ORS 418.259: Investigation of suspected abuse; findings; notifications; reports.

(1) The investigation conducted by the Department of Human Services under ORS 418.258 must result in one of the following findings: (a) That the report is substantiated. A report is substantiated when there is reasonable cause to believe that the abuse of a child in care occurred. (b) That the report is unsubstantiated. A report is unsubstantiated when there is no evidence that the abuse of a child in care occurred. (c) That the report is inconclusive. A report is inconclusive when there is some indication that the abuse occurred but there is insufficient evidence to conclude that there is reasonable cause to believe that the abuse occurred. (2) When a report is received under ORS 418.258 alleging that a child in care may have been subjected to abuse, the department shall notify the case managers for the child, the attorney for the child, the child’s court appointed special advocate, the parents or guardians of the child, any attorney representing a parent or guardian of the child and any governmental agency that has a contract with the child-caring agency or developmental disabilities residential facility to provide care or services to the child that a report has been received. (3)(a) The department may interview the child in care who is the subject of suspected abuse and any witnesses, including other children, without the presence of employees of the child-caring agency, proctor foster home or developmental disabilities residential facility, the provider of services at a certified foster home or department personnel. The department shall inform the child in care that the child may have the child’s parent or guardian, if the child has not been committed to the custody of the department or the Oregon Youth Authority, or attorney present when participating in an interview conducted in the course of an abuse investigation. (b) When investigating an allegation of inappropriate use of restraint or involuntary seclusion, the department shall: (A) Conduct the interviews described in paragraph (a) of this subsection; (B) Review all relevant incident reports related to the child in care and other reports related to the restraint or involuntary seclusion of the child in care; (C) Review any audio, video or photographic recordings of the restraint or involuntary seclusion, including the circumstances immediately before and following the incident; (D) During an interview with the child in care who is the subject of the suspected abuse, ask the child about whether they experienced any reportable injury or pain as a result of the restraint or involuntary seclusion; (E) Review the training records related to all of the individuals who were involved in the use of restraint or involuntary seclusion; and (F) Make all reasonable efforts to conduct trauma-informed interviews of each child witness, including the child in care who is the subject of suspected abuse unless the investigator makes a specific determination that the interview may significantly traumatize the child and is not in the best interests of the child. (4) The department shall notify the following when a report of abuse is substantiated: (a) The Director of Human Services. (b) Personnel in the department responsible for the licensing, certificate or authorization of child-caring agencies. (c) The department’s lead personnel in that part of the department that is responsible for child welfare generally. (d) With respect to the child in care who is the subject of the abuse report and investigation, the case managers for the child, the attorney for the child, the child’s court appointed special advocate, the parents or guardians of the child, any attorney representing a parent or guardian of the child and any governmental agency that has a contract with the child-caring agency to provide care or services to the child. (e) The parents or guardians of the child in care who is the subject of the abuse report and investigation if the child in care has not been committed to the custody of the department or the youth authority. Notification under this paragraph may not include any details or information other than that a report of abuse has been substantiated. (f) Any governmental agency that has a contract with the child-caring agency to provide care or services to a child in care. (g) The local citizen review board established by the Judicial Department under ORS 419A.090. (5) The department shall report on a quarterly basis to the interim legislative committees on child welfare for the purposes of public review and oversight of the quality and safety of child-caring agencies, certified foster homes and developmental disabilities residential facilities that are licensed, certified or authorized by the department in this state and of proctor foster homes that are certified by the child-caring agencies. Information provided in reports under this subsection may not contain the name or any identifying information of a child in care but must contain all of the following: (a) The name of any child-caring agency, including an out-of-state child-caring agency, proctor foster home or developmental disabilities residential facility, or, provided there are five or more certified foster homes in the county, the name of the county where a certified foster home is located, where the department conducted an investigation pursuant to ORS 418.258 that resulted in a finding that the report of abuse was substantiated during that quarter; (b) The approximate date that the abuse occurred; (c) The nature of the abuse and a brief narrative description of the abuse that occurred; (d) Whether the abuse resulted in a reportable injury, sexual abuse or death; (e) Corrective actions taken or ordered by the department and the outcome of the corrective actions; and (f) Information the department received in that quarter regarding any substantiated allegations of child abuse made by any other state involving a congregate care residential setting, as defined in ORS 418.322, in which the department has placed Oregon children. (6) The department’s quarterly report under subsection (5) of this section must also contain all of the following: (a) The total number of restraints used in programs that quarter; (b) The total number of programs that reported the use of restraints of children in care that quarter; (c) The total number of individual children in care who were placed in restraints by programs that quarter; (d) The number of reportable injuries to children in care that resulted from those restraints; (e) The number of incidents in which an individual who was not appropriately trained in the use of the restraint used on a child in care in a program; and (f) The number of incidents that were reported for potential inappropriate use of restraint. (7) In compiling records, reports and other information during an investigation under ORS 418.258 (1) and in issuing findings, letters of concern or reprimands, the Director of Human Services or the director’s designee and the department may not refer to the employee, person or entity that is the subject of the investigation as an “alleged perpetrator” but must refer to the employee, person or entity as the “respondent.” (8) As used in this section, “program,” “reportable injury” and “restraint” have the meanings given those terms in ORS 418.519. [2016 c.106 §38; 2017 c.138 §4; 2017 c.448 §4; 2017 c.733 §3; 2020 s.s.1 c.19 §9; 2021 c.672 §13; 2023 c.267 §1]