Los Angeles County
Department of Children
and Family Services
Child Protection Hotline (800) 540-4000

Your Verbal Report to Child Protection Hotline

What to Expect When Contacting the Child Protection Hotline

You will be asked specific questions regarding the child(ren) you are reporting. Examples of these questions include:

  • Name and age/DOB of the child(ren)
  • Family’s address and phone number
  • Name of mother and father and their whereabouts
  • Current location of child(ren)
  • Language spoken in the home
  • Describe the abuse and/or neglect in detail
  • When did the abuse occur and how often does it occur?
  • Location of the abuse and/or neglect
  • Does the child(ren) have injuries? If so, where and what kind of injuries?
  • Does the perpetrator have access to the child?
  • Is the child(ren) safe or is there immediate danger?

Upon completion of your verbal report, you will be provided with the preliminary disposition of your call. The disposition will include one of the following response times/outcomes:

Immediate Response (an in-person investigation will be conducted within 24 hours)
Five Days (an in-person investigation will be conducted within five business days)
Evaluated Out (an in-person investigation will not be conducted; however, your report may be cross-reported to law enforcement or another agency)
Information to Children's Social Worker (an in-person investigation will not be conducted; however, information given by you will be forwarded to the assigned Children’s Social Worker)
Consultation (the information given by you does not meet the definition of abuse or neglect; however, will be documented for future reference)

You will be given a 19-digit referral number if the disposition of the report is an Immediate Response, Five-Day, or an Evaluated Out referral.

If the referral is given an Immediate or Five-Day response time, a Children's Social Worker (CSW) will be assigned to investigate the allegations. You will also be given the name of the DCFS regional office the referral will be assigned to. Allegations of physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, severe neglect, and emotional abuse will also be cross-reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency.