California Department of Justice

Agency Report 2009

(Report Compiled From 2008 Data)

As a member of the Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect (ICAN) Data/Information Sharing Committee, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) provides the following information for the 2009 ICAN Report.

Child Abuse Central Index Fact Sheet

The DOJ is mandated to maintain an index of all California reports of child abuse and severe neglect pursuant to Penal Code section 11170. The Child Abuse Central Index (CACI) was created in 1965 by the California State Legislature.It is maintained by the Child Protection Program (CPP).

Child protection agencies, as defined in the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA) Article 2.5 of the Penal Code, are required to report to the DOJ all investigated incidents of child abuse and severe neglect that have been determined not to be unfounded.

The CPP receives stores and maintains reports of suspected child abuse that have been identified as substantiated or inconclusive. The CACI currently contains approximately 772,070records of child abuse, and responds to more than 300,000 requests for child abuse searches per year.

The CPP provides the CACI information upon request to citizens, child protection agencies, law enforcement and authorized regulatory agencies. The CACI functions as a pointer system, to confirm the existence of a CACI record(s) and provides direction to citizens and requesting agencies on the origin of the investigative file. It is the obligation of the requestor to obtain the original investigative report from the reporting agency used for determining independent conclusions regarding the quality of the evidence disclosed and its relevance for making decisions regarding employment, licensing or placement of a child.

For additional information about the CACI, please go to the California Attorney General’s website at

Services Provided by the DOJ through the CACI

Investigatory

The CACI serves as an investigatory tool for child protection and law enforcement agencies investigating child abuse and severe neglect allegations by providing information regarding child abuse reports previously submitted to the CACI involving the same suspect(s).

All incoming child abuse summary reports are checked against the CACI to identify prior reports of child abuse involving the listed suspects. Additionally, the DOJ provides information on an expedited basis to child protection agencies for emergency child placement and to law enforcement as a child abuse investigative tool.

Regulatory

The CACI regulatory functions include applicant searches for child care facility and foster care home licensing or employment, adoption, guardianship or other child placement and peace officer employment. Suspect names are checked against the CACI to identify prior reports of child abuse.

The DOJ notifies licensing agencies when a new child abuse summary report is received and matched to a person that has been licensed to have custodial or supervisory authority over a child or children.

2008 CACI Program Highlights

The passage of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 expanded access to the CACI to include out-of-state foster care and adoption checks. Since the implementation of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Actof 2006, out-of-state CACI requests have increased from 44 to 519 searches per month.

2008 CACI Data – Notable Highlights

  • During 2008, reporting agencies submitted 21,016 reports to the DOJ for entry into the CACI (See Figure 1).
  • Physical abuse is the most prevalent type of abuse reported (9,504) and represents 45.2% of the total reports entered into CACI. The other types of abuse reported are as follows: mental 4,706 or 22.3%; neglect 1,053 or 5.0%; and sexual 5,753 or 27.5%.
  • Of the 21,016 child abuse reports submitted statewide by child protection and law enforcement agencies, 41 (0.2%) resulted in the death of a victim. Los Angeles County submitted 11 (26.8%) child abuse reports of the statewide total. (See Figure 2).
  • Los Angeles County submitted 5,804 reports, the largest number of reports, which represented approximately 27.6% of the state’s total. Of these 5,804 reports, 2,698 (28.3%) consisted of physical abuse; 969 (20.5%) mental abuse; 133 (12.6%) severe neglect; and 2,004 (34.8%) sexual abuse.
  • From 2004 to 2008, the total number of reports of child abuse enteredinto the CACI which includes the categories of physical abuse, mental, severe neglect, and sexual abusedecreased from 22,653 to 21,016 or 7.2%.

(See Figure 3).

CACI Training

The DOJ provides training to facilitate the completion of the Child Abuse Summary Report Form (SS 8583) and assistance pertaining to the reporting of child abuse information pursuant to the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (Penal Code,§ 11164-11174.3). Additional training is available to various law enforcement, child protection and local professional investigative agencies upon request.

Inquiries May Be Directed To:

California Department of Justice

Child Protection Program

P.O. Box 903387

Sacramento, CA 94203-3870

Phone:(916) 227-3285

Fax:(916) 227-3253

web site:

Glossary of Terms

CACI: Child Abuse Central Index.

CANRA: Child Abuse Neglect Reporting Act as specified in Penal Code Section 11164 et. Seq.

Inconclusive: Defined in Penal Code,§ 11165.12 (c). “Inconclusive report” means a report that is determined by the investigator, who conducted the investigation not to be unfounded, but the findings are inconclusive and there is insufficient evidence to determine whether child abuse or neglect, as defined in Penal Code,§ 11165.6, has occurred. This category was originally termed “unsubstantiated report” and was renamed by Chapter 842 of the Statutes of 1997 and became effective January 1, 1998.

Reporting Agency: Defined by Penal Code,§ 11165.9 as a police or sheriff department, a county probation department (if designated by the county to receive mandated reports), or a county welfare department.

Substantiated: Defined in Penal Code,§ 11165.12 (b). “Substantiated report” means a report that is determined by the investigator who conducted the investigation to constitute child abuse or neglect, as defined in Penal Code,§ 11165.6, based upon evidence that makes it more likely than not that child abuse or neglect, as defined, occurred.

Unfounded: Defined in Penal Code,§ 11165.12 (a). “Unfounded report” means a report that is determined by the investigator who conducted the investigation to be false, to be inherently improbable, to involve an accidental injury, or not to constitute child abuse or neglect, as defined in Penal Code,§ 11165.6

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Figure 1 (Continued)

2008 Child Abuse Summary Reports

Entered in the Central Index (CACI)

For the Period of January 1 – December 31, 2008

Figure 1:This chart depicts the total number of Child Abuse Summary Reports submitted to the CACI by county and by type of abuse.

Figure 1

2008 Child Abuse Summary Reports

Entered in the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI)

For the Period of January 1 – December 31, 2008

COUNTY / TOTAL / PHYSICAL / MENTAL / NEGLECT / SEXUAL / DEATHS*
Alameda / 296 / 180 / 19 / 17 / 80 / 0
Alpine / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Amador / 20 / 14 / 3 / 0 / 3 / 0
Butte / 210 / 104 / 35 / 17 / 54 / 0
Calaveras / 60 / 34 / 19 / 2 / 5 / 0
Colusa / 3 / 1 / 0 / 1 / 1 / 0
Contra Costa / 236 / 137 / 46 / 13 / 40 / 1
Del Norte / 26 / 13 / 1 / 4 / 8 / 0
El Dorado / 92 / 39 / 31 / 3 / 19 / 0
Fresno / 416 / 196 / 103 / 10 / 107 / 1
Glenn / 56 / 14 / 23 / 14 / 5 / 0
Humboldt / 117 / 62 / 41 / 0 / 14 / 0
Imperial / 53 / 31 / 20 / 0 / 2 / 0
Inyo / 23 / 11 / 10 / 0 / 2 / 0
Kern / 848 / 388 / 223 / 49 / 188 / 2
Kings / 165 / 114 / 5 / 5 / 41 / 1
Lake / 8 / 5 / 2 / 0 / 1 / 0
Lassen / 50 / 30 / 5 / 2 / 13 / 0
Los Angeles / 5,804 / 2,698 / 969 / 133 / 2,004 / 11
Madera / 161 / 90 / 39 / 11 / 21 / 0
Marin / 73 / 30 / 25 / 8 / 10 / 0
Mariposa / 12 / 3 / 6 / 2 / 1 / 0
Mendocino / 119 / 57 / 52 / 6 / 4 / 0
Merced / 173 / 82 / 51 / 5 / 35 / 0
Modoc / 19 / 13 / 3 / 0 / 3 / 0
Mono / 23 / 9 / 11 / 0 / 3 / 0
Monterey / 243 / 117 / 59 / 15 / 52 / 1
Napa / 36 / 19 / 6 / 1 / 10 / 0
Nevada / 33 / 19 / 5 / 3 / 6 / 0
Orange / 2,628 / 1,205 / 147 / 192 / 1,084 / 3
Placer / 224 / 62 / 89 / 7 / 66 / 0
Plumas / 25 / 9 / 5 / 5 / 6 / 0
Riverside / 865 / 439 / 109 / 74 / 243 / 5
Sacramento / 450 / 235 / 62 / 37 / 116 / 2
San Benito / 101 / 51 / 30 / 4 / 16 / 0
San Bernardino / 1,005 / 433 / 134 / 119 / 319 / 4
San Diego / 2,968 / 885 / 1,499 / 108 / 476 / 1
San Francisco / 144 / 85 / 30 / 3 / 26 / 0
San Joaquin / 537 / 247 / 196 / 13 / 81 / 0
San Luis Obispo / 121 / 43 / 38 / 9 / 31 / 0
San Mateo / 356 / 192 / 110 / 10 / 44 / 0
Santa Barbara / 242 / 107 / 76 / 9 / 50 / 1
Santa Clara / 453 / 296 / 45 / 18 / 94 / 2
Santa Cruz / 260 / 85 / 126 / 18 / 31 / 0
Shasta / 133 / 53 / 9 / 43 / 28 / 0
Sierra / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Siskiyou / 28 / 10 / 5 / 1 / 12 / 0
Solano / 199 / 127 / 23 / 11 / 38 / 3
Sonoma / 244 / 130 / 49 / 9 / 56 / 0
Stanislaus / 204 / 84 / 10 / 8 / 102 / 3
Sutter / 41 / 23 / 15 / 0 / 3 / 0
Tehama / 19 / 6 / 6 / 2 / 5 / 0
Trinity / 12 / 7 / 5 / 0 / 0 / 0
Tulare / 69 / 32 / 1 / 3 / 33 / 0
Tuolumne / 38 / 14 / 17 / 6 / 1 / 0
Ventura / 138 / 68 / 31 / 10 / 29 / 0
Yolo / 101 / 46 / 20 / 11 / 24 / 0
Yuba / 36 / 20 / 7 / 2 / 7 / 0
TOTALS / 21,016 / 9,504 / 4,706 / 1,053 / 5,753 / 41
PERCENTAGE / 100% / 45.2% / 22.4% / 5.0% / 27.4% / 0.2%

* Not included in Totals column. Shown only to reflect the number of child abuse reports that resulted in the death of the victim reported.

Figure 1 (Continued)

2008 Child Abuse Summary Reports

Entered in the Central Index (CACI)

For the Period of January 1 – December 31, 2008

Figure 2:This chart depicts the total number and percentage of CACI reports from Los Angeles County and Statewide County submissions in 2008 by abuse type.

Figure 2

Number of CACI Reports Submitted By Los Angeles County

January 1 – December 31, 2008

COUNTY / NUMBER / % / PHYSICAL / % / MENTAL / % / NEGLECT / % / SEXUAL / % / *DEATH / %
Los Angeles / 5,804 / 27.6% / 2,698 / 28.4% / 969 / 20.6% / 133 / 12.6% / 2,004 / 34.8% / 11 / 26.8%
Statewide Total / 21,016 / 100.0% / 9,504 / 45.2% / 4,706 / 22.4% / 1,053 / 5.0% / 5,753 / 27.4% / 41 / 100.0%

* Not included in number column. Shown only to reflect the number of child abuse reports that resulted in the death of the victim(s) reported.

Figure 3:This chart is a yearlystatewide comparison of CACI submissions between 2004 and 2008.

Figure 3

Five-Year Comparison of CACI Submissions Statewide

Calendar Years 2004-2008

Types of Abuse/Year / 2004 / 2005 / 2006 / 2007 / 2008 / Number Change of CACI Submission 2004 to 2008 / Percentage Change of CACI Submissions 2004 to 2008
Physical / 11,070 / 11,263 / 10,381 / 9,701 / 9,504 / -1,566 / -14.1%
Mental/Neglect / 5,726 / 5,493 / 5,715 / 5,975 / 5,759 / 33 / 0.6%
Sexual / 5,857 / 6,540 / 5,496 / 5,291 / 5,753 / -104 / -1.8%
TOTALS / 22,653 / 23,296 / 21,592 / 20,967 / 21,016 / -1,637 / -7.2%