DCFS Can Do Better
	Working for a Kinder, Gentler, Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services If you have reason to suspect that a child you know is being abused, please call the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-482-5964.  Don't stop until you get an answer.

What are the DCFS Procedures?

You can look at the DCFS Reference Center to find the policies and procedures and compliance reports that DCFS has available on the web.  This includes their Family Services Policy and Procedure Manual, which is about 200 pages, and which includes sections like:

• Procedure II-E2: Child Maltreatment Report Assessment Interviews.
• Procedure II-E4: Medical/Psychological Evaluation Required During Assessment (which states that the physical examination of children alleged to be sexually abused must be conducted by a physician or other medical personnel, not the DCFS case worker).
• Procedure II-E6: Child Maltreatment Assessment Determination.
• Procedure II-E10: Protective Custody of Child in Immediate Danger (which allows for placement with a qualified relative).
• Procedure II-G1: Retention of Assessment Files.
• Procedure IX-A1 through IX-A4: Internal Review and Administrative Hearing Process.
• Appendix with a Glossary of terms and definitions (such as how "abuse" is defined).

Their reference center also includes the Child Maltreatment Assessment Protocol (PUB-357) defining those injuries and actions that are considered maltreatment in Arkansas, as well as their priorities (Priority I requires the investigation to begin within 24 hours of the report; Priority II requires the investigation to begin within 72 hours of the report; note that the DCFS case worker must interview the child within that time frame, or turn the case over to their supervisor or someone else that can; however, studies by DCFS shows that they met those requirements 85% of the time in 2002, with a goal of 95% compliance), and now requiring a "preponderance of the evidence", i.e., more likely than not that abuse or neglect occurred, instead of "some credible evidence", which was the standard before 1999.

DCFS has also sent us their Family Services Forms Manual Table of Contents (9/2003) which contains a listing of all of their forms, publications, and CHRIS-generated reports, along with their latest revision date, and where the DCFS employees can get them from.  This covers the entire range of DCFS services, not just for child maltreatment allegations.  We have a few of these forms and publications posted on our web site; however, as stated earlier, we will not post any blank forms of a sensitive nature (such as CFS-310 and CFS-312) which could be printed out and used fraudulently by non-DCFS personnel to harm a child or their family.

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