October 14, 1997
Mr. Ernest H. Morton, Jr. Morton, Grigg & Phillips, LLP Post Office Box 519 Albermarle, North Carolina 28002-0519
RE: Advisory Opinion; Reporting Suspected Child Abuse; G.S. §§ 7A-543 and 115C-400
Dear Mr. Morton:
This letter serves as a response to the following questions submitted by your office:
ISSUE #1: Does N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-400 require the person who has cause to suspect child abuse to be the person to report to DSS?
ANSWER: YES.
The plain language of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-400 requires that "[a]ny person who has cause to suspect child abuse or neglect has a duty to report the case of the child to the Director of Social Services of the county, as provided in G.S. 7A-543 to 7A-552." Therefore, the person who has cause to believe that abuse has occurred must make the report directly to DSS. However, the statute does not prohibit that person from making an additional report of the suspected abuse to a designated person in the school system.
ISSUE #2: Do N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 7A-543 and 115C-400 prohibit the nineteen schools in the Stanly County School System from having the same contact person to receive and report cases of suspected child abuse?
ANSWER: NO.
The statutes do not prevent your school system from having a contact person to receive reports of suspected child abuse and assist in the reporting to DSS. In fact, the November 1, 1991, joint statement of philosophy of the Department of Public Instruction ("DPI") and the Department of Human Resources ("DHR") recommends that local school boards and local departments of social services enter into agreements that permit local schools to have a contact person who can assist in expediting the report to DSS and serve as a liaison to DSS. According to the joint statement of DPI and DHR, if the protective services worker determines that a visit to the school is warranted, one of the duties of the contact person should be to arrange a mutually convenient time for the visit that is least disruptive to the child’s schedule.
The existence of such a "contact person" would not absolve the person who has the initial evidence of abuse from making a direct report to DSS. Furthermore, the person who makes the original report would also have to be available to DSS during their investigation.
ISSUE #3: Which of the two policies for reporting suspected child abuse better complies with the spirit of the law?
ANSWER: THE PROPOSED POLICY
The present and proposed policies for reporting suspected child abuse are attached to this letter.
The present policy does not require the person with the initial evidence of abuse to make a direct report to DSS. As stated above, this is not in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-400. The proposed policy, which requires the individual to report suspected abuse directly to the DSS Director, better complies with the spirit of the law.
Ann Reed Senior Deputy Attorney General
Thomas J. Ziko Special Deputy Attorney General