Child Welfare Investigations

The dataset includes statistics for both traditional Investigation Responses and for Alternative Responses. An Alternative Response is intended to increase engagement and service usage through a collaborative partnership with families in cases where there is no Child Protective Services history and the referral suggests low risk of harm to the child.

A completed Investigation Response can have one of three outcomes: (1) allegation indicated -- credible evidence found which has not been satisfactorily refuted; (2) allegation ruled out – credible evidence found that the abuse did not occur; and (3) allegation unsubstantiated – insufficient evidence found to support a finding of indicated or ruled out abuse. This dataset is updated quarterly.