(Effective 04/15/19)
Table of Contents
2.3 Determining Most Appropriate County for Investigation
2.3 Determining Most Appropriate County for Investigation
Before a report is sent to a county, the following criteria should be considered:
- Assign to the county where the child is presently located and where the incident has occurred if both factors are known and the child is not likely to leave their present location.
- Assign to the county where the child is presently located if the location and incident are in different counties and the child is not likely to leave their present location.
- Assign to the county where the child is presently located if the child’s residence is unknown or the location will not change within the next 24 hours.
- Assign to the county of the child’s residence when he/she is hospitalized at the time of the CA/N report.
- Assign to Out-of-Home Investigation (OHI) worker when the institution/staff person is named as the alleged perpetrator for reports involving schools, residential facilities, or child care centers, which are licensed, exempt, or registered. The OHI worker may request the local worker to see the child in emergency situations or when the child must be seen before an OHI worker can reasonably be expected to see the child.
- Assign to OHI if the foster parent/member of the family is named as the alleged perpetrator, and the victim is a child in foster care.
Use the following guidelines where one or more of the factors of location, incident, or residence is out of the State of Missouri:
- Accept the report when the child’s residence and either incident or location is in Missouri. Assign the report to the county of the child’s location – or the child’s residence if the location is out of state.
- Accept the report when the child is currently located out of state, but will be returning, and the incident occurred in another state.
- Accept the report where the residence is in another state as long as the child’s location or incident, or both, are within Missouri.