The Division of Child and Family Services shall, in consultation with each agency which provides child welfare services, adopt:
1. Regulations establishing reasonable and uniform standards for:
(a) Child welfare services provided in this State;
(b) Programs for the prevention of abuse or neglect of a child and the achievement of the permanent placement of a child;
(c) The development of local councils involving public and private organizations;
(d) Reports of abuse or neglect, records of these reports and the response to these reports;
(e) Carrying out the provisions of NRS 432B.260, including, without limitation, the qualifications of persons with whom agencies which provide child welfare services enter into agreements to provide services to children and families;
(f) The management and assessment of reported cases of abuse or neglect;
(g) The protection of the legal rights of parents and children;
(h) Emergency shelter for a child;
(i) The prevention, identification and correction of abuse or neglect of a child in residential institutions;
(j) Developing and distributing to persons who are responsible for a child’s welfare a pamphlet that is written in language which is easy to understand, is available in English and in any other language the Division determines is appropriate based on the demographic characteristics of this State and sets forth:
(1) Contact information regarding persons and governmental entities which provide assistance to persons who are responsible for the welfare of children, including, without limitation, persons and entities which provide assistance to persons who are being investigated for allegedly abusing or neglecting a child;
(2) The procedures for taking a child for placement in protective custody; and
(3) The state and federal legal rights of:
(I) A person who is responsible for a child’s welfare and who is the subject of an investigation of alleged abuse or neglect of a child, including, without limitation, the legal rights of such a person at the time an agency which provides child welfare services makes initial contact with the person in the course of the investigation and at the time the agency takes the child for placement in protective custody, and the legal right of such a person to be informed of any allegation of abuse or neglect of a child which is made against the person at the initial time of contact with the person by the agency; and
(II) Persons who are parties to a proceeding held pursuant to NRS 432B.410 to 432B.590, inclusive, during all stages of the proceeding; and
(k) Making the necessary inquiries required pursuant to NRS 432B.397 to determine whether a child is an Indian child.
2. Regulations, which are applicable to any person who is authorized to place a child in protective custody without the consent of the person responsible for the child’s welfare, setting forth reasonable and uniform standards for establishing whether immediate action is necessary to protect the child from injury, abuse or neglect for the purposes of determining whether to place the child into protective custody pursuant to NRS 432B.390. Such standards must consider the potential harm to the child in remaining in his or her home, including, without limitation:
(a) Circumstances in which a threat of harm suggests that a child is in imminent danger of serious harm.
(b) The conditions or behaviors of the child’s family which threaten the safety of the child who is unable to protect himself or herself and who is dependent on others for protection, including, without limitation, conditions or behaviors that are beyond the control of the caregiver of the child and create an imminent threat of serious harm to the child.
The Division of Child and Family Services shall ensure that the appropriate persons or entities to whom the regulations adopted pursuant to this subsection apply are provided with a copy of such regulations. As used in this subsection, "serious harm" includes the threat or evidence of serious physical injury, sexual abuse, significant pain or mental suffering, extreme fear or terror, extreme impairment or disability, death, substantial impairment or risk of substantial impairment to the child’s mental or physical health or development.
3. Regulations establishing procedures for:
(a) Expeditiously locating any missing child who has been placed in the custody of an agency which provides child welfare services;
(b) Determining the primary factors that contributed to a child who has been placed in the custody of an agency which provides child welfare services running away or otherwise being absent from foster care, and to the extent possible and appropriate, responding to those factors in current and subsequent placements; and
(c) Determining the experiences of a child who has been placed in the custody of an agency which provides child welfare services during any period the child was missing, including, without limitation, determining whether the child may be a victim of sexual abuse or sexual exploitation.
4. Such other regulations as are necessary for the administration of NRS 432B.010 to 432B.606, inclusive.
(Added to NRS by 1985, 1370; A 1987, 1439; 1991, 922; 1993, 2706; 1995, 787; 1997, 2471; 2001, 1700, 1839, 1850; 2001 Special Session, 36; 2003, 236, 251, 650; 2005, 2094; 2007, 1086, 1502; 2011, 2673; 2015, 856; 2017, 3166, 4023)