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// Issue / 17-38 / Date: / 11/08/17 /
Child Abuse Reporting Electronic System (CARES)
Mandated reporters such as law enforcement and school personnel are the most frequent callers to the DCFS Child Protection Hotline (Hotline). Over the years, the number of child abuse calls made to the Hotline has continued to increase. The Hotline received 218,918 calls in 2016 comparative to 179,044 calls received ten years prior in 2006, which is a 22% increase. Due to the increased number of calls, during peak call season, reporters experience long hold times due to high call volume.
Senate Bill 478 (Effective January 1, 2016) allows participating counties to test the concept of this non-emergent online reporting system with the hope of creating a faster and more efficient process. It is believed that implementation of the online child abuse reporting portal will reduce the number of non-emergent calls the Hotline receives, enabling emergent calls to be answered more quickly and efficiently. Those non-emergent reports made online, can be assessed throughout the course of the workday when the call volume is at a manageable level. With less calls to the Hotline, wait times are reduced for those who are calling regarding emergent situations diminishing any delays to responding to a child in imminent danger.
LA County DCFS has opted to participate in the Online Mandated Reporting Pilot (Pilot) program with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS). DCFS Child Protection Hotline (CPH) and Business Information Systems (BIS) have developed and designed a system for online mandated reporting which has been named the Child Abuse Reporting Electronic System (CARES).
CARES includes a standardized safety assessment of qualifying questions and excludes the submission of reports where the child is subject to immediate risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation or is in imminent danger of severe harm or death. The qualifying questions redirect the reporter to file their report by telephone when the situation is emergent. Only specific mandated reporters will have access to CARES to include law enforcement, DCFS social workers and educators (teachers, counselors, school administrators). These select mandated reporters may use CARES in lieu of the telephone report and will not need to submit the required written follow-up report (Suspected Child Abuse Report Form SS8572).
As required by the Pilot, an independent evaluator will monitor the implementation of the program. DCFS in collaboration with CDSS and the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) of California has identified outcome measures to be monitored by the independent evaluator. The outcome measures will assist with determining the overall improvement and efficiency in call volume to the CPH for non-emergent referrals. CDSS will monitor the outcomes and the resulting evaluations to ensure that safety requirements of children are met. The CDSS may end the program at any time if its oversight reveals the program poses a risk to the safety of children.
Some of the features of CARES include:
§ A user-friendly design that captures all of the necessary information similar to a verbal report to the CPH
§ Ability for the user to save a draft, complete and submit the report later, or delete the report
§ Capability for users to go back and edit information before submitting the report
§ A viewable list of the reports previously submitted
§ An auto-save function to reduce the risk of data loss after minutes of inactivity
NOTE: The online reporting system is not meant for urgent reports of child abuse or neglect. Urgent means someone faces an immediate risk of abuse or neglect that could result in death or serious harm. If you have an urgent report, or if you have an emergency or life threatening situation that must be addressed immediately, call the CPH at (800) 540-4000, call 911, or contact your local law enforcement agency.
The CARES link for DCFS users: http://dcfstaspnet/Oscars
To login use e + employee number and your user log-in password
A video tutorial is available on the home page
For Technical Assistance contact the Help Desk at (562) 940-3305
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