The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) administers child protective and child welfare services designed to protect children from child abuse and neglect.
 
Suspected child abuse or neglect may be reported to the DCYF Child Protective Services (CPS) office or to law enforcement.  If the CPS determines that a report is credible and meets screening criteria, it will assign either a 24-hour investigation response or 72-hour family assessment response, depending on the severity of the allegation.
 
Anyone, including the DCYF, may file a petition in court alleging that a child should be a dependent of the state due to abuse, neglect, or because there is no parent, guardian, or custodian capable of adequately caring for the child.  If a court determines that a child is dependent, the court will conduct periodic reviews and make determinations regarding the child's placement, provision of services by the DCYF, and compliance and progress of the parents.

By September 1, 2023, the DCYF, in consultation with the Department of Health, must produce a child malnutrition field guide and make the field guide available to the DCYF staff.  This field guide must:

• be concise, but provide references to additional comprehensive and trauma-informed resources for the DCYF staff to access if needed;
• be easily accessible by the DCYF staff;
• describe how to identify signs of child malnutrition;
• include appropriate questions to ask the child and others close to the child when child malnutrition is suspected;
• include the appropriate next steps the DYCF staff may take when child malnutrition is suspected; and
• include any additional information the DCYF deems relevant.