Referral Assignment Criteria

0050-504.05 | Revision Date: 6/16/22

Overview

This policy provides the Child Protection Hotline (CPH) staff guidelines on how to determine a referral name, establish the service address for a referral, and map the referral to the appropriate regional office for assignment.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Policy

Referral Name Criteria

Assignment of Referrals to Regional Offices

Children in Surrounding Counties

Procedure

Determining the Referral Name

Child Protection Hotline CSW Responsibilities

Determining the Referral Service Address for Non-DCFS Supervised Families

Child Protection Hotline CSW Responsibilities

Mapping of Referrals-Alleged Victim has an Open DCFS Referral/Case

Child Protection Hotline CSW Responsibilities

Mapping of Referrals-Sibling has an Open DCFS Referral/Case

Child Protection Hotline CSW Responsibilities

Regional Office Receives a Referral

Emergency Response SCSW Responsibilities

Emergency Response CSW Responsibilities

Approvals

Helpful Links

Forms

Referenced Policy Guides

Statutes

Version Summary

This policy was updated from the 10/16/14 version to incorporate a recommendation from the Evident Change Structured Decision Making (SDM) Fidelity Review for supervisory review of the SDM Hotline tools and to update Child Protection Hotline (CPH) procedures and terms.

POLICY

The Child Protection Hotline (CPH) acts as the central point of entry for calls to DCFS about the possible abuse, neglect or exploitation of children. When the CPH creates a referral for investigation, it must determine a referral name, establish the service address for a referral, and assign the referral to the appropriate regional office.

Referral Name Criteria

The referral name provides a uniform basis for the identification of a referral and any subsequent referrals regarding the same family members. In general, the referral name should consist of the name of the family (mother or father) and the response time of the referral. However, there are exceptions to using the family name.

There are limitations to accurately naming a referral. CPH CSWs must base the referral name on the referent's information and California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) clearances. As a result, referrals generated from the CPH under a particular case name may be changed at a later date by an Emergency Response Command Post (ERCP) or Regional CSW once actual contact with the family is made and more information is obtained.

Assignment of Referrals to Regional Offices

The referral service address determines the Regional Office responsible for responding to the referral. The CPH is responsible for assigning referrals to ERCP, Regional Offices, and specialized programs.

Children in Surrounding Counties

If the referral is regarding children residing in a surrounding county, CPH will contact the child’s county of residence. If there is no address available for the family, the referral is to be assigned based on the “Location of Children” specified on the ID Page of the referral. The CPH is responsible for the correction (re-mapping) of referrals that have been assigned by CPH to a regional office or specialized program in error.

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PROCEDURE

Determining the Referral Name

CPH CSW Responsibilities

Obtain information from the person making the referral regarding the parents’ and children’s names and addresses.

Use the table below to determine the referral name. Insert the referral name in the Referral Name Box on the ID page of the referral.

If the client already exists in the CWS/CMS database, obtain the parents’ names from the Related Clients Page of the Client Notebook.
For a child(ren) in out-of-home care, check the CWS/CMS Placement Notebook in order to determine the placement home type.

Enter the referral response time (SDM response priority).

Referral Situation	Referral Name
Child(ren)/victim(s) in the home of parent(s)	Mother’s last name, first name and response time
Child(ren)/victim(s) in the home of father, mother’s name is unknown and/or mother is permanently absent (deceased), or whereabouts unknown	Father’s last name, first name and response time
Child/victim is legally freed for adoption	Child’s/victim's last name, first name and response time.
Child/victim resides with a legal guardian (with or without an open case)	Legal guardian’s last name, first name and response time
Parent(s)’ name unknown/partially known (“Doe Referrals”) and location of child/victim is known	Street number, street name and response time (this also applies to police station addresses and hospital addresses)
Parent(s)’ name unknown/partially known, home address is unknown, and location of child/victim is unknown (“Doe Referrals”)	Child/victim’s last name, first name and response time
Parent(s)’ name unknown (“Doe Referrals”) and multiple families reside at the address	Street number, street name, (UNKA, UNKB, UNKC -- to indicate multiple families residing at the same location) and response time.
Safely surrendered baby (Under Safe Haven Law)	Confidential bracelet number, “Baby <Boy or Girl>”, IR
Child/victim of a minor mother and minor mother is not permanently absent or deceased	Minor’s mother’s last name, first name and response time
Child/victim resides with a relative caregiver -- without an open case, the alleged perpetrator is the relative caregiver and parents’ names unknown or parents permanently absent or deceased	Caregiver’s last name, first name, REL and response time
Child resides with a nonrelative extended family member (NREFM) without an open case and the alleged perpetrator is the NREFM and parents’ names unknown or parents permanently absent or deceased	NREFM’s last name, first name, NREFM and response time
Child resides with a nonrelative extended family member with or without an open case and the alleged perpetrator is the parent(s)	Mother’s last name, first name and response time
Child/victim resides with a relative caregiver or NREFM-- without an open case and the alleged perpetrator is the parent(s)	Mother’s last name, first name and response time; if mother is permanently absent or deceased, father’s last name, first name and response time
Child/victim is placed with a licensed foster parent (or was placed with a licensed foster parent when the alleged abuse occurred) and the parents or someone associated with the parents’ home is not the alleged perpetrator	Foster parent’s last name, first name, FFH, and response time
Child/victim is placed in a Foster Family Agency Certified Resource Family Home (FFA CRFH) home or was placed in a FFA CRFH home when the alleged abuse occurred and the parent(s) or someone associated with the parents’ home is not the alleged perpetrator	Use the FFA’s name, type of facility (FFA CRFH) and response time
Child/victim is placed in a Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP) facility or was placed in a STRTP when the alleged abuse occurred and the parent(s) or someone associated with the parents’ home is not the alleged perpetrator	Use the STRTP name, type of facility (STRTP) and response time
Child/victim is placed with a Resource Family Home or was placed in a Resource Family Home when the alleged abuse occurred and the parent(s) or someone associated with the parents’ home is not the alleged perpetrator	Use the Resource Family Home (RFH) name, type of facility (RFH) and response time
Child/victim resides with parent(s), relative, NREFM, or is placed in a foster home, STRTP, RFH or FFA, and the alleged perpetrator is a school employee	Use the name of the school and response time (EO)
Child/victim resides with parent(s), relative, NREFM, or is placed in a foster home, STRTP, RFH or FFA, and the alleged perpetrator is an employee for a Day Care Facility or Regional Center	Use the name of the Day Care Facility or Regional Center and response time (EO)
Child/victim is placed in a foster home, STRTP, RFH, or FFA home, and the alleged perpetrator is the parent or someone associated with the parents’ home	Mother’s last name, first name and response time; if mother is permanently absent or deceased, father’s last name, first name and response time

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Determining the Referral Service Address for Non-DCFS Supervised Families

As used in the tables below, the term “primarily” reflects the location where the alleged child victim is believed to physically spend more than 50% of their time, regardless of any custody orders.

CPH CSW Responsibilities

Use the table below to determine the referral service address:

Whereabouts of Parent(s) and/or Child	Service Address:
All alleged victims have the same parents and live with both parents	The address of the parents
Alleged victim(s) live(s) with minor mother/nonminor dependent (NMD) mother with an open DCFS PP case	The address of the victim(s), with notation of mother's assigned office name, CSW's name and contact information
Alleged victim(s) live(s) with minor mother/nonminor dependent (NMD) mother with an open DCFS FM/FR case	The legal residence of the minor mother/nonminor dependent (NMD) mother with notation of mother’s assigned office name, CSW’s name, and contact information
The alleged victim(s) live primarily with one (1) parent	The address of that parent
The alleged victim(s) live primarily with one (1) parent and only one (1) parental address is known	The address of that parent
Parents live separately; alleged victim(s) live with each parent for equal amounts of time	The address of the mother
Alleged victim(s) lives with a caregiver(s): both parental addresses known	The address of the custodial parent, if known; if custodial rights are unknown, the address of the mother
Alleged victim(s) lives with a caregiver(s): one (1) parental address is known	The address of that parent
Alleged victim(s) lives with a caregiver(s): both parental addresses unknown	The address of that caregiver; if there are victims who live with different caregivers, then the address of the youngest child will be used
Alleged victim lives with a caregiver, and parent(s) is institutionalized	Address of the caregiver
Alleged victim(s) live(s) with (related or non-related) legal guardian	The address of the respective legal guardian.
Alleged victim(s) live(s) with a caregiver, and parent(s) or legal guardian is permanently absent or deceased	The address of the caregiver
Family has no address; alleged victim(s) live(s) with parent(s)	The address of the school, if the victim(s) regularly attend school If not, the address of the DCFS office that serves the victim(s) location at the time the report is received, if contact can be successfully made with the victim(s) at that address
Alleged victim(s) is abandoned and no parental address is known	The address of the DCFS office that serves the victim(s) location at the time the report is received, (if contact can be successfully made with the victim(s) at that address)
Alleged victim(s) and parent are at a domestic violence shelter	The home address of the victim; if there is no home address, then the address of the DCFS office that serves the address of the shelter
Alleged victim is institutionalized; parents live together at a known address	The parents' home address
Alleged victim is institutionalized, parents have separate addresses	The home address of the parent with whom the victim primarily resides
Alleged victim is institutionalized, parents have separate addresses, and victim(s) lives with each parent for equal amounts of time	The home address of mother
Alleged victim is institutionalized, one (1) parent’s address is known	The home address of the parent with the known address
Alleged victim is Institutionalized; both parents’ whereabouts are unknown	The address of the DCFS office that serves the location of the institution
Alleged victim’s residential address is unknown to the reporting party	Most current address on CWS/CMS if within the last twelve (12) months; if no record found on CWS/CMS: CalSAWS, if it has been active within the last twelve (12) months If no record on CalSAWS, the address of the school, if the victim(s) regularly attend school If not, the address of the DCFS office that serves the victim(s) location at the time of the report is received, if contact can be successfully made with the victim(s) at that address
Alleged victim and parents are institutionalized; the Institution(s) and the last known address of mother are located within Los Angeles County	Address where the victim is institutionalized
Alleged victim and parents are institutionalized; either the institution(s) or the last known address of mother is located outside of Los Angeles County	Expedited and Immediate referrals: Address where the victim is institutionalized (if the home address is in a surrounding county, CPH will first contact the surrounding county to offer the opportunity to respond) Other referrals: Mother's last known address (cross report to the jurisdictional county)
Alleged victim and parents are institutionalized and the reporting party does not have a last known address for the mother	Expedited and Immediate referrals: Address where the victim is institutionalized. Other referrals: Most current address on CWS/CMS if within the last twelve (12) months. If no record found on CWS/CMS, CalSAWS, if it has been active within the last twelve (12) months
Alleged victim resides with parent(s), caregiver, legal guardian, or NREFM, and there are allegations of Commercial Sexual Exploitation under First Responders Protocol (FRP) [For more information on FRP, please refer to Child Protection Hotline (CPH): Referrals Regarding Children and Nonminor Dependents in Out-of-Home Care]	Multi-Agency Response Team (MART) unit
Alleged victim resides with parent(s), caregiver, legal guardian, or NREFM, and a previous out-of-home caregiver is the primary alleged perpetrator or someone associated with that caregiver’s home is the alleged perpetrator and there are Los Angeles County dependents placed in the home of the out-home-care provider	The office serving the area where the previous out-of-home caregiver resides

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Mapping of Referrals-Alleged Victim Has an Open DCFS Referral/Case

A set of guidelines has been established for the assignment of referrals regarding children and youth with an open DCFS referral and/or case.

CPH CSW Responsibilities

Use the table below to determine who to assign the referral to:

Type of Referral/Open Case	Map to
Emergency Response
If the alleged victim is not in out-of- home care	The office currently assigned to the existing referral or case (this does not apply to ERCP and includes situations where the family has moved out of the catchment area)
If the alleged victim is in out-of-home care and the out-of-home caregiver is the primary alleged perpetrator or someone associated with the caregiver’s household is the alleged perpetrator	The office serving the area where the out-of-home caregiver resides
If the alleged victim is in out-of-home care and the parent or someone associated with the parent’s household is the alleged perpetrator	The office serving the open case
Family Maintenance
Referrals regarding an alleged victim and the parent or someone associated with the parent’s household is the alleged perpetrator	The office serving the open FM case
Referrals regarding an alleged victim and a previous out-of-home caregiver is the primary alleged perpetrator or someone associated with the caregiver’s home is the alleged perpetrator.	The office serving the area where the previous out-of-home caregiver resides
Referrals regarding Commercial Sexual Exploitation of an alleged victim under First Responders Protocol (FRP)	MART unit
Referrals regarding Commercial Sexual Exploitation of an alleged victim under Non-First Responders Protocol (Non-FRP)	The office serving the open case
Family Reunification/Permanent Placement
Referrals regarding an alleged victim in out-of-home care including adoption/legal guardians and the out-of-home caregiver is the primary alleged perpetrator or someone associated with the caregiver’s household is the alleged perpetrator	The office serving the area where the out-of-home caregiver resides
If the child is in out-of-home care and the parent or someone associated with the parent’s home is the alleged perpetrator	An ER CSW in the office serving the open FR or PP case
If the alleged victim is in out-of-home care and both the parent and the out-of-home caregiver are alleged perpetrators	Generate two (2) separate referrals: One (1) regarding the parent(s) assigned to the office serving the open case One (1) regarding the caregiver(s), assigned to the office serving the area where the out-of-home caregiver resides
Referrals regarding an alleged victim in out-of-home care (including adoption/legal guardianship but excluding ICPC cases) who does not reside in Los Angeles County or a surrounding county and the out-of-home caregiver is the primary alleged perpetrator or someone associated with the caregiver’s household is the alleged perpetrator	The office serving the open FR or PP case (if assessed as an immediate response, CPH will first contact the host county to request an immediate response)
Referrals regarding an alleged victim in out-of-home care (including adoptions/legal guardians but excluding ICPC cases) and a previous out-of-home caregiver is the primary alleged perpetrator or someone associated with that caregiver’s household is the alleged perpetrator, and the previous out-of-home placement is not in Los Angeles County or a surrounding county	If the current out-of-home placement is in Los Angeles County, the office serving the current out-of-home placement If the current out-of-home placement is not in Los Angeles County or a surrounding county, the office serving the open FR or PP case
Referrals regarding an alleged victim and a previous out-of-home caregiver is the primary alleged perpetrator or someone associated with that caregiver’s household is the alleged perpetrator	The office serving the area where the previous out-of-home caregiver resides
If the alleged victim is in out-of-home care and the parent or someone associated with the parent’s household is the alleged perpetrator	The office serving the open FR or PP case
If an alleged victim discloses prior abuse by a parent whose current whereabouts are unknown.	ER CSW in the office serving the open FR or PP case.
If an alleged victim is in out-of-home care or missing/absent from an out-of-home care placement and there are allegations of Commercial Sexual Exploitation under First Responders Protocol (FRP)	MART unit
If an alleged victim is in out-of-home care or missing/absent from an out-of-home care placement and there are allegations of Commercial Sexual Exploitation under Non-First Responders Protocol (Non-FRP), and there are no allegations against the out-of-home caregiver	The office serving the open FR or PP case, with secondary assignment to the MART Unit
If an alleged victim is in out-of-home care or missing/absent from an out-of-home care placement, there are allegations of Commercial Sexual Exploitation under Non-First Responders Protocol (Non-FRP), and the alleged perpetrator(s) is associated with the out-of-home care placement	The office serving the area of the out-of-home placement, with secondary assignment to the MART Unit
After-Hours
All immediate referrals received by the CPH after 4:59 PM, or on weekends and holidays.	ERCP

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Mapping of Referrals-Sibling has an Open DCFS Referral/Case

A set of guidelines has been established for the assignment of referrals for siblings of children and youth with an open DCFS referral and/or case.

CPH CSW Responsibilities

Use the table below to determine who to assign the referral to:

Type of Open Referral/Case	Map to
Emergency Response
The alleged victim has the same mother as the sibling and primarily resides in the home of the mother	The office who is providing services to the sibling. (This does not apply to ERCP. If the referral is assigned to ERCP; the referral should be assigned to an ER CSW in the office providing services to the sibling.)
The alleged victim has the same mother as the sibling and primarily resides in the home of the father	The office serving the area where the father resides
The alleged victim has a different mother than the sibling and primarily resides in the home of the father	The office serving the area where the father resides
The alleged victim does not live with either parent	An ER CSW in the office serving the area where the victim resides
If the alleged victim does not live with either parent	The office serving the area where the victim resides
Family Maintenance/Reunification
The alleged victim has the same mother as the sibling and primarily resides in the home of the mother	The office serving the open case of the sibling
The alleged victim has the same mother as the sibling and primarily resides in the home of the father	The office serving the area where the father resides
The alleged victim has a different mother than the sibling and primarily resides in the home of the father	The office serving the area where the father resides
The alleged victim has the same parents and does not live with either parent (this does not apply to siblings under legal guardianship)	The office providing services to the sibling
The alleged victim and family moved to another office catchment area and there is a companion referral on another family in the same home in the new catchment area	Generate two (2) separate referrals: One (1) regarding the sibling, assigned to the office providing services to the siblings, and One (1) companion, assigned to the office serving the area where the other family resides
Permanent Placement/Adoptions
The alleged victim has the same mother as the sibling and resides in the home of the mother.	The office serving the area where the mother resides.
The alleged victim has the same mother as the sibling and resides in the home of the father.	The office serving the area where the father resides.
The alleged victim has a different mother than the sibling and resides in the home of the father.	The office serving the area where the father resides.
After-Hours
All immediate referrals received by the CPH after 4:59 PM, or on weekends and holidays.	ERCP

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Regional Office Receives a Referral (IR, 5-Day or Follow-Up from ERCP)

ER CSW Responsibilities

Review the referral and initiate the in-person response within the assigned time frame to complete the investigation or follow-up actions.

ER SCSW Responsibilities

Review the Structured Decision Making (SDM) Hotline tool and required response time (SDM response priority).
Review the referral for appropriate assignment, required response time, and CSW assignment.

Within one (1) hour of receipt of an immediate response referral and within four (4) hours of receipt for a five-day or five-day by date specified response referral, complete and e-mail the “Request for Remap" form to the CPH Remap Liaison (CPH/RML) at referralremap@dcfs.lacounty.gov if the referral was assigned in error.
Contact the ERCP Troubleshooter (213-639-4500) if the referral is a follow-up from ERCP and the referral was assigned in error.

If a remap request has been denied or has not been submitted via e-mail to the CPH/RML within the specified time frames:

Assign the referral to a CSW to initiate the investigation, or
Telephone the ER Duty SCSW in the office where referral assignment is believed to be appropriate to:

Request a referral remap by the Regional Office, or
Request a courtesy visit

If there is a change in assignment, advise the SAAMs unit of the change.

Deliver the referral to the assigned CSW.

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APPROVALS

SCSW Approval

Referral Assignment Approval

HELPFUL LINKS

Forms

CWS/CMS

Emergency Response Referral Document

Referenced Policy Guides

0050-501.25, Child Protection Hotline (CPH): Referrals Regarding Children and Nonminor Dependents in Out-of-Home Care

0050-502.10, Child Protection Hotline (CPH)

0050-503.15, Child Protection Hotline (CPH) Referrals: Screening Decision and Response Priority

0050-503.65, Child Protection Hotline (CPH) Referrals Regarding Children In Surrounding Counties

0070-515.10, Changing Response Times, Evaluating Out, and Re-Mapping Emergency Response Referrals by Regional Staff

0070-548.05, Emergency Response Referrals Alleging Abuse In Out-of-Home Care Regarding Children Who Are Under DCFS Supervision

0070-548.06, Emergency Response Referrals Alleging Abuse of Children Who Are Under DCFS Supervision and Residing in the Home of a Parent

0070-548.09, Multi-Agency Response Team (MART) Referrals

0070-548.10, Investigation, Disposition and Closure of Emergency Response Referrals

0070-548.24, Structured Decision Making (SDM)

Statutes

All County Letter (ACL) 17-27 – Requires that allegations of suspected abuse or neglect regarding a child in an open case plan shall be investigated by an ER social worker rather than the ongoing case worker.

Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) Section 16504 (a) - Summarizes initial intake and evaluation services, eligibility of services, and requires each county to operate and maintain a 24-hour response system.

California Department of Social Services (CDSS) Manual of Policies and Procedures (MPP) Division 31-105 -Summarizes the emergency response protocol and general intake requirements.