A school worker’s report to Clark County’s child abuse hotline about 7-year-old Roderick “RJ” Arrington Jr. was one of more than 35,000 such calls handled in 2012.
...An employee at RJ’s school called the hotline, reporting concerns that the boy had extensive scarring, had difficulty walking and said he had been beaten. But the employee, whose identity has not been made public, also reported the child said he felt safe to go home, and she declined to check immediately for current injuries on the child’s rear, county records show.
Based on those circumstances, Davis assigned it a Priority 2, and RJ was allowed to go home. The next day he was rushed to University Medical Center in a coma.
His brain swollen and body covered with bruises, RJ died from his injuries. His mother, Dina Palmer, and stepfather, Markiece Palmer, face child abuse and murder charges.
RJ’s case sheds light on the operations of child abuse reporting hotlines, as well as policies that guide workers who determine how to prioritize thousands of reports.
...The Clark County hotline took 35,016 calls in 2012. They resulted in 15,187 abuse and neglect referrals. The referrals led to 8,908 Child Protective Services investigations.
Child Protective Services hotline workers coded 1,411 calls as Priority 1, which required a response within three hours, according to county records.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/tough-call-clark-county-child-abuse-hotline-workers
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