process for substantiated child abuse or neglect findings in OCA investigations

(a)Purpose. The OCA program review process serves the following purposes:

(1) per the 2010 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), Section 5101 et seq. of Title 42 of the United States Code, the State of Oklahoma is required to provide persons who disagree with a substantiated finding of child abuse or neglect with a procedure for appealing and responding to appeals of those findings;

(2) serves as a quality assurance mechanism to assess findings compliance with OCA standards, per OAC 310:678-3-5; and

(3) provides a procedure for notice and an opportunity for review to an individual and, if the individual is an employee of a facility licensed, certified, operated, or contracted by or with the OJA, to the facility prior to recording an individual in the Restricted Registry, per 10 O.S. § 405.3.

(b)Eligibility criteria. An individual may request consideration through the program review process when:

(1) the person is an alleged perpetrator in an investigation involving abuse or neglect allegations; and

(2) the investigation results in a substantiated finding regarding the alleged perpetrator; and

(3) there is no other court action or court order in regard to the alleged child abuse or neglect including pending or completed:

(A) protective order hearings;

(B) civil actions for monetary compensation; or

(C) criminal court proceedings.

(c)Procedures for the alleged perpetrator program review process. The procedures for the alleged perpetrator program review process are outlined in (1) through (4) of this subsection.

(1)Notification to alleged perpetrator. Within ten (10) calendar days of substantiating abuse, neglect, or both, the OCA social services inspector shall provide the alleged perpetrator with the finding by mailing the Notification Concerning Finding(s) of Child Abuse/Neglect and Request for Program Review via certified mail and regular mail to the last known address.

(A) The Notification Concerning Finding(s) of Child Abuse/Neglect shall inform the alleged perpetrator of the following information:

(i) any substantiated child abuse or neglect finding in the investigation;

(ii) the date of the abuse or neglect referral, allegation, and finding without identifying the reporting party; and

(iii) demographic information.

(B) The Request for Program Review shall specify the following information:

(i) the alleged perpetrator may request a program review by mailing a request to the OCA program review committee within fifteen (15) calendar days from the postmark on the envelope containing the Notification Concerning Finding(s) of Child Abuse/Neglect;

(ii) the alleged perpetrator has the right to provide additional information through written statements that must be submitted at the same time the request for program review is made;

(iii) failure to submit the program review request within fifteen (15) calendar days from the postmark on the envelope containing the Notification Concerning Finding(s) of Abuse/Neglect results in the finding becoming final, and also specifies that the alleged perpetrator waives any right to refute this finding in the future, unless good cause is established; and

(iv) that verification of legal representation must be established when the alleged perpetrator requests an attorney be notified of the determination results. Verification is established by a statement of representation on official letterhead from the attorney.

(2)Good cause conditions. an alleged perpetrator is granted a review despite failure to make a timely response, provided good cause is established, including, but not limited to, severe illness or other disabling condition.

(3)Review Procedure. Within 60 calendar days following a review request acceptance, or a late review request when good cause was established, the OCA program review committee determines whether the substantiated child abuse or neglect finding meets substantiation protocol, per OAC 310:678-1-2. No individual with direct decision making authority regarding a case being reviewed is authorized to vote to ensure that there is no conflict of interest.

(A) The decision to uphold, modify, or reverse the original abuse or neglect finding is determined by reviewing:

(i) the entire case record; and

(ii) all written documents submitted to the OCA program review committee.

(B) When the program review committee determines the finding failed to meet substantiation criteria, the committee:

(i) determines whether the preliminary decision was based on a lack of credible evidence to support the child abuse or neglect allegations; or

(ii) determines whether the preliminary decision is based on the OCA social services inspector's lack of documentation; and

(I) when a lack of documentation exists, the program review committee sends notification to the programs administrator, programs manager and OCA social services inspector that information is missing. The program review committee requests the information be added to the report or scanned into On Base;

(II) after the program review committee's notification is received, the programs manager reopens and reassigns the investigation;

(III) the assigned OCA social services inspector adds the additional information to the report within 15 calendar days of the reassignment and sends notification to the program review committee upon completion; and

(IV) the program review committee reconsiders the review request with the additional information and modifies or upholds the finding as appropriate; and

(iii) modifies the finding, when appropriate, in KIDS.

(I) When the substantiation finding is appropriate, but the allegation in KIDS is incorrect, the program review committee's chairperson ensures the inappropriate allegation is marked as an improper entry and the correct allegation is added along with the substantiated finding; and

(II) The Notification Concerning Finding(s) of Abuse/Neglect and Request for Program Review are mailed with the corrected allegations and findings.

(C) Within 60 calendar days following the acceptance of the review request, the program review committee, provides written notification to the:

(i) alleged perpetrator;

(ii) advocate general;

(iii) programs administrator;

(iv) programs manager;

(v) OCA social services inspector;

(vi) district attorney's office in the county where the finding originated;

(vii) Specialized Placement and Partnership Unit, when applicable;

(viii) Child Care Services (CCS), when applicable;

(ix) OJA when applicable; and

(x) facility or agency provider administrator.

(4)Notification of Child Care Services (CCS) of a PRFC's substantiated finding of heinous and shocking abuse.

(A) OCA is responsible for notifying CCS upon completion of a program review when a finding of heinous and shocking abuse is substantiated.

(B) CCS notifies a childcare facility owner or operator and the childcare resource and referral organization in writing immediately or not later than one-business day after a finding of heinous and shocking abuse is substantiated on a PRFC by DHS, per 10 O.S. § 406.

(d)Procedures for the OJA facility program review. The procedures for the facility program review process are outlined in (1) and (2) of this subsection.

(1)Notification to facility. Within 10 calendar days of a facility employee's substantiation of abuse, neglect, or both, the facility is notified of the finding. The notification informs the facility:

(A) of the substantiated finding;

(B) of the date of the abuse or neglect referral, allegation, and finding without identifying the reporting party;

(C) of the demographic information;

(D) that a program review may be requested by notifying the OCA Program Review Committee within 15 calendar days of the date the facility was notified of the substantiated findings;

(E) that additional information for consideration by the OCA Program Review Committee may be provided with the request for a program review; and

(F) that failure to request a program review in a timely manner may result in the finding becoming final and waives any right for the facility to request consideration of the finding in the future.

(2)Review procedure. The review procedures for a request for program review by an OJA facility follow the procedures found in (c) of this Section.

Okla. Admin. Code § 310:678-3-9

Adopted by Oklahoma Register, Volume 42, Issue 7, December 16, 2024, eff. 11/1/2024, exp. 9/14/2025 (Emergency)