When Is My Name Taken Off the Child Abuse Central Index?

Because you are reading this hub, chances are you got a letter in the mail from a California government agency telling you that your name was placed on California's Child Abuse Central Index (CACI). You probably immediately started searching the web to find more information on the CACI and how your name was placed on the CACI to begin with.

There are many ways in which your name could have gotten on the CACI. The most common way is that a mandated reporter, such as a therapist, counselor, day care provider, medical provider, or law enforcement officer suspected that your child had been either 1) physically abused, 2) emotionally abused, 3) physically neglected, or 4) emotionally neglected. Mandatory reporters report their suspicions to your county's Child Welfare Services or Child Protective Services. At that point, a social worker is assigned to investigate the allegations. Upon completion of his or her investigation, the social worker will determine whether the allegations were: 1) unfounded, 2) inconclusive, or 3) substantiated.

If the social worker and the local county agency, such as the Health and Human Services Agency, determine that the allegations against you are either inconclusive or substantiated, the county agency will send your name and other information to the California Department of Justice to be placed on the Child Abuse Central Index.  Find out if your name is on the CACI.

If the local government agency determines that the allegations against you are substantiated (meaning they believe the allegations to be true), then you will be placed on the CACI for the rest of your life, without the ability to take your name off the list for good behavior down the line.

If the accusations against you were found to be inconclusive (meaning the agency is not sure whether or not they are true), then your name will be placed on the CACI for 10 years.  Once ten years has passed, the agency will review your case and see whether or you have been involved in any other potential child abuse or neglect.  If during those 10 years you had been reported to the CACI on at least one other occasion, you will stay on the CACI.  If during those 10 years you had no other incidents of child abuse or neglect, then you will have the opportunity to have your name taken off the CACI.

The only other way your name can come off the CACI is if you request, and win, a grievance hearing. When you were notified that your name was placed on CACI, you should also have been notified that you have a right to contest your placement on the list in a grievance hearing.

You have the right to testify, present your own evidence, have witnesses testify, cross examine the social worker who investigated your case, review all the evidence against you, and argue your defense to the local county agency.

The grievance hearing is rather informal--it does not take place in court. Instead, it is held at the local county building. The hearing officer is not a judge and is unlikely to have ever received formal legal training. The normal rules of evidence do not apply.

Because your grievance hearing is your only real shot to get your name off the CACI, you need to make it count. You have the right to be represented by legal counsel at the grievance hearing, and you should take advantage of that right.  Look for an experienced CACI Grievance Hearing attorney nearby to help you achieve your goals.