2334. Interviewing Subjects or Family Assessment Response Participants

Applies To: This policy applies to child welfare (CW) and Licensing Division (LD) Child Protective Services (CPS) employees.

Policy Number & Title: 2334. Interviewing Subjects or Family Assessment Response Participants

Effective Date: September 1, 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to provide direction for interviewing CPS investigation subjects or Family Assessment Response (FAR) participants who have allegedly abused or neglected a child or youth.

Authority

RCW 26.44.030 Reports - Duty and authority to make - Duty of receiving agency - Duty to notify - Case planning and consultation - Penalty for unauthorized exchange of information - Filing dependency petitions -Investigations – Interviews of children - Records - Risk assessment process

Policy

The caseworker or LD CPS investigator must:
1. Conduct individual and face-to-face interviews of each subject or FAR participant. If they refuse to be interviewed, consult with the supervisor and document in FamLink.
2. If the subject or FAR participant cannot be located, continue efforts to locate until:
  1. The interview occurs, or
  2. Reasonable efforts to locate have been exhausted. See Guidelines for Reasonable Efforts to Locate Children and/or Parents on the DCYF intranet.
3. Follow the Washington State federally recognized tribe’s Memorandum of Agreement when interviewing a subject or FAR participant who is affiliated with a federally-recognized tribe.
4. Prior to the interview
  1. Review all the allegations, child abuse or neglect (CA/N) history and available information to prepare for the interview and ensure all the allegations are fully investigated or assessed.
  2. Coordinate interviews of physical abuse, sexual abuse or criminal neglect of a child with law enforcement (LE) or another forensic interviewing specialist per county child abuse investigation protocols.
  3. Adhere to the following DCYF Administrative policies:
    1. 6.02 Access to Services for Clients and Caregivers who are Limited English Proficient (LEP) policy when working with a subject or FAR participant with LEP. Caseworkers may conduct the interview in the subject or participant’s language if they are approved dual language employees, per the DCYF Administrative 11.19 Dual Language Employee Assignment Pay policy.
    2. 6.03 Access to Services for Individuals with Disabilities.
  4. If domestic violence (DV) is alleged or suspected, conduct separate interviews of the subject, parent or guardian, caregiver, each child or youth in the household and witness, if applicable.
  5. The LD CPS investigators must also:
    1. Interview subjects separately.
    2. Notify foster parents about the Foster Intervention Retention and Support Team (FIRST) program.
  6. If a parent, guardian or caregiver requests to audio or video record a meeting, inform them that DCYF employees do not consent to audio or video recording of meetings or discussions. Discontinue the meeting or conversation if the parent, guardian or caregiver refuses to cooperate. If a meeting is discontinued, inform the supervisor immediately and document in FamLink.
5. During the interview
  1. Inform the subject or FAR participant of all CA/N allegations at the initial contact except when child safety may be jeopardized. Maintain the confidentiality of the referrer.
  2. Provide:
    1. Qualified interpreters for the subject or FAR participant as needed or requested, per DCYF Administrative policies:
      1. 6.02 Access to Services for Clients and Caregivers who are Limited English Proficient (LEP).
      2. 6.03 Access to Services for Individuals with Disabilities.
    2. All subjects and FAR participants with the Public Notice of Nondiscrimination DCYF HR_0012 publication at initial contact.
  3. Provide information about the subject’s rights, including a right to respond to the allegations.
  4. Gather relevant and sufficient information to assess present danger, and complete the safety and risk assessments to determine:
    1. If there are safety threats.
    2. How the child or youth and family are functioning.
    3. Level of risk to the child or youth in their environment.
    4. The subject or FAR participant’s accessibility to the child or youth.
  5. Conduct universal DV screening per the Domestic Violence policy, and document the information in FamLink.
  6. Additional requirements
    1. A caseworker must follow the Indian Child Welfare (ICW) Tribal Inquiry policy.
    2. The FAR worker must also:
      1. Explain the FAR pathway.
      2. Review and upload signed FAR agreement in FamLink.
      3. The CPS or LD CPS investigator must also provide information about making and appealing investigation findings.
6. After the interview
  1. Document the:
    1. Interview, including whether the subject or FAR participant was unavailable or unwilling to be interviewed, by either:
      1. Near verbatim documentation any time an alleged perpetrator makes statements regarding the alleged serious physical or sexual abuse. Information that does not include discussion of the allegations may be summarized.
      2. Upload in FamLink a copy of any near verbatim documentation obtained by a LE officer.
    2. Public Notice of Nondiscrimination DCYF HR_0012 publication was provided to individuals at initial contact in a case note in FamLink, per the DCYF Administrative 6.03 Access to Services for Individuals with Disabilities policy.
  2. Obtain permission from the parent, legal guardian, or caregiver before taking a photograph of their home or items inside the home. Caseworkers may take photographs of conditions or items outside the home and in public view without permission. See Photograph Documentation policy.
  3. Make a report to intake when any child or youth on an open case is believed to be at imminent risk of serious harm or there is a new allegation of child abuse or neglect (CA/N).
  4. If during the subject interview, the subject or FAR participant provides information about a crime against a child or youth or a vulnerable adult and the caseworker believes the child or youth or vulnerable adult is in danger, the caseworker must call 911 and make a LE report. If the child or youth or vulnerable adult is not believed to be in danger, the caseworker will make a report to intake or Adult Protective Services.
The supervisor must confirm all alleged subjects or FAR participants were interviewed, and the allegations of CA/N were addressed and documented in FamLink. If the subject or FAR participant was not interviewed, ensure the case documentation includes the reason why the interview did not occur and efforts to locate, if applicable.