How to Make a Report of Child Abuse in California

Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Hotlines

In Sacramento County:
Sacramento County Child Protective Services
916-875-KIDS

Child is in Immanent Danger (Life Threatening Emergency)  911

In California:
Child Protective Service Agencies in California

In the United States:
National Child Abuse Reporting Hotlines

How to Make a Report of Child Abuse in California

• Immediately, or as soon as possible, call a Child Protective Services agency (Child Welfare/Child Protective Services if the abuse is occurring within the family or home or Law Enforcement if the suspected abuser is someone outside the family) to make a verbal report. If the child is in imminent danger, call 911.
• Inform the agency that you are a Mandated Reporter.
• File a written report within 36 hours of your verbal report (on Form SS 8572.)

• Mandated Reporters and/or their employers should keep blank copies of the form on file at all times.
• If a blank form is not available when a report is made, the Mandated Reporter can request that the agency to whom the report is being made, send a blank form to them immediately.
• Copies of the form are available online at http://ag.ca.gov/childabuse/pdf/ss_8572.pdf or from your local Child Protective Services Agency or by writing to:

California Department of Justice
Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information
P.O.Box 90317
Sacramento, CA 94203-4170

• Your name and your employer's name, their business address and phone number 
• Name, date of birth or approximate age, sex and present location of the child
• School or daycare information including dismissal times
• Specific details on the nature and extent of the abuse, be as descriptive as possible - i.e., location of injury, size, color, pattern, shape, etc.
• Where and when the incident(s) occurred
• Risk of further abuse, or imminent danger
• Who the child lives with
• Name and address of the parent or caretaker
• Name, date of birth or approximate age, address and phone number, and relationship to the child victim of the person you suspect is abusing/neglecting the child.  Also include, if possible, the present location of this person and whether or not they currently have access to the child.
• Names, ages and schools of other children the house, not just the siblings
• Family language and ethnicity
• Knowledge of previous CPS history or if other agencies are involved with the family
• Any known previous counties of residence - CPS will call them
• Make a note if photographs or x-rays were taken
• Try to quote exactly what was said by the child or the person accompanying the child - use quotation marks and state who was speaking
• Vulnerability of the child due to age or disability
• If there is an unrelated adult male in the home
• If there are children under the age of five in the home 
• If drug use is suspected
• If the child, parent/caretaker or others in the home, or suspect has a psychiatric history
• If there is a history of violence (domestic, child or animal abuse, or other violent crime)

• The form is a one page document with instructions for completing the form either on the reverse or on a separate page. Type the report, or write legibly, using blue or black ink.
• If additional space is needed, you may continue your report on a blank sheet of paper and attach it.  DO NOT continue your report on another blank form, as only one form should be used per victim. Be sure to make a note on the form itself that there is a "Page 2."
• The agency that receives your report will distribute copies of the report to the appropriate agencies.  You may wish to make a copy of your report and any attachments for your agency's records.
• It is helpful to fill out the form before you make your call to CPS so you don't forget anything.
• Ask the intake worker to whom you are making the verbal report for their name and title and the case number assigned to the report for follow-up purposes. Note it on the form.  Also be sure to record the date and time of your verbal report.
• If you are using one of the original quadruplicate report forms, the last page (yellow) of the form is the reporter's copy. The last page of NCR forms are sometimes difficult to read if there was not enough pressure used to complete it. It is suggested that a copy of the first page is made, along with any other documentation, and retained with the yellow copy.
• Be certain to get the mailing address of the agency to whom you made your verbal report (either CPS or Law Enforcement) and mail your written report to that address--Remember, your written report should go to the same agency to whom you made the verbal report (e.g., if you called Sacramento County Sheriff's Department to file the verbal report, send the written report to the Sheriff's Department, not CPS).

• Reporting is the legal obligation of each individual Mandated Reporter and may not be delegated.
• However, internal procedures on who makes the report can be established to facilitate reporting and apprising supervisors of the report, as long as the procedure is consistent with, and adheres to the mandates of the law.
• Internal procedures may be helpful in facilitating reporting when more than one Mandated Reporter observes the same child.
  • For example, three emergency room nurses may tend to the same injured child, or after consultation, a teacher and a resource specialist decide that a report should be made.
• The internal procedure may:
  • Stipulate that the person with the most first hand knowledge make the report, and/or
  • The report is made jointly with all parties signing the report, and/or,
  • If more appropriate, each party makes an individual report.
  • If the designated person fails to make a report, the other Mandated Reporter(s) must follow-up and report.
• The internal procedure MAY NOT:
  • Stipulate that an administrator or supervisor approve the report before the Mandated Reporter may submit it to CPS or Law Enforcement or
  • Sanction a Mandated Reporter in any way (up to and including termination of employment) for filing a Suspected Child Abuse and/or Neglect Report without the authorization of an administrator, supervisor, or employer. 

• Frequency of maltreatment
• Vulnerability of the child due to age or disability
• When the event occurred
• Multiple CPS reports, in and out of county
• Unrelated adult males in the home
• Children under age five in the home
• Allegation of drug use
• Psychiatric history
• History of violence in the home

• If child is in imminent danger of serious abuse or re-abuse the report warrants an immediate response—within 24 hours (Note that Sacramento County CPS has a target time for their immediate responses of 2 hours).
• Reports that meet the criteria for an in-person contact with the child and their parent/caretaker but do not warrant an immediate response are responded to within 10 days.
• Other reports that do not meet the criteria for face-to-face contact (either immediate or 10 days) are entered as "Information Only/Evaluate Out" into the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI), a statewide child protection database, and can be used for sources of information for future concerns about that child/family.

• Acting on their own, CPS can remove a child from a home for up to 48 hours, or...
• CPS will offer services and referrals to the family.
• In cases of serious abuse, the perpetrator may be arrested and referred to the District Attorney for prosecution.

• After investigations by a child protective agency are complete, reports will be placed in one of three categories:
  • "Unfounded Report" - determined to be false, inherently improbable, involve accidental injury, or not constitute child abuse as defined in the law.
  • "Substantiated Report" - the report is based on credible evidence and constitutes child abuse or neglect.
  • "Inconclusive Report" - the findings are inconclusive and there is insufficient evidence to determine whether child abuse and neglect has occurred.
• You are entitled to know the disposition of your report.  CPS will contact you in writing, or you may call to inquire about your report.  Be aware that, depending on the status of the case and any pending investigations and/or court actions, it may be some time before a final disposition is available for your report, and the notice of disposition may be sent to your agency/employer rather than to your attention--ask your supervisor if any notification has been received.

• The court can remove the child from the home if it finds that:
  • There is substantial danger to the child
  • The child is unwilling to return home
  • A person residing there has sexually molested the child
  • The child is left without provision for his or her support
  • The parent or caretaker is unwilling to have physical custody of the child

• In order for the parent or caretaker to have the child back, they must cooperate and participate in court ordered family reunification services and satisfy the requirements.
  • 12 months - children less than 3 years of age
  • 18 months - children over 3 years of age

• Cross reports are made immediately or as soon as practically possible between:
  • Child Protective Services
  • Law Enforcement
  • District Attorney
  • Child Abuse Central Index (CACI)
  • Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information
  • State and County Licensing Agencies
• Whenever a person applies for a nursing, teaching, childcare, foster care or social worker license, the Child Abuse Central Index is checked.