Child Welfare Interviews at School: A Review of Statues and Policies

Child welfare investigators have come to expect access to interview children at school as a means to ensure their own safety. Court cases have questioned if interviews at school without a warrant, court order, exigent circumstances, or parental consent violates the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of child and parents. This review paper uses the 2011 Supreme Court case, Camreta v. Greene, to set the stage for the need to conduct a review of relevant statutes and policies from all 50 states that regulate interviews at schools. Guidelines with variation in the amount of detail offered by each state leaves a need for further examination of what are best practice standards for child welfare investigators who interview children at school.