Accomplishments
Timely Contact with Families
When Special Investigations became its own program in November 2016, the immediate goal was to improve face-to-face contacts in child abuse and neglect investigations and to help CPS investigators locate children and families who were hard to find or trying to avoid CPS. Within eight months of the newly formed program, face-to-face contact compliance increased from 77.6 percent to 90.3 percent, which was an all-time high. This timely contact is the first major step in an investigation and timeliness increases the safety of children.
Workforce Development
Special Investigations provided forensic interview training to all CPS investigators in FY 2017. In this training, special investigators taught specific techniques for conducting insightful interviews that help the investigator get to the truth. Building the interviewing skills of CPS caseworkers makes them better able to protect children from abuse or neglect.