23 Pa.C.S. § 6334 Disposition of Complaints Received

• Library: Pennsylvania Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.A. Acts 2023-66
• Year: 2023
• Citation: 23 Pa.C.S. § 6334

(a) Receipt of reports by county agencies and law enforcement.--After ensuring the immediate safety of the child and any other child in the child's home, a county agency or law enforcement official that receives a report of suspected child abuse shall immediately notify the department of the report. If the report is an oral report by telephone, the county agency or law enforcement official shall attempt to collect as much of theinformation listed in section 6313(c) (relating to reporting procedure) as possible and shall submit the information to the department within 48 hours through a report in writing or by electronic technologies.

(b) Receipt of reports by department and referral to county agency.--The department shall immediately transmit an oral notice or a notice by electronic technologies to the county agency of the county where the suspected child abuse is alleged to have occurred. The notice shall contain the following information:

(1) That a report of suspected child abuse by a perpetrator has been received.

(2) The substance of the report.

(3) The existence in the Statewide database of a prior report or a current investigation or assessment concerning a subject of the report.

(c) Receipt of reports by department and referral to law enforcement.--If the department receives a report of suspected child abuse that also alleges that a criminal offense has been committed against the child, the department shall immediately transmit an oral notice or notice by electronic technologies to the appropriate law enforcement official in the county where the suspected child abuse is alleged to have occurred. The notice shall contain the following information, consistent with section 6340(a)(9) and (10) (relating to release of information in confidential reports):

(1) That a report of suspected child abuse has been received.

(2) The substance of the report.

(3) The existence in the Statewide database undersection 6331 (relating to establishment of Statewide database) of a prior report or a current investigation or assessment concerning a subject of the report.

(d) Notice of joint referrals.--When a report is referred to the county agency under subsection (b) and is also referred to a law enforcement official under subsection (c), the notice shall include information as to the name and contact information of any persons receiving the referral, if known.

(e) Jurisdictional overlap.--If the residency of any subject of a report is a factor that requires the cooperation of more than one county agency, the department shall develop procedures to ensure the cooperation of those agencies in carrying out the requirements of this chapter.