• Children's Protective Services Investigation Process Overview of the investigation process for allegations of abuse and neglect of children under the age of 18.

• 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.

• Central Registry After the investigation, certain individuals are placed on the Central Registry. Learn more about the registry and request clearance.