§ 40-11-3 - Duty to report – Deprivation of nutrition or medical treatment.
SECTION 40-11-3
§ 40-11-3 Duty to report –Deprivation of nutrition or medical treatment. – (a) Any person who has reasonable cause to know or suspect that any child hasbeen abused or neglected as defined in § 40-11-2 or has been a victim ofsexual abuse by another child shall, within twenty-four (24) hours, transferthat information to the department of children, youth and families or its agentwho shall cause the report to be investigated immediately. As a result of thosereports and referrals, protective social services shall be made available tothose children in an effort to safeguard and enhance the welfare of thosechildren and to provide a means to prevent further abuse or neglect. Thedepartment shall establish and implement a single, statewide, toll-freetelephone to operate twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per weekfor the receipt of reports concerning child abuse and neglect, which reportsshall be electronically recorded and placed in the central registry establishedby § 42-72-7. The electronically recorded records, properly indexed bydate and other essential identifying data, shall be maintained for a minimum ofthree (3) years; provided, however, any person who has been reported for childabuse and/or neglect and who has been determined not to have neglected and/orabused a child, shall have his or her record expunged as to that incident three(3) years after that determination. The department shall establish rules andregulations requiring hospitals, health care centers, emergency rooms and otherappropriate health facilities to report on a quarterly basis the number ofcases reported by these institutions as suspected child abuse.
(b) The reporting shall include immediate notification of thedepartment of any instance where parents of an infant have requesteddeprivation of nutrition that is necessary to sustain life and/or who haverequested deprivation of medical or surgical intervention that is necessary toremedy or ameliorate a life threatening medical condition, if the nutrition ormedical or surgical intervention is generally provided to similar nutritional,medical, or surgical conditioned infants, whether disabled or not.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to prevent achild's parents and physician from discontinuing the use of life-supportsystems or nonpalliative treatment for a child who is terminally ill where, inthe opinion of the child's physician exercising competent medical judgment, thechild has no reasonable chance of recovery from the terminal illness despiteevery appropriate medical treatment to correct the condition.