The state Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline, also known as the State Centralized Registry, fields an average of 17,00 phone calls per month. Some of these calls are referred to the field - the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS), and some calls can be handled directly by the Hotline Screening Unit. Referrals to the DYFS field fall into two categories:

Child Protection: an allegation of abuse or neglect is made
Family Service Request: (also known as a child welfare assessment) a family needs services but there is no allegation of abuse or neglect

The Hotline Screening Unit handles requests for general information, requests that result in a referral to an agency other than DYFS, follow up calls to obtain additional information in order to process a referral, and calls that require no further action, as the hotline staff has worked to resolve the issue. The Hotline also handles almost 8,000 administrative calls per month, which generate no action or workload for either the screening staff or the field.

To view CY06 geographical maps on the rate of child protective services and family service requests by county, click HERE.

The following series of charts and tables display the phone calls received by the Hotline and the actions (where appropriate) that resulted from the calls.

HOTLINE REFERRALS TO THE FIELD
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES REFERRALS
FAMILY SERVICE REQUEST REFERRALS
ABUSE/NEGLECT SUBSTANTIATIONS

HOTLINE REFERRALS TO THE FIELD

 
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Source of Hotline Referrals to the Field (Both Child Protection and Family Service Request)
CY 2007

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CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES REFERRALS

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Source of Child Protective Service Referrals- CY 2007

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FAMILY SERVICE REQUEST REFERRALS

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Source of Family Service Request Referrals-CY 2007

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ABUSE/NEGLECT SUBSTANTIATIONS

When a call comes into the hotline and the caller reports a child may have been abuse or neglected, one of our screening staff takes down all of that information and then reaches out to our staff in the field to conduct an investigation.  As a result of that investigation, we make a finding about whether or not child abuse or neglect occurred.

In April 2005, New Jersey officially changed the findings that could be made with result of an abuse or neglect investigation.  Previously, there were three possible outcomes:

- Substantiated:  abuse or neglect occurred and there was sufficient evidence to make a finding that it occurred
- Unsubstantiated:  abuse or neglect may have occurred but there was not sufficient evidence to make a finding that it occurred
- Unfounded:  abuse or neglect did not occur

In April 2005, those three findings were reduced to two and the definitions changed:

- Substantiated:  abuse or neglect occurred and there was sufficient evidence to make a finding that it occurred
- Unfounded:  there was not sufficient evidence to establish that abuse or neglect occurred

This change in definition changed our practice - and it changed our reporting.  Calendar year 2006 will provide DCF with its first baseline year on substantiations with this change in the law.

VIEW CHILD ABUSE/NEGLECT SUBSTANTIATION DATA - CY2006
VIEW CHILD ABUSE/NEGLECT SUBSTANTIATION DATA - CY2005

(Due to the definition change mid-2005, these two years cannot be compared.)


Calendar Years 2002-2005 Substantiation Data

Abuse/Neglect Substantiations after Previous Substantiations Occured

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Abuse/Neglect Substantiations within 6 or 12 Months of a Previous Substantiation

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Children Abused/Neglected in Foster Care

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