Section 902 - Responsibilities of Agencies Submitting Reporting Form(a) In order to fully meet its obligations under CANRA, an agency required to report instances of known or suspected child abuse or severe neglect must complete all of the information on the BCIA 8583. Only information from a fully completed BCIA 8583 will be entered into the CACI. Incomplete forms will be returned to the submitting agency and the agency must resubmit a completed form to fulfill its reporting responsibilities under CANRA and Penal Code section 11169(a). Penal Code section 11170(a)(2) provides that the submitting agency is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the report required by CANRA and states that the DOJ is only responsible for ensuring that the CACI accurately reflects the report it receives from the submitting agency. Accordingly, the DOJ presumes that the information provided by the submitting agency on the BCIA 8583 is accurate. The DOJ does not conduct an investigation to verify the accuracy of the information submitted nor does it investigate the quality or accuracy of the abuse or severe neglect investigation conducted by the submitting agency.(b) A submitting agency must immediately notify the DOJ of any changes to information previously provided on a BCIA 8583 by submitting an amended BCIA 8583. Instances when an amended BCIA 8583 is required includes, but is not limited to, a circumstance where the submitting agency, acting pursuant to a court order or otherwise, changes a prior finding of substantiated or inconclusive abuse or severe neglect to one of unfounded. Conversely, if an original finding of an unfounded allegation of abuse or severe neglect is later reclassified as inconclusive or substantiated, the investigating agency must submit a BCIA 8583 to meet its reporting obligations under CANRA.(c) A primary purpose of CACI is to permit authorized entities to locate prior reports detailing investigations of known or suspected child abuse or severe neglect. The submitting agency must permanently retain investigative reports for which it has submitted a BCIA 8583, or earlier version thereof, if the investigative report substantiated allegations of abuse or severe neglect unless the agency, acting pursuant to court order or otherwise, determines that the allegations investigated are unfounded. If the investigative report was inconclusive about the existence of child abuse or severe neglect, the report must be retained for ten years unless there is an investigation of subsequent allegations of child abuse or severe neglect against the same child or by the same suspect(s) which determines the allegations are not unfounded. If the investigation of subsequent allegations is inconclusive, the original investigative report and the subsequent investigative report must be retained for ten years after filing the BCIA 8583 for the subsequent instance of abuse or severe neglect with DOJ. When the subsequent investigation determines that the subsequent allegations of abuse or severe neglect are substantiated, all prior remaining investigative reports involving the same victims or suspects must be retained permanently.(d) If a submitting agency has lost, destroyed or otherwise no longer retains or pursuant to court order has sealed the investigatory report(s) for a prior report that are indexed on CACI, the submitting agency shall immediately notify the DOJ of the loss, destruction sealing, or non-retention of the investigatory report by filing an amended BCIA 8583 indicating that the investigatory report is no longer retained. The DOJ will remove from CACI the names of individuals identified in the lost, destroyed sealed or no longer retained investigatory report(s) indexed in CACI.Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 11, § 902
1. New section filed 7-17-98; operative 7-17-98 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(d) (Register 98, No. 29).
2. Amendment of section and NOTE filed 4-22-2002; operative 5-22-2002 (Register 2002, No. 17).
3. Amendment filed 5-12-2006; operative 6-11-2006 (Register 2006, No. 19).
4. Amendment of section heading, repealer and new section and amendment of NOTE filed 1-5-2010; operative 1-5-2010 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4 (Register 2010, No. 2). Note: Authority cited: Section 11170(a)(1), Penal Code. Reference: Sections 11169(a), 11169(c), 11170(a)(1), 11170(a)(2) and 11170(a)(3), Penal Code.
1. New section filed 7-17-98; operative 7-17-98 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(d) (Register 98, No. 29).
2. Amendment of section and Note filed 4-22-2002; operative 5-22-2002 (Register 2002, No. 17).
3. Amendment filed 5-12-2006; operative 6-11-2006 (Register 2006, No. 19).
4. Amendment of section heading, repealer and new section and amendment of Note filed 1-5-2010; operative 1-5-2010 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4 (Register 2010, No. 2).