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DCPP 101: What Happens When Allegations of Child Abuse Are Reported to DCPP

How a DCPP matter starts

A Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP, formerly DYFS) matter almost always begins with a referral. New Jersey law makes every person a mandatory reporter: anyone with reasonable cause to believe a child has been abused or neglected must report it, either by calling the Division's 24-hour hotline or through a local office.

Referrals are screened centrally. A screener decides whether the report becomes a Child Protective Services referral, which triggers an investigation, or is handled another way. Reporters who make a referral in good faith are immune from civil or criminal liability for making it.

The investigation

Once a referral is screened in, a caseworker opens an investigation. That typically means home visits, interviews with the parents and the child, and sometimes interviews with teachers, doctors or other people who know the family. Parents have the right to have an attorney present when DCPP interviews them, and we generally recommend against speaking with an investigator without one.

An investigation ends with a finding: substantiated, established, not established, or unfounded. That finding can affect a parent's record and, in some cases, whether the case moves toward court.

Removal and emergency hearings

In most matters, DCPP works with a family without removing a child from the home. When DCPP believes a child is in immediate danger, it can seek an emergency removal, sometimes without a court order first, often called a Dodd removal. Any removal without a prior court order must be brought before a judge quickly, and a parent has the right to a hearing on whether the child should be returned.

Administrative appeal

A parent who disagrees with an investigation's finding can request an administrative appeal. This is a separate process from any court case and has its own deadlines, so it should not be assumed to happen automatically.

Superior Court litigation: Title 9 and Title 30

DCPP proceedings in court generally fall under Title 9, abuse and neglect, including fact-finding hearings on whether abuse or neglect occurred, or Title 30, guardianship and termination of parental rights. A Title 9 case can include case plans, compliance reviews and, if children were removed, a path back toward reunification.

A Title 30 case is more serious: it is the process DCPP uses to permanently terminate a parent's rights, usually toward adoption. These matters move through several stages and hearings, and the standard the state must meet is high.

What we do

We represent parents at every stage of this process: the initial investigation, emergency hearings, fact-finding, compliance review, and if it comes to that, termination of parental rights proceedings. Getting a lawyer involved as early as possible, ideally before you speak with an investigator, generally gives you more options than getting one involved later.