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Report Child Abuse & Neglect

Child Welfare

The Child Welfare Division works to meet the needs of Louisiana's most vulnerable citizens. The Child Welfare division works to protect children against abuse and/or neglect, find permanent homes for Louisiana's foster children and to educate the public on Safe Sleep and Louisiana's Safe Haven Law.

Child Protective Services (CPS) and Prevention Services

Child Protection Services (CPS) and Prevention Services encompasses two goals: 1) the investigation of child abuse and neglect and 2) the provision of short-term, concrete services to children and families.

Adoption and Foster Parenting

  • Being a Foster Parent - Foster Care is a protective service provided to children in the custody of the Department of Children &  Family Services.  It provides substitute, temporary care (e.g., foster family home, residential care facility, etc.) for a planned period of time when a child must be separated from his own parents or relatives.
  • Adoption Services - Seeks adoptive home placement of children who are in the Department of Children & Family Services’ custody and are legally free for adoption.
  • Petition Services - Staff conduct investigations of all independent adoptions including stepparent, grandparent, one parent and non-relative adoptions to determine the availability of the child and the suitability of the adoptive home, including reporting to the courts the findings of these investigations and assisting the families in obtaining revised birth certificates.
  • Family Team Meetings - Family Team Meetings bring together a family and interested people with resources from child welfare, mental health, schools, and other helping agencies. These interested parties work together to learn what the family hopes to accomplish, set realistic and important goals, recognize and encourage the family's strengths, identify what the family needs, find solutions that build on the family's strengths and lead to necessary changes, make a plan for who will do what and when it will be done, and agree on the next steps.
  • Reunion Registry - The Louisiana Adoption Registry is a registry established by the Department of Children & Family Services to facilitate voluntary contact between adult adoptees, their birth parents and/or siblings.

Child Welfare Recruitment Video: The Value of Everyone

Safe Haven

Safe Haven   By leaving a baby they are unable to care for in the care of an employee at a Safe Haven facility, parents can safely relinquish their parental rights of a baby under 60 days old with no questions asked.

Safe Sleep

The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services urges you to sleep safe and sleep sound by following these guidelines:

  • Your baby sleeps safest in his or her own bed
    • Never sleep with your baby on a couch
    • Never in an arm chair or with a pillow
    • Never on a waterbed
    • Never sleep with a baby or toddler while under the influence of medication, alcohol or drugs

For more information, go to the Safe Sleep webpage.

Child Abuse/Neglect Background Checks

Louisiana maintains a State Repository and a State Central Registry (SCR). The State Repository is a repository of all reports of child abuse and/or neglect. The SCR is a listing of perpetrators of certain valid child abuse/neglect investigations, as determined by the Tiered Validity System. The Louisiana Administrative Code (LAC) and Louisiana’s Children’s Code govern what information is contained in the Repository and State Central Registry, as well as what information can be released by DCFS.

For more information, go to the Child Abuse/Neglect Background Checks webpage.

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