Title 12 — Law Enforcement, Emergency Management, and Military Affairs

(a) A police officer, law enforcement, a juvenile division of circuit court judge during juvenile proceedings concerning the child or a sibling of the child, or a designated employee of the Department of Human Services may take a child into custody or any person in charge of a ho…

(1) A county sheriff or chief of police may place a child in his or her custody in a Department of Human Services foster home if:(1) The county sheriff or chief of police contacts the on-call worker for the department and does not get a return phone call within thirty (30) minute…

An individual taking a child into custody may give effective consent for medical, dental, health, and hospital services during protective custody.

In any case in which custody is invoked under this subchapter, the individual taking the child into custody shall immediately notify the Department of Human Services.

(a) A school, residential facility, hospital, or similar institution where a child may be located shall not require a written order for the Department of Human Services to take a seventy-two-hour hold under this section, § 9-35-308, or § 9-35-409. (b) Upon notice by the departmen…

(a) (1) During the course of any child maltreatment investigation, whether conducted by the Department of Human Services or the Division of Arkansas State Police, the Department of Human Services shall assess the health and safety of a child who is subject to the child maltreatme…

(a) The Department of Human Services shall have the authority to make referrals or provide services during the course of a child maltreatment investigation. (b) Any family may request supportive services from the department. (c) Supportive services shall be offered for the purpos…

(a) If the Department of Human Services determines that custody under this subchapter is required, the Department of Human Services shall take steps to remove the child under custody as outlined in this chapter or under the Arkansas Juvenile Code, § 9-35-101 et seq. (b) After the…

If an investigation under this chapter determines that a child can safely remain at home, the parents retain the right to keep the child at home or to place the child outside the home.

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Child Maltreatment Act”.

(a) If an investigation under this chapter is determined to be true or true but exempted under § 12-18-702(a)(3)(B), the Department of Human Services may open a protective services case. (b) (1) If the department opens a protective services case, it shall provide services to the …

(a) If the report of child maltreatment is unsubstantiated, the Department of Human Services may offer supportive services to the family. (b) The family may accept or reject supportive services at any time.

(1) The purpose of this chapter is to:(1) Provide a system for the reporting of known or suspected child maltreatment;(2) Ensure the immediate screening, safety assessment, and prompt investigation of reports of known or suspected child maltreatment;(3) Ensure that immediate step…

(1) As used in this chapter:(1) (A) “Abandonment” means:(i) The failure of a parent to provide reasonable support and to maintain regular contact with a child through statement or contact when the failure is accompanied by an intention on the part of the parent to permit the cond…

(a) Any data, records, reports, or documents that are created, collected, or compiled by or on behalf of the Department of Human Services, the Division of Arkansas State Police, or other entity authorized under this chapter to perform investigations or provide services to childre…

The Department of Human Services and the Department of Arkansas State Police shall promulgate rules to implement this chapter.

(a) The Department of Human Services and the Division of Arkansas State Police shall implement a coordinated multidisciplinary team approach to intervention in reports involving severe maltreatment and all reports requested by a prosecuting attorney pertaining to a law enforcemen…

(a) A person or agency required by this chapter to report suspected child maltreatment who acts in good faith in making notification, the taking of a photograph or radiological test, or the removal of a child while exercising a seventy-two-hour hold is immune to suit and to civil…

(a) (1) A physician who performs an abortion on a child who is less than seventeen (17) years of age at the time of the abortion shall preserve under this subchapter fetal tissue extracted during the abortion in accordance with rules adopted by the office of the State Crime Labor…

(1) Upon request, the Department of Human Services shall release the following information to the general public when an investigation is pending on a report of a fatality of a child to the Child Abuse Hotline:(1) Age, race, and gender of the child;(2) Date of the child's death;(…

(1) Upon request, the Department of Human Services shall release the following information to the general public when the investigative determination is true on a report of a fatality of a child:(1) (A) A summary of previous child maltreatment investigations.(B) The disclosure sh…

(1) Upon request, the Department of Human Services shall release the following information to the general public when the investigative determination is unsubstantiated on a report of a fatality of a child:(1) (A) A summary of previous child maltreatment investigations.(B) The di…

(1) Concerning the fatality of a child, the Department of Human Services shall not release:(1) Information on siblings of the child;(2) Attorney-client communications; or(3) Any information if release of such information would jeopardize a criminal investigation. (1) Information …

(1) Upon request, the Department of Human Services shall release the following information to the general public when an investigation is pending on a report of a near fatality of a child to the Child Abuse Hotline:(1) Age, race, and gender of the child;(2) Date of the near fatal…

(1) Upon request, the Department of Human Services shall release the following information to the general public when the investigative determination is true on a report of a near fatality of a child:(1) A nonidentifying summary of any previous child maltreatment investigations;(…

(1) Upon request, the Department of Human Services shall release the following information to the general public when the investigative determination is unsubstantiated on a report of a near fatality of a child:(1) A nonidentifying summary of any previous child maltreatment inves…

(1) Concerning the near fatality of a child, the Department of Human Services shall not release:(1) Information on siblings of the child;(2) Attorney-client communications; or(3) Any information if release of such information would jeopardize a criminal investigation. (1) Informa…

(1) As used in this subchapter, “sexually exploited child” means a person less than eighteen (18) years of age who has been subject to sexual exploitation because the person:(1) Is a victim of trafficking of persons under § 5-18-103;(2) Is a victim of child sex trafficking under …

The Arkansas Juvenile Officers Association, the Division of Law Enforcement Standards and Training, or the Prosecutor Coordinator may provide training to intake officers, law enforcement, prosecutors, and any other appropriate staff concerning how to identify a sexually exploited…

(a) A person commits the offense of failure to notify by a mandated reporter in the first degree if he or she:(1) Is a mandated reporter under this chapter;(2) Has:(A) Reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been subjected to child maltreatment;(B) Reasonable cause to suspec…

(a) A person commits the offense of failure to notify by a mandated reporter in the second degree if he or she:(1) Is a mandated reporter under this chapter;(2) Has:(A) Reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been subjected to child maltreatment;(B) Reasonable cause to suspe…

(a) A person commits the offense of making a false report under this chapter if he or she purposely makes a report containing a false allegation to the Child Abuse Hotline knowing the allegation to be false. (b) (1) A first offense of making a false report under this chapter is a…

(a) (1) An employer or supervisor of an employee identified as a mandated reporter commits the offense of unlawful restriction of child abuse reporting if he or she:(A) Prohibits a mandated reporter under this chapter from making a report of child maltreatment or suspected child …

(a) A person commits the offense of unlawful disclosure of data or information under this chapter if the person knowingly discloses data or information to a person to whom disclosure is not permitted by this chapter. (b) Unlawful disclosure of data or information under this chapt…

A person required by this chapter to make a report of child maltreatment or suspected child maltreatment to the Child Abuse Hotline who purposely fails to do so is civilly liable for damages proximately caused by that failure.

A judge or prosecuting attorney who fails to make a report when required by this chapter is immune from criminal and civil liability under this chapter.

This chapter does not prevent subsequent disclosure by a subject of the report.

The Department of Human Services and the Department of Arkansas State Police, or a prosecuting attorney, may file a petition in the appropriate court seeking imposition of penalties for violation of this chapter.

(a) (1) A person shall not intentionally cause, aid, or assist a child to obtain an abortion without the consent or notification regarding judicial bypass of the requirement for consent under §§ 20-16-801, 20-16-804, and 20-16-805.(2) Subdivision (a)(1) of this section does not a…

(a) There is created the Child Abuse Hotline. (b) The Child Abuse Hotline is a unit established within the Department of Human Services and the Division of Arkansas State Police, or their designee, with the purpose of receiving and recording notifications and reports under this c…

(a) As prescribed under this section, a mandated reporter under this chapter may report child maltreatment or suspected child maltreatment by telephone call or online reporting. (b) Online reporting may be used in nonemergency situations by an identified mandated reporter under t…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the Child Abuse Hotline shall accept a report if:(1) The report is of:(A) An allegation of child maltreatment or suspected child maltreatment, that if found to be true, would constitute child maltreatment as defined under this cha…

(a) (1) The Child Abuse Hotline shall accept a report of child maltreatment if any of the following intentional or knowing acts are alleged to occur:(A) Throwing, kicking, burning, biting, or cutting a child;(B) Striking a child with a closed fist;(C) Shaking a child four (4) yea…

(1) The Child Abuse Hotline shall accept a report of neglect as defined under § 12-18-103(14)(B) only if the reporter is one (1) of the following mandated reporters and the mandated reporter has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been subjected to neglect as defined und…

(1) The Child Abuse Hotline shall accept a report of child sexual abuse, sexual contact, or sexual exploitation naming as the victim a person who is now an adult only if:(1) The alleged offender is a caretaker of a child; and(2) The person making the report is one (1) of the foll…

The Child Abuse Hotline shall accept a report of child maltreatment alleging Munchausen syndrome by proxy or factitious illness only if the reporter is a medical professional.

(1) The Child Abuse Hotline shall accept a report of injury to a child's intellectual, emotional, or psychological development as evidenced by observable and substantial impairment of the child's ability to function within the child's normal range of performance and behavior only…

The Child Abuse Hotline shall accept telephone calls or other communications alleging that a child is at risk of disrupting or has disrupted his or her adoption or that a child is a dependent juvenile, as defined in § 9-35-102, and shall immediately refer this information to the …

(a) All healthcare providers involved in the delivery or care of infants shall:(1) Contact the Department of Human Services regarding an infant born with and affected by:(A) A fetal alcohol spectrum disorder;(B) Maternal substance abuse resulting in prenatal drug exposure to an i…

(a) A person may immediately notify the Child Abuse Hotline if he or she:(1) Has reasonable cause to suspect that:(A) Child maltreatment has occurred; or(B) A child has died as a result of child maltreatment; or(2) Observes a child being subjected to conditions or circumstances t…