2009 Iowa Code
Title 6 - Human Services
Subtitle 5 - Juveniles
CHAPTER 232 - JUVENILE JUSTICE
232.70 - REPORTING PROCEDURE.

        232.70  REPORTING PROCEDURE.
         1.  Each report made by a mandatory reporter, as defined in
      section 232.69, subsection 1, shall be made both orally and in
      writing.  Each report made by a permissive reporter, as defined in
      section 232.69, subsection 2, may be oral, written, or both.
         2.  The employer or supervisor of a person who is a mandatory or
      permissive reporter shall not apply a policy, work rule, or other
      requirement that interferes with the person making a report of child
      abuse.
         3.  The oral report shall be made by telephone or otherwise to the
      department of human services.  If the person making the report has
      reason to believe that immediate protection for the child is
      advisable, that person shall also make an oral report to an
      appropriate law enforcement agency.
         4.  The written report shall be made to the department of human
      services within forty-eight hours after such oral report.
         5.  Upon receipt of a report the department shall do all of the
      following:
         a.  Immediately, upon receipt of an oral report, make a
      determination as to whether the report constitutes an allegation of
      child abuse as defined in section 232.68.
         b.  Notify the appropriate county attorney of the receipt of
      the report.
         6.  The oral and written reports shall contain the following
      information, or as much thereof as the person making the report is
      able to furnish:
         a.  The names and home address of the child and the child's
      parents or other persons believed to be responsible for the child's
      care;
         b.  The child's present whereabouts if not the same as the
      parent's or other person's home address;
         c.  The child's age;
         d.  The nature and extent of the child's injuries, including
      any evidence of previous injuries;
         e.  The name, age and condition of other children in the same
      home;
         f.  Any other information which the person making the report
      believes might be helpful in establishing the cause of the injury to
      the child, the identity of the person or persons responsible for the
      injury, or in providing assistance to the child; and
         g.  The name and address of the person making the report.
         7.  A report made by a permissive reporter, as defined in section
      232.69, subsection 2, shall be regarded as a report pursuant to this
      chapter whether or not the report contains all of the information
      required by this section and may be made to the department of human
      services, county attorney, or law enforcement agency.  If the report
      is made to any agency other than the department of human services,
      such agency shall promptly refer the report to the department of
      human services.
         8.  If a report would be determined to constitute an allegation of
      child abuse as defined under section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph
      "c" or "e", except that the suspected abuse resulted from the
      acts or omissions of a person other than a person responsible for the
      care of the child, the department shall refer the report to the
      appropriate law enforcement agency having jurisdiction to investigate
      the allegation.  The department shall refer the report orally as soon
      as practicable and in writing within seventy-two hours of receiving
      the report.
         9.  Within twenty-four hours of receiving a report from a
      mandatory or permissive reporter, the department shall inform the
      reporter, orally or by other appropriate means, whether or not the
      department has commenced an assessment of the allegation in the
      report.  

         Section History: Early Form

         [C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, § 235A.4; C79, 81, § 232.70] 

         Section History: Recent Form

         83 Acts, ch 96, § 157, 159; 87 Acts, ch 153, § 4; 97 Acts, ch 176,
      §2, 17; 2000 Acts, ch 1137, §4, 14; 2001 Acts, ch 122, §4
         Referred to in § 232.68, 232.69, 232.75