Intake and Permanency Teams

Child protection intake teams are responsible for the following services:

Screening

  • Our hotline receives calls regarding suspected child abuse and neglect from community members, as well as professionals who are required by law to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect. Each call is known as a referral.
  • The hotline caseworker asks questions to gather as much information about the child and his/her circumstances as possible. This may include questions about the child, the child's parents, the person allegedly responsible for the abuse/neglect, the reason for the referral, including safety concerns, physical and behavioral indicators of the child and/or perpetrator, as well as perceived strengths of the family and information about their natural support system.
  • Every report is screened through the Review, Evaluate and Direct (RED) team where a group of caseworkers, supervisors and managers review the concerns and determine if it meets legal criteria to be accepted for assessment.
  • The RED team uses statewide databases to research the criminal background, court history, as well as prior reports or involvement within the child welfare system for every child and family member in a referral.

Assessment

  • When assigned, our intake team goes into the community to assess safety concerns in a family or home.
  • A variety of intervention services designed to make the family and home safe for the child as well as connecting families to their communities for support and resources are offered.
  • If the safety concerns are unable to be resolved, longer term assessment and services maybe provided through our permanency teams.

Our child protection permanency teams are responsible for the following services:

Open Cases

  • Families who are assessed at a higher risk are involved in a formal child welfare case and receive direct services from our permanency team until safety concerns are resolved.
  • Families with an open case are invited to a Listening to the Needs of Kids (LINKS) meeting at our office initially upon a case being open and every 90 days to address and set a plan to resolve safety concerns.
  • The safety plan sets up services for the family, such as substance abuse and mental health treatment for parents and children, therapy, parenting and life-skills training, and public assistance.

Out-of-Home Care

  • We strive to serve children and families in their own homes, when safe and possible.
  • If there is an immediate safety concern in the home, a child may be temporarily removed for their protection and court involvement might be necessary.
  • We strive to place children with kin (relatives and friends) whenever possible, but may have to use foster homes, group homes and residential treatment facilities for temporary care.
  • Parents whose children are placed in out-of-home care are invited to visit them frequently during scheduled parenting time at our offices in Aurora or Littleton.
  • Our main goal is reunifying children safely with their parents after safety concerns have been resolved.