Child Abuse and Neglect: Prevention, Recognition and Reporting

Per KRS 156.095(2), all certified school district employees and public charter school employees shall complete at least one (1) hour of each of the following trainings within twelve (12) months of initial hire and at least once every four (4) years thereafter and   

Training Requirements 

KRS 156.095(7) requires the KDE to develop and maintain a list of approved comprehensive evidence-informed trainings on child abuse and neglect prevention, recognition, and reporting that encompass child physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect. Local boards of education must “adopt one (1) or more trainings from the list approved by the department to be implemented by schools.

Statute further requires that the trainings be web-based or in-person and cover, at a minimum, the following topics:  

1. Recognizing child physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect;  
2. Reporting suspected child abuse and neglect in Kentucky as required by KRS 620.030 and the appropriate documentation;  
3. Responding to the child; and  
4. Understanding the response of child protective services.   

Trainings must also include a questionnaire or other basic assessment tool upon completion to document basic knowledge of training components. The list of available trainings may be accessed via the KDE’s Child Abuse and Neglect: Prevention, Recognition and Reporting webpage. 

Every public school shall prominently display the statewide child abuse hotline number and the National Human Trafficking Reporting Hotline number administered by the United States Department for Health and Human Services. 

Child Abuse and Neglect (CA/N) Checks 

CA/N Checks are required for public school employees, student teachers, contractors and School-Based-Decision-Making Council Members. These are processed through the Cabinet for Health and Family Services via the Kentucky Online Gateway (KOG) portal.

The Records Management Section responds to requests and can be contacted at (502) 564-2252.​