RHODE ISLAND

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WHO:        ANY person MUST report if s/he has reasonably knows or suspects a child was abused, neglected, or that another child sexually abused him/her.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-3(a)]

These are mandatory (MUST report or cause a report to be made): • Physicians, duly certified registered nurse practitioners, and other health-care providers.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-6(a)]

·       NOTE: The mandate for medical professionals applies to observations while at work and in cases brought to them outside of work.

·       STANDARD:  [Gen. Laws §§ 40-11-2(2); 40-11-3(a),(b); 40-11-3.3(a); 40-11-2(6); 40-11-6(a)]  Child means under age 18.

(1)      Physician, nurse practitioner, or other health-care provider: (1) is in delivery or care of a newborn affected by prenatal drug exposure or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder; or (2) has cause to suspect that a child brought for treatment is abused or neglected; or (3) a child under age 12 has a sexually transmitted disease.

(2)      Infants (for any reporter): an infant’s parents have requested to end life-sustaining nutrition, medicine, or surgery for a life-threatening condition, even though those things are usually provided to infants, or to infants in that condition.

(3)      Education (for any reporter): reasonable cause to know or suspect that any child has been the victim of sexual abuse by an employee, agent, contractor, or volunteer of an educational program (which includes any public or private school, including boarding schools, or any home-schooling program).

(4)      Any reporter: reasonable cause to know or suspect that any child has been: (a) abused or neglected; or (b) sexually abused by another child.

·       PRIVILEGE: Only attorney-client privilege applies. Husband-wife and professional-patient/client communications are NOT exempt from reporting. Also in proceedings on child abuse or neglect there is no privilege or confidentiality for any parent’s illness, trauma, incompetency, drug addiction, or alcoholism.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-11]

WHEN:      (1) Normally within 24 HOURS, but (2) the special health care providers’ reports must be IMMEDIATE, and (3) reports about infant medical deprivation also must be immediate. (4) Reports about educational programs must be made within 24 hours unless they are made by its staff, in which case there must be an immediate report to the head of the program as shown below. (5) In the special cases for which professional reporters must submit follow-on written reports, timing is not specified. [Gen. Laws §§ 40-11-3(a),(b); 40-11-6(a),(b)] 

WHERE & HOW:  The healthcare professional reports must be oral by phone or otherwise; the others must “transfer” information; in either case to the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) or its designated agent. DCYF’s Child Protective Services (CPS) operates a hotline.  [Gen. Laws §§ 40-11-3(a); 40-11-6(b)]

·       But physicians, nurse practitioners and other health care providers must report all of their special cases to both DCYF and a law enforcement agency, and provide both with a follow-on written report.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-6(a)(b)]

·       Also, reporters of abuse in educational programs must transfer their information to DCYF within 24 hours, however, if the reporter is an employee, agent, contractor, or volunteer for the program, s/he must immediately notify the principal, headmaster, executive director, or other person in charge, or his/her designated agent, who is then responsible for reporting in the usual way.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-3.3(a)]

·       In an emergency:                                    dial 911 (for any law enforcement agency)

·       Hotline for abuse of minors (24/7):          1-800-742-4453          (= 1-800-RI-CHILD)

·       Police (emergency or dual reports):         see directory at https://www.usacops.com/ri/

·       Death:  Anyone required to report, who has reasonable cause to know or suspect that a child has died as a result of child abuse or neglect must immediately transfer that information to DCYF or its designated agent [as above].  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-3.1] 

OTHER ASPECTS

·       REPORT DETAILS: For mandated professionals the oral report must explain the incident and the written report must explain the extent and nature of alleged abuse or neglect.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-6(a),(b)]  The hotline asks: (a) the reporter’s personal information if the call is not anonymous; (b) whether the reporter needs an interpreter; (c) what is the incident; (d) when it happened; (e) if there were other witnesses; (f) the child’s name; (g) whether there are siblings; (h) the child’s age; (i) ages of other children in the report; (j) the child’s current location; (k) the child’s school and what time it lets out; (l) the child’s family’s address and contact info; (m) mother’s name; and (n) what adults live in the home.  [http://www.dcyf.ri.gov/child-protective-services/]  Intake workers may also ask: (o) the child’s physical and mental condition; (p) the caretaker(s)’ mental and physical condition; (q) the alleged perpetrator(s)’ mental and physical condition and/or location; (r) any history of prior incidents/harm to the child; (s) whether the child needs medical attention; and (t) the nature and condition of the physical environment (for safety/health).  [Admin. Rules 03-005-001, Policy 500.0010]

·       REPORTER PROTECTION: (1) The statutes do not require reporters to provider their names. (2) Reports are confidential; records are disclosed only for official purposes as necessary.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-13(a); 42-72-8]  The statutes and regulations reviewed do not address nondisclosure of reporter identity. (3) Any reporter in good faith is immune from civil and criminal liability.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-4]

WHY:        (1) Any person, official, physician, or institution who knowingly fails to make a mandated report, or knowingly prevents another from reasonably doing so, commits a misdemeanor punishable by < $500 fine and/or < 1 year imprisonment, and is civilly liable for damaged proximately caused (i.e., as a direct result).  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-6.1]  (2) A knowingly, willfully false report to DCYF, or causing one to be made, is a misdemeanor punishable by < $1,000 fine and/or < 1 year imprisonment.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-3.2]

WHAT:      In Rhode Island, child abuse or neglect are aggregated and include any of: physical or mental injury, risk of such injuries, sexual abuse, failure to provide, failure to supervise, abandonment, sexual exploitation by prostitution, sexual exploitation by obscenity or porn, sexual offenses, and sexual contact or penetration.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-2(1)]

Initial Screening Criteria (DCYF): Four factors must be present: (a) a child under age 18 living at home, or under 21 and in DCYF custody; (b) harm or substantial risk of harm; (c) an incident or pattern suggesting abuse and/or neglect; and (d) the alleged perpetrator is a person responsible for the child’s welfare and/or lives in the same home. DCYF also investigates: (i) a parent unofficially transferring the child’s permanent care and custody to a nonrelative; (ii) sexual abuse of a child by another child; (iii) a sexual abuser or serious physical abuser with access to another child in a family dwelling; or (iv) an unborn child’s parent with a history or conviction of child abuse or neglect. Priority 1 is emergencies; Priority 2 has risk but not imminent danger; Priority 3 has minimal risk. [http://www.dcyf.ri.gov/documents/rds-portal/RDSportal_MandatedReporting_ChildAbuse-andor-Neglect.pdf; Admin. Rules 03-005-001, Policy 500.0005, 500.0010]

Reportable: a parent or other person responsible for the child’s welfare, for: physical or mental injury, risk of such injuries, sexual abuse, failure to provide, failure to supervise, abandonment, sexual exploitation by prostitution, sexual exploitation by obscenity or porn, sexual offenses, or sexual contact or penetration.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-2(1)]

·        NOTE: If persons not listed here do these things, those may be crimes under other statutes and reportable to police, but not under the abuse/neglect reporting protocol.

·        Person responsible for the child's welfare means any of: (a) a parent; (b) guardian; (c) any individual, age 18 or more who resides in a parent or guardian’s home with unsupervised access to a child (but lacks the right to consent to the child’s removal and health exam); (d) foster parent; (e) employee of a public or private residential home or facility; or (f) any staff person providing out-of-home care (day care for a child, family, group, or center-based day care).  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-2(12)]

Child Abuse or Neglect means: (a) a parent or other person responsible for the child’s welfare (b) does any of the following things, (c) resulting in harm or the threat of it to (d) the child’s physical or mental health or welfare.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-2(1)]  The abuse or neglect may be by acts or omissions, and may be overt or covert.  [Admin. Rules 03-005-001, Policy 500.0025(II)(B)]

(A)     Inflicts or allows physical or mental injury, e.g., excessive corporal punishment.

                                 (1)     PHYSICAL INJURY examples include: (a) death; (b) brain damage or skull fracture; (c) subdural hematoma; (d) internal injuries; (e) burns or scalding; (f) poisoning or noxious substances; (g) wounds; (h) malnutrition or starvation; (i) bone fracture; (j) cuts, bruises, or welts; (k) bites; and (l) sprains or dislocations. [Admin. Rules 03-005-001, Policy 500.0025(II)(B)]

(a)      Shaken baby syndrome is a head trauma caused by violent shaking and/or impact on an infant or young child's head.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-2(15)]

                                 (2)     MENTAL INJURY means that a parent’s (or caretaker’s) unwillingness or inability to exercise a minimum degree of care toward the child was clearly the cause of substantially diminished psychological or intellectual functioning, seen by: (a) failure to thrive; (b) diminished ability to think or reason; (c) aggression; (d) self-destructive impulses; or (e) acting out or misbehavior such as incorrigibility, ungovernability, or habitual truancy.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-2(11)]

                                 (3)     EXCESSIVE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT means: (a) the caregiver punished a child’s (in)action too harshly; (b) the discipline is inappropriate or not in the child’s best interest at that age or level of development; and/or (c) the caregiver did not control his/her reaction, resulting in the child’s bodily injury or undue emotional stress.  [Admin. Rules 03-005-001, Policy 500.0025(II)(B)(10)]

                                 (4)     TYING / CLOSE CONFINEMENT means unreasonable restriction by tethering the child to a fixed or heavy object, or tying limbs together, or forcing the child to remain in a closely confined area that restricts physical movement. examples include: (a) locking or restricting the child to a room for an unreasonable period; (b) locking a child in a closet for any length of time; (c) tying one or more limbs to a bed or other object; (d) tying a child’s hand behind his or her back.  [Admin. Rules 03-005-001, Policy 500.0025(II)(B)(14)]

                                 (5)     INAPPROPRIATE RESTRAINT means any physical action or use of mechanical devices which sets inappropriate limitations on a child.  [Admin. Rules 03-005-001, Policy 500.0025(II)(B)(32)]

                                 (6)     DOMESTIC VIOLENCE includes physical, emotional or sexual aggression, where at least one individual involved is a caregiver, and which results in harm or potential risk of it to a child’s physical or emotional well-being.  [Admin. Rules 03-005-001, Policy 500.0025(II)(B)(33)]

(B)     Creates, or allows to be created, a substantial risk of physical or mental injury to the child, including by excessive corporal punishment.

                                 (1)     Here the harms identified above have not happened, but could.

(C)     Commits or allows an act of sexual abuse against the child,

                                 (1)     Acts involving sexual contact, sexual penetration, and sexual offenses are detailed in other sections. DCYF further recognizes abuse in the form of: (a) voyeurism; (b) sexual harassment; and (c) sharing or making available porn or obscene materials depicting sexual activity, sexual behavior, or genitalia, breasts, or buttocks.  [Admin. Rules 03-005-001, Policy 500.0025(II)(B)(35)]

(D)     Fails to supply child adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care, though financially able to do so or offered financial or other reasonable means to do so.

                                 (1)     CAVEAT: It is NOT abuse or neglect to discontinue life support or nonpalliative care [meaning not pain-relieving] for a terminally ill child if the physician foresees no reasonable chance of recovery despite best efforts.  [Gen. Laws § 40-11-3(c)]

(E)     Fails to provide the child with a minimum degree of care or proper supervision or guardianship, due to the parent or other caregiver’s unwillingness or inability as a result of, for example: (a) social problems; (b) mental incompetency; or (c) incapacitation by use or abuse of drug(s) or alcohol.

(F)     Abandons or deserts the child.

                                 (1)     NOTE: Lack of communication or contact with the child for 6 months is evidence of abandonment.  [Gen. Laws § 15-7-7(4)]

(G)    Sexually exploits the child by allowing, permitting, or encouraging the child to engage in prostitution (any sexual conduct for a fee) [Gen. Laws § 11-34.1-2(a)]. 

(H)     Sexually exploits the child by allowing, permitting, encouraging, or engaging in obscene or pornographic photographing, filming, or depiction that (a) the average perceives as the child in a sexual act, or (b) shows a child under age 18 performing sodomy, oral copulation, sexual intercourse, masturbation, or bestiality.

(I)       Commits, or allows any sexual offense against the child: sexual molestation (sexual contact with a child under the age of consent) or sexual assault (sexual penetration of a child under the age of consent)  [Gen. Laws §§ 11-37-1 et seq.]; or

                                 (1)     TERMS: Sexual contact means intentional touching of either person’s clothed or unclothed intimate part for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification, or assault. Sexual penetration means sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, and any intrusion by a person’s body (or any object) into the genital or anal openings of another person’s body, or into the victim’s own body upon the offender’s instruction.  [Gen. Laws §§ 11-37-1(7),(8)]

                                 (2)     CONTEXT: THE AGE OF CONSENT is 16. A child age 15, 16, or 17 may have consensual sex with someone else in that age range (15, 16, or 17). But an adult age 18 or more must not have sex (sexual contact or penetration) with anyone under the age of 16.   [Gen. Laws §§ 11-37-6; 11-37-8.1; 11-37-8.3]

                                 (3)     CONTEXT: INCEST means (prohibited) marriage to one’s: sibling, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, stepparent, grandparents' spouse, spouse's child, spouse's grandchild, sibling's child or parent's sibling, except as permitted among the Jewish people by their religion. [Gen. Laws §§ 15-1-2; 15-1-3; 15-1-4; cf. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/468337/jewish/Prohibited-Marriages.htm]  Although incestuous marriages are void, there is no criminal penalty for the marriage or for consensual incestuous sexual relationships.

(J)      Commits, or allows an act involving sexual penetration or sexual contact against any child who is: (a) under age 15; or (b) age 15, 16, or 17 but the perpetrator uses force or coercion or knows (or should) that the victim is severely mentally or physically impaired or physically helpless.  [cf. Gen. Laws § 40-11-2(2)]