Ariz. Admin. Code § 21-1-501

Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 49, December 6, 2024

Section R21-1-501 - Definitions

The following definitions apply to this Article.

1. "Abuse" means the same as A.R.S. § 8-201(2).

2. "Amend the finding" means the same as A.R.S. § 8-811(L)(1).

3. "Case Record" means the Report of child abuse and neglect and related records the Department intends to submit at the hearing, including information from internal and external sources.

4. "Central Registry" means the information maintained by the Department of substantiated reports of child abuse or neglect for the purposes of A.R.S. § 8-804.

5. "Completed Investigation" means the case record and the proposed substantiated finding for the report of child abuse or neglect have been reviewed and approved by a supervisor and contains all of the information required to support a finding of proposed substantiation.

6. "Day" means a calendar day.

7. "Department" or "DCS" means the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

8. "Ineligibility Letter" means a notice sent from the Department via first class mail to a person alleged to have committed child abuse or neglect stating that the person is not entitled to an administrative hearing on the issue for one of the reasons listed in R21-1-505.

9. "Initial Notification Letter" means a notice sent from the Department via first class mail to an alleged perpetrator informing the person of the proposed finding of child abuse or neglect to be entered in the Central Registry and describing appeal rights to challenge the proposed finding.

10. "Legally excluded" means that an alleged perpetrator is not entitled to an administrative hearing under A.R.S. § 8-811, because:

a. A court or administrative law judge has made a finding of abuse or neglect based on the same allegations as in the proposed substantiated finding; or

b. A court has found that a child is dependent, or has terminated a parent's rights based upon the same allegations of abuse or neglect as in the proposed substantiated finding.

11. "Neglect" or "neglected" means the same as A.R.S. § 8-201(24).

12. "Perpetrator" means a person who has committed child abuse or neglect under the standards required for listing in the Central Registry.

13. "Probable Cause" means some credible evidence that abuse or neglect occurred.

14. "Proposed Substantiated Finding" means the Department has investigated and found probable cause to support an allegation of abuse or neglect sufficient to place the alleged perpetrator's name in the Central Registry, subject to the alleged perpetrator's right to notice and a hearing.

15. "PSRT" means the Department's Protective Services Review Team, that administers the process described in A.R.S. § 8-811 for review and appeal of proposed substantiated findings of child abuse or neglect.

16. "Report For Investigation" means the same as A.R.S. § 8-201(30).

17. "Substantiated Finding" means a proposed substantiated finding that:

a. An administrative law judge found to be true by a probable cause standard of proof after notice and an administrative hearing and the Department Director accepted the decision;

b. The alleged perpetrator did not timely appeal; or

c. The alleged perpetrator was not entitled to an administrative hearing because the alleged perpetrator was legally excluded as defined in subsection (11).

Ariz. Admin. Code § R21-1-501

Adopted by exempt rulemaking at 21 A.A.R. 2555, effective 11/30/2015.