For consistency throughout the state, narrative recording must, at a minimum, follow the guidelines and format described in this section. Exceptions to these methods require supervisory approval and will be limited to rare situations.
Case contacts and activities shall be summarized in the case narrative:
- At the conclusion of the assessment process in the form of an opening summary;
- At least monthly;
- Upon transferring an open case to another worker or county;
- At the conclusion of the treatment plan; and
- At closing of services to family.
More frequent entries may be utilized if warranted.
To ensure legibility and a business-like appearance, all case narratives shall be typed. Case narrative entries are to be signed and dated by the worker as indication that narrative entries are accurate.
Information referring to unsubstantiated CA/N investigations shall not be included in the family record.
Unsubstantiated reports and family assessments (when a family is not opened for services) should be filed so that staff can quickly access the record.
Unsubstantiated reports are retained in the county that completed the investigation. The county completing the investigation will receive the expungement list for the unsubstantiated report. Unsubstantiated reports are not transferred to another county with open family records.
The date of expungement, if unsubstantiated, must be noted at the time investigation is completed if there will be no record opened as a result of the investigation.