{"id":4708,"date":"2026-08-17T15:18:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T22:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.sandiegocounty.gov\/?post_type=department&#038;p=4708"},"modified":"2026-08-17T17:27:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T00:27:49","slug":"how-we-investigate-child-abuse-and-handle-cases","status":"publish","type":"department","link":"https:\/\/www.sandiegocounty.gov\/es\/department\/cfwb\/how-we-investigate-child-abuse-and-handle-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"How we investigate child abuse and handle cases"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 id=\"h-our-goals\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" data-toc=\"true\">Nuestros objetivos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trabajamos con las familias y la comunidad para responder y prevenir el abandono y el abuso infantil. Nuestro objetivo es fortalecer a las familias para que los ni\u00f1os crezcan seguros y protegidos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tenemos la obligaci\u00f3n legal de responder a las denuncias de abuso y negligencia infantil. Nuestro personal est\u00e1 capacitado para ayudar a las familias y comunidades a planificar la seguridad de los ni\u00f1os.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-we-get-a-report\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" data-toc=\"true\">Recibimos un informe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When someone calls our child abuse hotline with concerns about a child, we ask the caller questions about the child\u2019s safety. We review the report and decide whether the issue is serious enough to investigate. Child Abuse Hotline: (800) 344-6000<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-how-we-make-decisions\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" data-toc=\"true\">C\u00f3mo tomamos decisiones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Utilizamos la toma de decisiones estructurada, un conjunto de herramientas basadas en evidencia que nos ayudan a determinar:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Si investigar o no<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>La seguridad de un ni\u00f1o<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Riesgo de da\u00f1o futuro a un ni\u00f1o<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-we-investigate\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" data-toc=\"true\">Investigamos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Un trabajador social se re\u00fane con la familia del ni\u00f1o y sus allegados para hablar sobre las preocupaciones de seguridad. Recopilamos pruebas para determinar si existen preocupaciones de seguridad. Si las hay, trabajamos con la familia y su red de apoyo para resolverlas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-if-child-is-safe\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">If child is safe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Si determinamos que un ni\u00f1o est\u00e1 seguro en el hogar, cerramos la investigaci\u00f3n. Suele tardar unos 30 d\u00edas en completarse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tambi\u00e9n derivamos a las familias a otros servicios durante la investigaci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-if-child-is-not-safe\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">If child is not safe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Si determinamos que el ni\u00f1o no est\u00e1 seguro, abrimos un caso voluntario u ordenado por el tribunal para la familia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-we-open-a-case\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" data-toc=\"true\">Abrimos un caso<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trabajamos con la familia para crear un plan para la seguridad de su hijo. Tambi\u00e9n conectamos a la familia con recursos en la comunidad de una de las siguientes maneras:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-create-support-network\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Crear una red de apoyo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Durante una investigaci\u00f3n o un caso abierto, un trabajador social colabora con la familia para identificar familiares y miembros de la comunidad que puedan constituir una red de apoyo. Esta red ayuda a la familia a mantener a sus hijos seguros y a prosperar tras el cierre del caso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-voluntary-services\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Servicios voluntarios<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ofrecemos servicios voluntarios cuando creemos que una familia puede mantener a su hijo seguro sin la intervenci\u00f3n del tribunal. La familia debe comprometerse a colaborar con nosotros durante al menos seis meses y esforzarse por cumplir los objetivos de su plan de caso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-juvenile-court\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tribunal de menores<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Abrimos un caso en el tribunal de menores si:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Una familia no puede mantener a un ni\u00f1o seguro sin la supervisi\u00f3n judicial.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A child falls under any of the following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bing.com\/search?q=california%20state%20webpage%20listing%20WIC%20300%20a-j%20laws&amp;qs=n&amp;form=QBRE&amp;sp=-1&amp;ghc=1&amp;lq=0&amp;pq=california%20state%20webpage%20listing%20wic%20300%20a-j%20laws&amp;sc=12-49&amp;sk=&amp;cvid=9C30EDECFEAB4F8B95768B0B64D30449\">Welfare and Institutions Codes (WIC) 300a-j<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seg\u00fan el caso, el ni\u00f1o puede vivir dentro o fuera del hogar familiar durante este per\u00edodo. El caso puede permanecer abierto al menos seis meses mientras la familia trabaja para resolver los problemas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-when-a-child-cannot-safely-live-at-home\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" data-toc=\"true\">Cuando un ni\u00f1o no puede vivir seguro en casa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Si el tribunal decide que no es seguro que el ni\u00f1o viva en casa, colaboramos con su familia para identificar a personas que puedan cuidarlo. Intentamos que el ni\u00f1o se quede en un entorno familiar para reducir el trauma que experimenta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hasta que pueda volver a casa, el ni\u00f1o puede vivir con:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Relativo<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Amigo de la familia<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hogar de acogida autorizado en la comunidad<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Es posible que el ni\u00f1o permanezca por un corto tiempo en el Centro Infantil Polinsky mientras encontramos una buena opci\u00f3n de hogar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The court will give the family a timeline to take certain steps before the child can go home. If the family does not meet the requirements, we work with the family to explore other long-term options. This could include identifying a guardian or adoptive family who can permanently support the child\u2019s well-being. \u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Steps in the process and how we make decisions. [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sandiegocounty.gov\/es\/department\/cfwb\/how-we-investigate-child-abuse-and-handle-cases\/\">Read More&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> from How we investigate child abuse and handle cases<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":2349,"menu_order":0,"template":"page-templates\/about.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4708","department","type-department","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.2 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How we investigate child abuse and handle cases - County of San Diego<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Understand steps from when someone makes a report, to when we investigate, to what happens when a child cannot safely stay home.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sandiegocounty.gov\/es\/departamento\/cfwb\/how-we-investigate-child-abuse-and-handle-cases\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How we investigate child abuse and handle cases\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Understand steps from when someone makes a report, to when we investigate, to what happens when a child cannot safely stay home.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sandiegocounty.gov\/es\/departamento\/cfwb\/how-we-investigate-child-abuse-and-handle-cases\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"County of San Diego\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sandiegocounty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-18T00:27:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sandiegocounty.gov\/uploads\/2025\/10\/County-logo-OpenGraph-1200x630-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SanDiegoCounty\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sandiegocounty.gov\\\/department\\\/cfwb\\\/how-we-investigate-child-abuse-and-handle-cases\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.sandiegocounty.gov\\\/department\\\/cfwb\\\/how-we-investigate-child-abuse-and-handle-cases\\\/\",\"name\":\"How we investigate child abuse and handle cases - 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