Statutes | Cherokee Code Chapter 7B Article 3 ยง 7B-301 | 2019
(a) Any person, institution, Tribal agency or Tribal entity with cause to suspect that any child has been maltreated or has died as the result of maltreatment, shall report the case of that maltreated child to the director of human services. The report may be made orally, by telephone, or in writing and disclosure of any otherwise confidential information does not constitute a violation of Tribal or federal laws or regulations.
(b) If the director or ICWT finds evidence that a child may have been harmed in violation of any criminal law by any person, or abused as defined by C.C. subsection 7B-101(a)(2), the director shall make an immediate oral and subsequent written report of the facts to the Tribal Prosecutor and Chief of Police of the Cherokee Police Department within 24 hours after receipt of the report. The local law enforcement agency shall immediately, but no later than 24 hours after receipt of the information, initiate and coordinate a criminal investigation with the department of human services, with a view toward avoiding unnecessary multiple interviews with the child.
(c) If the director or ICWT receives a report, suspects or finds evidence that a child has been maltreated as defined by C.C. subsection 7B-101(a)(8) in a child care facility, the director or ICWT shall conduct an investigative assessment pursuant to C.C. section 7B-302 and/or C.C. section 7B-302.1 and shall immediately so notify the Deputy of the Tribes Community and Education Division, Deputy of the Cherokee Police Department, the NC division responsible for licensing Tribal child care facilities, the Deputy of the Tribes Division of Public Health and Human Services and, in the case of allegations involving sexual abuse, serious physical injury or life-threatening neglect of a child the director shall immediately notify the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the federally designated agency according to 42 U.S.C. § 13031(d).
(d) Upon completion of the investigative assessment, the director shall give the Deputy of the Tribes Community and Education Division and any licensing agency written notification of the results of the investigative assessment. Upon completion of an investigative assessment of sexual abuse in a child care facility, the director shall also make written notification of the results of the assessment to the federally designated agency pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 13031(d).
(1) If sexual abuse in a child care facility is not alleged in the initial report, but during the course of the assessment there is
reason to suspect that sexual abuse has occurred, the director or ICWT shall immediately notify the Chief of Police of
the Cherokee Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Upon notification that sexual abuse may have
occurred in a child care facility, the Cherokee Police Department shall investigate the report.
(2) When reports of child maltreatment or death as a result of maltreatment in an institutional setting such as a residential
child care facility or residential educational facility are received, the director of the department of human services or
ICWT shall immediately ascertain if other children remain in the facility subject to the alleged perpetrators care or
supervision. If so, the director or ICWT shall assess the circumstances of those children in order to determine whether
they require protective services or whether immediate removal of those children from the facility is necessary for their
protection, safety and wellbeing. Reports under this subsection may not require a visit to the facility or to homes of
children served by the facility.
(e) Any person who knowingly or wantonly fails to report a case of child maltreatment or death or who knowingly or wantonly prevents another person from making a report as required by subsection (a) of this section shall be fined and/or imprisoned for not more than six months pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1169.
(f) Any institution, Tribal agency or Tribal entity that knowingly or wantonly fails to report a case of child maltreatment or death or prevents another person from making a report as required by subsection (a) of this section, shall be fined in an amount not less than $500.00.
(g) The director of human services or ICWT member who receives a report of sexual abuse of a child in a child care facility and who knowingly or wantonly fails to notify the Cherokee Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation of the report pursuant to subsection (b) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor which shall be punishable by a fine and/or incarceration of not more than one year.
(h) Upon receipt of any report under this chapter, the reporter shall be asked whether they wish to be identified. If the reporter wishes to be identified, the reporter shall be informed that if they wish, they may contact the agency and after all investigations and assessments are completed pursuant to this article, the reporter may be informed about whether a petition involving the report is filed with the Court. If reporter inquires whether a petition was filed, and no petition was filed, the reporter shall be informed of the reporters right to request a review by an attorney of the Tribe, and the process by which that occurs, if the reporter is not satisfied with the decision not to file a petition. The reporter shall be informed that the request for review by an attorney from the Attorney Generals office must be made within five working days of the notice. When such attorney receives a request for review of the directors decision from a reporter, the attorney shall notify the person making the report and the director of the time and place for the review, and the director shall immediately transmit to the attorney a copy of a summary of the assessment.
(1) The reporter may waive the right to notification, and no notification is required if the person making the report does not
wish to be identified.
(Ord. No. 524 , 7-17-2015)