N.J. Admin. Code § 3A:3-3.5

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 23, December 2, 2024

Section 3A:3-3.5 - Information that shall be disclosed to the media or a member of the public during the child protection investigation

(a) Unless prohibited by N.J.S.A. 9:6-8.10a or N.J.A.C. 3A:3-3.4, and upon the request of the media or a member of the public in accordance with N.J.A.C. 3A:3-3.3(a) and (b), information about a child fatality or near fatality that shall be disclosed upon request to a representative of the media or a member of the public during the child protection investigation, prior to the child protective investigator's determination of the finding, shall include and shall be limited to the following:

1. The name, age, and sex of the child victim;

2. The date of the incident and the date of the call regarding the incident to the Division;

3. The living arrangement of the child victim at the time of the incident, and, for a near fatality, the child victim's current living arrangement, if different. The Director or the Department's Office of Communications or designee shall:

i. Disclose the type of setting, such as the child's own home, a resource home, or an institution;

ii. Provide the name of the institution, if the incident occurred in an institution; and

iii. Not provide information containing the out-of-home placement provider's or other caregiver's name, address and other identifying information or whereabouts if the incident did not occur in an institution;

4. Information about other possible child victims. The Director or the Department's Office of Communications or designee shall disclose:

i. The names of other possible child victims only when they are also fatalities or near fatalities which the child protective investigator has reasonable cause to believe resulted from abuse or neglect;

ii. The relationship of each child to the child victim; and

iii. The type of living arrangement of each child under the conditions specified in (a)3i, ii and iii above;

5. The nature of the incident. The Director or designee or a representative of the Department's Office of Communications shall disclose:

i. The nature of the alleged abuse or neglect, including, but not limited to, physical abuse, neglect, or sexual abuse;

ii. The nature of the child victim's injuries, medical condition, and prognosis; and

iii. The name and identifying information about the alleged perpetrator and other specific information about the circumstances of the incident only after the child protective investigator concludes the child protection investigation, substantiates abuse or neglect, and confirms a perpetrator;

6. To the extent it is pertinent to the abuse or neglect that led to the fatality or near fatality, information regarding the status of the Division's involvement with the child victim and his or her family prior to the child fatality or near fatality, including:

i. Whether the case was in active status at the time of the child fatality or near fatality, in closed status or never known to the Division;

ii. The Division office or offices responsible for each prior case opening;

iii. The date and disposition of each prior call;

iv. The date of each prior case opening and closing;

v. The types of services provided by or through the Division, including any referral to a service not provided by the Division, without disclosing the name of any service provider; and

vi. The date and approximate time of the Division representative's last contact with the child victim prior to the incident, and whether the contact was in person or by telephone;

7. Division action taken to protect the child victim and other possible child victims within the family or the household; and

8. The name of the Division office supervising the case or conducting the child protection investigation.

N.J. Admin. Code § 3A:3-3.5

Amended by R.2007 d.157, effective 5/21/2007.
See: 38 N.J.R. 1634(b), 39 N.J.R. 2115(b).
Section was "Information that shall be disclosed to the media or a member of the public during the Division investigation". In the introductory paragraph of (a), substituted "child protection" for the first occurrence of "Division's" and "child protective investigator's" for the second occurrence of "Division's" and deleted "investigation" preceding "finding"; in (a)2, substituted "call" for "referral"; rewrote (a)3 through (a)5; in (a)6iii, substituted "call" for "referral"; rewrote (a)6v; in (a)6vi, substituted "Division representative's" for "Division's"; and in (a)8, inserted "child protection".
Recodified from N.J.A.C. 10:133G-4.4 and amended by R.2015 d.073, effective 5/4/2015.
See: 46 N.J.R. 1535(a), 47 N.J.R. 896(b).
In the introductory paragraph of (a), updated the N.J.A.C. references, and inserted "upon request" and "a representative of"; in (a)1, substituted ", and sex" for "and gender"; in the introductory paragraphs of (a)3, (a)4, and (a)5, substituted "Communications" for "Public Information"; and in (a)6, substituted "To the extent it is pertinent to the abuse or neglect that led to the fatality or near fatality, information regarding the" for "The". Former N.J.A.C. 10:133G-3.5, Disclosure within the Division, the Department, the Department of Law and Public Safety, Division of Law, and the court, recodified to N.J.A.C. 10:133G-2.6.