By what day after custody must the agency destroy all information including photographs and fingerprints if the child is not referred?

• A. Destroy all information, including photographs and fingerprints, and reports
• B. Archive all information for 2 years
• C. Forward to Child Protective Services
• D. Delete only photographs and fingerprints

Answer: (A)

The key idea is protecting a juvenile’s privacy by removing records when there’s no referral. If a child is taken into custody but not referred, the agency should destroy all materials gathered—every piece of information, including reports, photographs, and fingerprints—so nothing remains that could unnecessarily affect the child later or risk exposure. Keeping any part of the record, or archiving it for later, would retain sensitive data without a legitimate ongoing need. Forwarding to another agency would imply there’s a referral to act on, which isn’t the case here, and deleting only some items (like photos and fingerprints) leaves other records behind. The goal is complete destruction once custody ends without a referral, in line with privacy and confidentiality expectations.