Jonathan F. (Jon) Duncan, Wednesday, July 07, 2010 | Filed under: Miscellaneous
As everyone in the education community is aware, budget concerns are putting a pinch on many state services. The Missouri Department of Social Services, Children's Division (formerly known as DFS), is no exception. According to a letter sent to school administrators, the Children's Division is changing its intake procedures in order to help field workers focus on reports of child abuse or neglect. Specifically, the hotline staff will make an initial determination of whether a call constitutes a report of abuse or neglect. If it does, the operator will send a report to field staff. If the call does not constitute a report of abuse or neglect, the operator will provide resource referral information directly to the caller (rather than contacting an investigator in the field). The letter from Children's Division does not modify a mandatory reporter's obligation to make a hotline call when warranted by law.