• Children's Protective Services Investigation Process
Children's Protective Services investigates allegations of abuse and neglect of children under the age of 18. CPS has 30 days to complete an investigation unless extenuating circumstances require an extension.

• Recommendations for Coordination between Friends of the Court and Department of Human Services' Children's Protective Services
Several state and county agencies appointed employees to form a workgroup to make recommendations for coordinating local FOC and CPS activities

• Central Registry
Names of individuals are placed on the statewide abuse and neglect Central Registry if there is a preponderance of evidence that the individual has abused or neglected their child and the future risk to the child is high or intensive (based on the structured decision making risk assessment tool).

• Disposition and Structured Decision Making
The Child Protection Law requires DHS to use structured decision making (SDM) tools to determine safety of children, risk of future harm to a child, and the needs of the family. SDM promotes consistent, reliable, valid decisions from worker to worker and office to office.