Protecting, Leading, Uniting Since 1893
FSA Headquarters • 2617 Mahan Drive • Tallahassee, Florida
Protecting, Leading, Uniting Since 1893
Thank you for joining us!
 Please mute your phones during the presentation.
 Please do not put the conference call on hold.
 This presentation will be posted to the FSA, the DCF
Abuse Hotline, and CJNet.
Protecting, Leading, Uniting Since 1893
 Sarrah Carroll is the Assistant Executive
Director of Operations for the FSA. She
will provide an overview of the new law.
 Kim Barrett is the Department of
Children and Families Abuse Hotline
Director, and will discuss how DCF will
handle the new abuse calls.
 Major Connie Shingledecker of the
Manatee County Sheriffs Office will
provide input on how this new
law will impact law enforcement.
• Chief Gary Hester is
on the line in case
there are any
specific questions
related to police
departments.
• FDLE is also
available for
technical assistance.
 Requires any person to report known or suspected
abuse to the Department of Children and Families (DCF)
39.201, Florida Statutes Mandatory reports of child abuse
• (b) Any person who knows, or who has reasonable cause to
suspect, that a child is abused by an adult other than a parent,
legal custodian, caregiver, or other person responsible for
the child’s welfare, as defined in this chapter, shall report such
knowledge or suspicion to the department in the manner
prescribed in subsection (2).
• (c) Any person who knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect,
that a child is the victim of childhood sexual abuse or the
victim of a known or suspected juvenile sexual offender, as
defined in this chapter, shall report such knowledge or suspicion
to the department in the manner prescribed in subsection (2).
 The report of known or suspected abuse shall be
made immediately to the Abuse Hotline
• Via telephone, fax, web-based chat, or web-based report
 Any person who fails to do so
or prevents another from
Reporting, commits a felony
of the third degree
 Additional monetary penalties
for educational institutions
 Requires the DCF Abuse Hotline to accept calls for
Non-caregiver abuse.
 DCF will NOT investigate non-caregiver abuse
allegations, but will send the information to the local
Sheriff’s Office.
 DCF will continue to investigate
abuse allegations against
caregivers only
DCF always investigated allegations of mental injury, but
it’s now defined in statute:
827.03, Florida Statutes defines “mental injury”
(a) Aggravated child abuse – same definition
(b) Child abuse – same definition
(c) “Maliciously” – same definition
(d) "Mental injury" means injury to the intellectual or
psychological capacity of a child as evidenced by a discernible and
substantial impairment in the ability of the child to function within
the normal range of performance and behavior as supported by
expert testimony.
 New Law: Effective Date: October 1, 2012
• Technical Memorandum forthcoming from FDLE
• Computer based training for law enforcement
Suspected
abuse call
comes in to
DCF Abuse
Hotline
Law requires abuse calls
to be transferred to a
DCF
determines
the
perpetrator
is not a
caregiver
Sheriff’s Office
Call is
transferred to
the local
Sheriff’s
Office
 Nothing except for the
new requirement to
report known or
suspected abuse
EVEN IF the local law
enforcement agency is
investigating the
allegations for
criminal activity
The Workgroup recommends
that Sheriffs have
Memorandums of
Understanding with Police
Departments
Sheriff’s Office with
Department of
Children and Families
• Confidentiality of
reporter
• Circular reporting
Sheriff’s Office with
Police Departments
• Establish telephone
number and mnemonic
• Circular reporting
• Clarify how the case is
being investigated
• Whether it’s in the
appropriate jurisdiction
• Confidentiality of the
reporter
Applies to abuse calls called into the Hotline by law enforcement
Statute requires DCF to send the abuse call to the Sheriff’s Office. A MOU can
address circular reporting for calls that originate from a Sheriff’s Office.
However, calls that come from Police Departments to the Abuse Hotline must
be sent to the Sheriff’s Office to meet statutory obligations. One of the
advantages of having a MOU between the Police Department and the Sheriff’s
Office is that procedures could be outlined to prevent the call from being
transferred back to the police department.
 For Police Departments: If the Hotline received the information from a
Police Department, the Hotline will clearly note the law enforcement
officer’s name, place of work, phone number(s), badge number, and case
number in the FAM. This information will be sent to the Sheriff’s Office
where the incident occurred.
1. Telephone number
and mnemonic
2. Circular Reporting
• Abuse allegation reported
to the DCF Abuse Hotline
by a Police Officer at a
Police Department
• I.e. NOT a Sheriff’s Office
DCF takes call
Hotline sends info
to the Sheriff
• Abuse Hotline Counselor
includes Police
Department identifying
information that the call
came from law
enforcement
• Sheriff’s Office
Communication Center
identifies that the original
report came from a local
police department
• Stops circular reporting if
procedures are in place
Statutory
Obligations Met
3. Confidentiality
Department of Children and Families
The Hotline Counselor will transfer the caller to the Local Sheriff's
Office, only if the call is in Progress, before releasing the call they
must announce themselves and the reason for the transfer.
The standard language used will be:
This is <Hotline counselor name> from the Florida Abuse Hotline,
and I have a reporter on the line with allegations of Non Caregiver
Child Abuse/Child on Child Sexual abuse that occurred within
<insert county> county and is currently in progress. If you are
ready, I will transfer the reporter to you now.
Reminder: Any call received at the Hotline deemed an emergency
situation will either be transferred immediately to the Local Sheriff’s
Office, or the Caller will be instructed to hang up and dial “911”.
A FAM message from the Florida
Abuse Hotline will have the Subject
line of Florida Child Abuse Hotline
Notification.
All FAM messages will follow the
same standard format. This webinar
will briefly cover the format. There is
a tutorial that can be viewed at the
Florida Abuse Hotline’s Website
Homepage, for Sheriff’s and Sheriff
Deputies for further understanding
on a Florida Child Abuse Hotline
Notification FAM.
The Sheriff Tutorial can be located on
the Florida Abuse Hotline home page.
Homepage:
www.dcf.state.fl.us/programs/abuse/
docs/1355_Sheriff_Tutorial.ppt
You will see a link for “Training” on
the left hand menu bar. Click on this
link. There will be a link to the
training on this page.
The tutorial was developed in
Microsoft Power Point. The
presentation includes audio as well,
so make sure your sound is on.
 Header
 Incident Location
 Participant Information
 Reporter Information
 Allegation Narrative
 Reporter Narrative
 Reference Number
 Discuss the updates to Chapter 39 as a result of
House Bill 1355 specifically related to the new
reporting requirement
 Commonly used terminology and definitions from
the Florida Abuse Hotline
 Commonly used acronyms by the Florida Abuse
Hotline
 In depth view of the FAM message and its
components
 Walk through of the Florida Abuse Hotline Non
Caregiver Child Abuse process
Manatee County Sheriff’s Office
 Should a sheriff’s office choose to utilize the FAM
system as a “Return Receipt” mechanism to
document their acknowledgement and receipt of the
child abuse FAM from DCF, they can reply back to
DCF.
 That reply will document the date, time and
mnemonic of the sender. FDLE can retrieve this
information, should the need arise, however this
should be done on a high priority need only, due to
the workload it could cause FDLE.
 FSS 39.202(5) “The name of any person reporting child
abuse, abandonment, or neglect may not be released…This
does not prohibit the subpoenaing of a person reporting
child abuse…provided the fact that such person made
the report is not disclosed.”
 The reporter of known or suspected Child Abuse to the
Hotline is confidential and cannot be disclosed.
 When receiving a case of child abuse in a FAM, list DCF
Hotline as the reporter in the dispatch screen
 The person they list as reporter should be listed as an
“other” in the dispatch screen and in any LEO reports.
 FSS 39.205(6) makes it a misdemeanor violation to
knowingly and willfully make public or disclose any
confidential information received from the DCF Hotline.
 Anyone 18 years or older who batters (causes an
injury through an intentional act) a juvenile.
• Example 1
• A 19 year old neighbor gets into a fight with a 16 year old and
intentionally punches the 16 year old and causes a bloody
nose. Law enforcement would normally handle this as a simple
battery; it will now need to be called in to the Hotline as a noncaregiver abuse.
 Anyone 18 years or older who batters (causes an
injury through an intentional act) a juvenile.
• Example 2
• An 18 year old student gets in a fight on school grounds with a
17 year old student and punches the 17 year old causing a
swollen eye and bloody lip. This will need to be called in to the
Hotline as non-caregiver abuse occurring on school grounds.
 Example 1
• A 14 year old has consensual sexual activity with a 18 year old
that lives in the neighborhood. This would normally be
handled by law enforcement as an Lewd and Lascivious; will
also need to be called in to the Hotline as non-caregiver sexual
abuse.
 Example 2
 A 16 year old is forcefully
sexually battered by an adult
male unknown to her as she is
walking through the park on her
way home from school. This
would normally be handled by
law enforcement as a sexual
battery by a stranger; will also
need to be called in to the Hotline
as non-caregiver sexual abuse.
 Example 3
 A 17 year old college student is
sexually battered by an adult
student on school grounds during a
party at a Fraternity House. She
tells the Dorm Advisor but does not
want it reported. This would have
to be called into the Hotline.
 If the College Campus Law
Enforcement Officer/Agency is
aware of this case, it will need to be
called in to the Hotline as noncaregiver sexual abuse.
Protecting, Leading, Uniting Since 1893
 Sarrah Carroll, FSA Asst. Executive Director of
Operations, scarroll@flsheriffs.org (850) 877 -2165
 Kim Barrett, DCF Abuse Hotline Director,
Kim_Barrett@dcf.state.fl.us (850)487-6149
 Major Connie Shingledecker, Manatee County
Sheriff’s Office, (941)747-3011 (ext. 2241)
Connie.Shingledecker@manateesheriff.com