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DHS and Arkansas State Police explain child-abuse hotline procedures, discuss potential improvements
Summary
Officials from the Department of Human Services and the Arkansas State Police outlined how child-abuse reports are received, reviewed and accepted for investigation and discussed potential process improvements after a Baxter County prosecutor raised concerns about access to information.
Little Rock — Officials from the Arkansas Department of Human Services and the Arkansas State Police on Wednesday described how the state receives and processes reports to the child-abuse hotline and identified possible improvements to help investigations.
Lori McDonald, chief of staff at the Arkansas Department of Human Services, and Tiffany Wright, director of the Division of Children and Family Services, outlined DHS’s procedures for receiving and reviewing reports. They discussed steps DHS takes to assess reports and potential changes to address identified gaps.
Lt. Col. Jason Aaron, deputy director of the Arkansas State Police, and Dan Mack, administrator of the Crimes Against Children Division Hotline, described what information is collected during the reporting process and how the agency determines whether a report is accepted for criminal investigation. They described possible improvements to how agencies share information to support prosecutions.
The agency presentations followed comments from Baxter County Prosecuting Attorney David Ethredge, who said his office had difficulty obtaining information needed to prosecute a Mountain Home child-abuse case (Exhibit E). Committee members and agency representatives framed the discussion as a review of practice rather than a formal adjudication.
Committee members approved a referral to the Child Maltreatment Investigations Oversight Committee to review the closed Baxter County cases and the agencies’ procedures; oversight committee staff will determine next steps in the review.
