12 CCR 2518-1-30.420 - REPORT CATEGORIZATION

A. The county department shall review and evaluate all reports received utilizing the RED Team process and framework or a review by a supervisor or lead worker to determine whether the report should be screened in for investigation or screened out. If RED Team is the selected method, the county shall utilize the RED Team framework in CAPS.

B. The county department shall first determine whether the report involves mistreatment or self-neglect of an adult the county department could reasonably conclude was an at-risk adult at the time of the mistreatment, based upon information in the report related to physical, medical, and/or cognitive deficits or diagnoses and/or information in prior APS reports or cases.

C. If the report does not involve mistreatment or self-neglect of an at-risk adult the report shall be screened out no later than the third working day after receipt of the report.

D. If the report does involve mistreatment or self-neglect of an at-risk adult, the county department shall then make a screening decision based on a determination as to whether the report meets one of the exceptions outlined below:

1. The report shall be screened out and the county department shall not complete an investigation when:

a. The alleged incidence was previously investigated and there is no new information in the report that impacts the client's current health, safety, or welfare;

b. The only allegation is self-neglect of an adult who has been assessed by APS within the past six months, and, the self-neglect is substantively unchanged from the previous APS case, and the adult has a recent history of refusing services, and there is no reported decline in the adult's abilities and/or change in circumstances;

c. There is no information to locate the client and no ability to obtain additional information necessary to proceed with an investigation;

d. The only allegation is self-neglect and the county department has confirmed with the reporting party or other professional that the adult has been moved to a stable, long-term and safe placement, the client has sufficient services in place to mitigate risks, or the adult died prior to the county department's screening decision.

2. The report may be screened out when:

a. The mistreatment occurred more than one hundred-eighty (180) days prior to the report; and,

b. The county department can reasonably determine that the alleged perpetrator no longer has contact with the client and/or is no longer providing direct care to at-risk adults, pursuant to Section 30.960.A.

c. The county department may screen the report in for investigation at the county department's discretion.

3. Reports not subject to an exception outlined in Section 30.420.D.1 and 2 shall be screened in for investigation and are determined to be a case; except when a new allegation(s) is received and the county department has a current open case, the new report shall be screened out and the new allegation shall be added to and investigated in the current open case.

E. If the report is screened out, the county department may:

1. Contact the adult to offer services for another program in the county department, such as Medicaid or behavioral health services, and/or provide referral information to the adult for another service agency, or refer the reporting party to another agency or resource.

2. Inform the reporting party of the decision not to investigate.

F. The county department shall document the reason the report was screened out.

Notes

12 CCR 2518-1-30.420

37 CR 15, August 10, 2014, effective 9/1/2014 40 CR 01, January 10, 2017, effective 2/1/2017 41 CR 05, March 10, 2018, effective 4/1/2018 41 CR 09, May 10, 2018, effective 6/1/2018 41 CR 13, July 10, 2018, effective 7/30/2018 42 CR 17, September 10, 2019, effective 10/1/2019 42 CR 23, December 10, 2019, effective 12/30/2019 43 CR 13, July 10, 2020, effective 8/1/2020 43 CR 21, November 10, 2020, effective 11/30/2020 44 CR 11, June 10, 2021, effective 6/30/2021 45 CR 03, February 10, 2022, effective 3/2/2022 45 CR 19, October 10, 2022, effective 11/1/2022