2019 US Virgin Islands Code
Title 5 - Judicial Procedure
Subtitle 2 - Family Division Procedure
Chapter 201 - Family Division of the Superior Court
Subchapter IV - Abuse and Neglect Matters
§ 2536. Child protective services
(a) The Department of Social Welfare shall receive or arrange for the receipt of all reports of alleged child abuse, sexual abuse or neglect; provide or arrange for emergency temporary care and protection of victims of alleged child abuse, sexual abuse or neglect; and within 24 hours of notification of an alleged case of child abuse, sexual abuse or neglect, commence or cause to be commenced a thorough investigation of the report.
(b) The investigation by the Department of Social Welfare shall include an evaluation of the child named in the report and any other children that may be in the same home; a determination of the risk to those children if they continue to remain in the home; a determination of the nature, extent and cause of any condition enumerated in the initial report of child abuse, sexual abuse or neglect, and the name, age and condition of any other children living in the same home.
(c) Upon completion of the investigation, where appropriate, the Department of Social Welfare shall offer rehabilitative or ameliorative services to the child or to the family.
(d) The Department of Social Welfare shall be responsible for providing, directing or coordinating the appropriate and timely delivery of services to abused children and their families, including the care of those abused or neglected children who are placed in the custody of the Department of Social Welfare upon the granting of a petition by the Superior Court.
(e) The Department of Social Welfare shall within 90 days of receipt of the initial report of alleged child abuse or neglect, prepare a progress report, including a determination that the report is founded or unfounded, a plan for rehabilitative or ameliorative treatment, services offered and accepted or refused, and the present status of the case. Within seven days of termination of a case, a report indicating the final disposition shall be prepared.
(f) The U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department (V.I.P.D.) shall, on its own initiative where appropriate or at the request of the Department of Social Welfare, investigate reports of alleged child abuse, sexual abuse or neglect, and shall convey the results of such investigation to the Department of Social Welfare and, where a petition or complaint has been filed, to the Superior Court. If the report of child abuse or neglect involves the acts or omissions of the Department of Social Welfare, the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department (V.I.P.D.) shall investigate such report and shall convey the results of such report to the Department of Law, which shall take appropriate action.
