Kentucky Launches Child Abuse Reporting Website

This is for nonemergency cases as they claim that their hotline phones are not “the newest” and couldn’t handle the volume of calls.

“The portal will allow people to report non-emergency situations to adult and child protection. Department for Community Based Services Commissioner Teresa James said that child and adult protection depend on the public to report abuse and neglect. The new Web portal will provide another way for people to report abuse.”

” [I]f someone thinks a child or a vulnerable adult is at an immediate risk of harm or injury, he or she still should call 911 or the abuse hot line at 1-877-597-2331. The online reporting system is for non-emergency situations.

The information provided online will be reviewed by staff. During the first phase, the portal will be monitored from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Anyone reporting abuse after 4:30 p.m. should call the hot line, James said.

By spring, she said, she hopes to have the technology and staff to review the online reports 24 hours a day.

If the report is not accepted for investigation, the email user will receive a notification within 48 hours. Reports that are accepted for investigation will not receive a follow-up email.

“Anyone who does not receive a follow-up email saying that it has not been accepted for investigation should assume that it has been accepted,” James said. [You know what they say about assuming things, right?]

The portal has been used since July by professionals who frequently report abuse such as law enforcement, school officials, and child and adult caregivers. The cabinet was able to tweak the portal to make it more user-friendly based on user feedback.”

Kentucky launches new Web site for reports of abused or neglected children

[Kentucky.com 9/10/12 by Beth Musgrave]

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