Louisiana Children’s Code 615 – Disposition of reports
Terms Used In Louisiana Children's Code 615
- Abuse: means any one of the following acts that seriously endanger the physical, mental, or emotional health, welfare, and safety of the child:
(a) The infliction, attempted infliction, or, as a result of inadequate supervision, the allowance of the infliction or attempted infliction of physical or mental injury upon the child by a parent or any other person. See Louisiana Children's Code 603
- Child: means a person under eighteen years of age who, prior to juvenile proceedings, has not been judicially emancipated under Civil Code Article 366 or emancipated by marriage under Civil Code Article 367. See Louisiana Children's Code 603
- Concurrent planning: means departmental efforts to preserve and reunify a family, or to place a child for adoption or with a legal guardian which are made simultaneously. See Louisiana Children's Code 603
- Department: means the Department of Children and Family Services. See Louisiana Children's Code 603
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Neglect: means the refusal or unreasonable failure of a parent or caretaker to supply the child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, care, treatment, or counseling for any injury, illness, or condition of the child, as a result of which the child's physical, mental, or emotional health, welfare, and safety is substantially threatened or impaired. See Louisiana Children's Code 603
- Other suitable individual: means a person with whom the child enjoys a close, established, significant relationship, yet not a blood relative, including a neighbor, godparent, teacher, or close friend of the parent. See Louisiana Children's Code 603
- Relative: means an individual with whom the child has established a significant relationship by blood, adoption, or affinity. See Louisiana Children's Code 603
- Removal: means placing a child in the custody of the state or with someone other than the parent or caretaker during or after the course of an investigation of abuse and neglect to secure the child's health, welfare, and safety. See Louisiana Children's Code 603
- Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
- Safety plan: means a plan for the purpose of assuring a child's health, welfare, and safety by imposing conditions for the child to safely remain in the home, or, after a child has been removed from the home, for the continued placement of the child with a custodian and terms for contact between the child and the child's parents or other persons. See Louisiana Children's Code 603
- Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
A. In determining the disposition of the report, the agency shall take into account, in mitigation, the possibility of accidental injury or condition, or that the injury resulted from what might be considered a reasonable exercise of discipline for the child‘s misbehavior.
B. After investigation, the local child protection unit shall make one of the following determinations:
(1) The child appears to be a child in need of care and the child’s immediate removal is necessary for protection from further abuse or neglect, in which case, whenever extraordinary justification arises, the local child protection unit shall apply for an instanter removal order to place the child in the custody of a suitable relative or other suitable individual capable of protecting the health, welfare, and safety of the child or the state as authorized by Articles 619 and 620 and shall notify the district attorney as soon as possible.
(2) The report appears to be justified, in that there is evidence of child abuse, or neglect, and a protective order or instanter safety plan order would eliminate the need for removal of the child in order to protect him from further abuse, in which case it may apply for a temporary restraining order or protective order authorized by Article 617 and Article 618, or an instanter safety plan order authorized by Article 619 or Article 620.
(3) The report appears to be justified, in that there is evidence of child abuse or neglect, in which case it shall report all pertinent information to the district attorney, as soon as possible but in no case more than thirty days after such determination, for evaluation of whether a child in need of care petition should be filed in the court with juvenile jurisdiction.
(4) The report is inconclusive, in that the evidence tends to support a finding of abuse or neglect, but there is not enough information to confirm a justified report.
(5) The report does not appear justified as the evidence does not support a finding of child abuse or neglect.
(6) The investigation indicates the report appears to be false and that the reporter knowingly made a false report in which case all pertinent information shall be forwarded to the district attorney for a determination of whether the evidence supports a finding of a false public report.
C. In addition to investigation or assessment of reports, or both, the local child protection family services unit may offer available information, referrals, or services to the family when there appears to be some need for medical, mental health, social, basic support, supervision, or other services. Assignments for case response and allocation of resources shall be made in the order of children at greatest risk of harm to the lowest risk of harm. The individualized intervention strategies based on this risk assessment may include concurrent planning.
D. Violation of the duties imposed by this Article subjects the offender to criminal prosecution authorized by La. Rev. Stat. 14:403(A)(2).
E. When after the investigation of a report, the determination is made that the report is inconclusive or not justified, as provided in Subparagraphs (B)(4) and (5) of this Article, the files, records, and pertinent information regarding the report and investigation shall be strictly confidential, shall not become part of the central registry except as otherwise provided in Subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph or in Article 616(F), shall not be disclosed or ordered to be produced in conjunction with any legal proceeding or other matter except as provided in Subparagraph (4) of this Paragraph, and shall be maintained only for the following purposes:
(1) The files, records, and information shall remain unsealed and shall be maintained for the exclusive use of child protective services, to assist in future risk and safety assessments. The Department of Children and Family Services shall maintain all files and records for seven years from the date of the determination, unless a subsequent inconclusive or not justified report is received during that period. In that case, information from all such reports will be maintained until the youngest child in the alleged victim’s family attains the age of eighteen years or seven years from the date of the latest determination, whichever is longer. If information from an inconclusive or not justified report is used as a part of the basis for a later, related, and justified report, the earlier report shall become part of the file of the justified report and shall cease to be a separate report.
(2) All files, records, and information shall be admissible in any civil litigation or criminal proceeding against the Department of Children and Family Services or its employees wherein work performance or conduct is at issue. They shall remain confidential and be placed under seal by the court to prevent disclosure to the public. The department shall maintain the files, records and information during the pendency of the litigation or prosecution.
(3) All files, records, and information regarding a report that has been determined to be inconclusive may be released to law enforcement investigators in the course of investigations of crimes involving acts against children in order to assist in the proper evaluation of current reports of abuse which may include a pattern of incidents. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, these files, records, and information shall remain confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 44:1 et seq. If a court determines that the files, records, and information are admissible in criminal proceedings involving acts against children, those files, records, and information shall be placed under seal by the court to prevent disclosure to the public.
(4)(a) All files, records, and information regarding a report that has been determined to be inconclusive or not justified shall be released to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, military authorities, prosecuting authorities, and coroners upon request when such entity is in the course of investigations or legal proceedings and the requesting entity has good cause to believe that the files, records, or information contain information which may be constitutionally required to be disclosed pursuant to Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) and its progeny. The requesting agency shall request the information in writing and state the purpose for which the information is being requested.
(b) Files, records, and information released pursuant to this Subparagraph shall be confidential and shall not be further disclosed except as expressly authorized by Article 412. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, files, records, and information released pursuant to this Subparagraph shall not be subject to disclosure pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 44:1 et seq.
F. The department shall promulgate rules to provide for the disposition, handling, maintenance, and storage of inconclusive and not justified reports in keeping with this Article.
G. Except as provided in Subparagraph (B)(6) of this Article, the name of the reporter shall not be disclosed.
Acts 1991, No. 235, §6, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; Acts 1993, No. 505, §1; Acts 1995, No. 444, §§1, 2, eff. June 17, 1995; Acts 1995, No. 625, §1, eff. June 19, 1995; Acts 1999, No. 449, §1, eff. July 1, 1999; Acts 1999, No. 593, §1; Acts 2003, No. 567, §1; Acts 2004, No. 457, §§1, 2, eff. June 24, 2004; Acts 2005, No. 148, §1; Acts 2006, No. 580, §1, eff. June 23, 2006; Acts 2006, No. 394, §1; Acts 2014, No. 486, §1; Acts 2022, No. 232, §1; Acts 2022, No. 272, §1.