Incident Reporting for Child abuse and neglect 

Philosophy:

 Child abuse, neglect, and maltreatment of children interferes with healthy child development and achievements later in life. And is a direct violation of DCFS, DFSS, Head Start and Gads Hill Center Policies. Reporting suspected abuse is mandatory. Gads Hill Center staff and parents should be aware of reporting requirements and procedures for handling reports of child abuse and neglect.

Purpose:

To inform Gads Hill Center staff of the policies and procedures in both recognizing and reporting the signs and symptoms of Child Abuse, Neglect, and Maltreatment for the purpose of appropriate reporting, and intervention. So that any child in a Gads Hill Center program who has been identified as a suspected victim may receive care, understanding, and appropriate protection and support.

Policy:

Gads Hill Center staff shall comply with legal mandates requiring a report to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services-Children Protective Services (DCFS-CPS) of any suspected instance of abuse or neglect of children under the age of 18. Gads Hill Center staff shall also comply with Gads Hill Center policies of immediately reporting any and all suspected Child Abuse Neglect and Maltreatment to their direct supervisor in forthwith the Director of Early Childhood Programs.

Procedures:

1. All observations or suspicions of child abuse, neglect, or maltreatment shall be immediately reported to direct supervisor.

2. Before making the hotline call, the staff member should have the child’s contact information, and/or the child’s file available to provide demographic information to the DCFS worker. When answering the DCFS worker’s questions:

• Answer questions objectively, that is provide facts not interpretations and/or opinions regarding the child, family and suspected allegation of abuse or neglect. If unsure when asked questions by the DCFS worker about the family and/or child, respond “not to my knowledge”. The staff person is not to report interpretations regarding the suspected abuse or neglect, but rather facts regarding the incident.

3. The program supervisor must be notified before the DCFS call is made. Under no circumstances shall a call on behalf of Gads Hill Center be made without notifying your direct supervisor. The first initial person to see or hear about the suspected abuse or neglect must be the person to make the DCFS hotline call. The Children’s Services Mental Health Specialist shall also be notified after the call has been made.

• If your direct supervisor is not available, the person making the DCFS call must notify the Children’s Services Mental Health Specialist, or Associate Director of Programs. If the above-mentioned staff are not available, the Director of Programs must be contacted.

4. If there are concerns regarding the child’s safety and them leaving the site, the staff member must notify their direct supervisor, as well as the DCFS worker during the call regarding the existing safety concerns. The direct supervisor may decide to not inform the parent that the call was made if there are safety concerns regarding the parent possibly retaliating against program staff.

5. After the report over the telephone is made, a Written Confirmation of Suspected Child Abuse/Neglect Report: Mandated Reporters should be completed. The Internal Incident Reporting form for Gads Hill Center must also be immediately provided to direct supervisor.

6. The Written Confirmation of Suspected Child Abuse/Neglect Report: Mandated Reporters form should be sent to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services-Children Protective Services within 48 hours.

7. Mail the original form to the nearest office of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Attention: Child Protective Services.

8. The family of the child must be notified of the suspected abuse within the same business day of the call made and a meeting with the direct supervisor will be arranged to discuss the concerns. It is important that Gads Hill Center staff give support to the parent ensuring this highly emotional and distressing period. Family Support/Parent Advocate will need to work closely with the family.

9. All documentation regarding the suspected abuse and neglect is confidential and must be kept on file at the site. The direct supervisor should provide a copy of the report to the Children’s Services Mental Health Specialist.

10. The direct supervisor will schedule a mandatory meeting to debrief with the appropriate staff.

11. The direct supervisor must immediately import incident details into electronic databases (SALESFORCE Incident Reporting)

12. The direct supervisor and Children’s Services Mental Health Specialist will meet with appropriate staff to provide guidance and support to ensure that there is a clear plan of action for all parties involved (family, child, and staff).

By signing this form, I acknowledge that I have read and understand the policy and expected procedures for reporting suspected child abuse and neglect. I am agreeing to enact the above outline procedures when applicable to any situation where child abuse neglect or maltreatment is present.

GHC Incident Reporting Requirements & Mandates 

As an agency, it is important that GHC  ensure that directly operated programs and community partners are taking the proper steps in follow-up to any incident that may occur. In adherence to HS Program Performance Standard 1302.102(d)(ii), agencies must immediately (within the same day) report any incident that meets the category listed below to their direct supervisor or program Liaisons on EHS/HS Team. All incidents falling under the reporting guidelines must be reported to the Director of Early Childhood Programs 

• Any significant incident involving federal, state, and local authorities.  

• Occurrences involving child abuse and neglect or laws governing sex offenders after the agency has completed its mandated reporter obligation.  

• Incidents regarding agency staff, volunteers, or consultants in non-compliance with federal, state, tribal, or local laws. 

• Cases of a communicable disease or other serious health issues. 

• Breaches of personally identifiable information. 

• Missing and/or damaged files. 

• Incidents that require classrooms or centers to be closed for any reason. 

• Disqualification from the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). 

• Revocation of a license to operate a center by a state or local licensing entity. 

• Circumstances affecting the program's financial viability, including receipt of an audit, audit review, investigation, or inspection report from the agency's auditor, a state agency, or the cognizant federal audit agency, containing a determination that the agency is at risk of on-going concern. 

• Program involvement in legal proceedings. 

• Any matter the agency is involved in that has been reported to the state or local authorities. 

• Debarment from receiving federal or state funds from any federal or state department. 

The Incident Report must be completed immediately or no more than 24 hours after the event describing the details of the incident. Additional follow-up and/or information related to the incident will be requested as needed. Any agency report may result in additional monitoring site visits from Gads Hill Center Leadership. 

All reports should include the facts that have been observed by those involved in the incident. The reports must be legible and completed in their entirety with all requested information and signatures. Copies of reports must be given to parents when children are involved. When the incident was recorded or witnessed.

 Sites and Programs must maintain records of reportable incidents, child incidents/ injury reports, and program concerns. Any report involving a child will be kept in the child's master file. The Health Sites and Programs will also maintain a binder with all child injury reports.

  Investigation Procedures

All Gads Hill Center, Directly Operated Sites and Partner Agencies are responsible for ensuring that day-to-day program practices promote health and safety. Each program/agency must design and implement program practices responsive to the identified required program incidents and health and safety concerns of an individual child, group of children, and staff. All incidents must be reported the same day to the Director of Early Childhood programs, DCFS, DFSS, and Chicago Commons  When an incident is reported to a Direct Supervisor, Program Manager, or Associate Director, it must be immediately be reported to the Director of Early Childhood Programs. All incidents falling under the reporting guidelines in the GHC Reporting Policy must be investigated by the program/site managers under the direction of the Director of Early Childhood Programs. 

Investigations will be conducted within 24 hours of a reported incident by the Director of Early Childhood Programs and appropriate program managers.

 Investigations shall be conducted as follows:

•      Director of Early Childhood will notify the Chief Program Officer and the Chief Operating Officer.

•      Written signed statements from witnesses or involved parties will be collected on the GHC   incident reporting form (injury or non-injury).

•      All relevant video footage of the incident will be reviewed.

•      An IT heat ticket will be placed to preserve and archive relevant incident video footage.

•      Formal interviews of all witnessing and involved parties will be conducted.

A Grantee Incident Report will be completed and sent to the corresponding Grantee organization (DFSS and/or Chicago Commons

•    If there is a perceived threat or danger to the child, family, or facility, relevant staff members may be placed on temporary administrative leave. If this occurs, GHC Human Resources will be contacted immediately and will provide recommendations.

   •    If the reported incident is a case of Child Abuse and Neglect a DCFS “Child protective Plan” may be put in place.

•     A formal written conclusion of findings will be written and provided to the Chief Program Officer and Chief Operations Officer, and Chief Executive Officer.

•     Amendments and follow-up to all Grantee and Funder Incident reports will be provided to the Grantee as outlined by their policies.

•     A formal mitigation plan (based on the incident) for the Site, staff member, child or family will be outlined, and evidence of that plan will be submitted to and approved by the Director of Early Childhood Programs.

 All reports should include the facts that have been observed by those involved in the incident. The reports must be legible and completed in their entirety with all requested information and signatures. Copies of reports must be given to parents when children are involved, including when the incident was recorded or witnessed.

 Sites and Programs must maintain records of reportable incidents, child incidents/injury reports, and program concerns. Any report involving a child will be kept in the child's master file. Additionally, the Sites and Programs will maintain a binder with all child injury reports.

Whistle Blower Policy

GHC ensures all employees understand and recognize that the organization will not retaliate against a whistleblower. This includes, but is not limited to, protection from retaliation in the form of an adverse employment action such as termination, compensation decreases, or poor work assignments and threats of physical harm. Any whistleblower who believes he/she is being retaliated against must contact the Human Resources manager immediately. The right of a whistleblower for protection against retaliation does not include immunity for any personal wrongdoing that is alleged and investigated. 

If an employee has knowledge of or a concern of illegal or dishonest/fraudulent activity, the employee is to contact his/her immediate supervisor or the Human Resources Director. All reports or concerns of illegal and dishonest activities will be promptly submitted by the receiving supervisor to the Human Resources Director, who is responsible for investigating and coordinating any necessary corrective action. Any concerns involving the Human Resource Director should be reported to the Chief Executive Officer. The whistleblower is not responsible for investigating the alleged illegal or dishonest activity, or for determining fault or corrective measures; appropriate management officials are charged with these responsibilities. 

Examples of illegal or dishonest activities include violations of federal, state, or local laws; billing for services not performed or for goods not delivered; and other fraudulent financial reporting. The employee must exercise sound judgment to avoid baseless allegations. An employee who intentionally files a false report of wrongdoing will be subject to disciplinary action.