Child Protective Investigations (CPI) conducts either a traditional investigation or Alternative Response (AR). Traditional investigations and Alternative Response require caseworkers to assess safety and take needed actions to protect a child while assessing any risk of abuse or neglect in the foreseeable future. AR cases present a less adversarial more collaborative approach to working with families by allowing for family engagement along with other community supports to ensure child safety. AR differs from traditional investigations in that AR cases are Priority 2 cases involving victims who are age 6 or older, there is no substantiation of allegations, no entry of perpetrators into the Central Registry (a repository for reports of child abuse and neglect), and there is a heightened focus on guiding the family to plan for safety in a way that works for them and therefore sustains the safety.
Completed investigations only include those cases conducted as a traditional investigation that were not administratively closed or merged into another stage. Investigations may include more than one alleged victim.
All allegations in a completed investigation are given one of the following dispositions:
Reason to Believe (RTB) - defined in section 2281.2 of the CPS policy handbook
Ruled Out (RO) - defined in section 2281.3 of CPS policy handbook
Unable to Complete (UTC) - defined in section 2281.4 of CPS policy handbook
Unable to Determine (UTD) - defined in section 2281.4 of CPS policy handbook
If at least one allegation has an RTB disposition, the investigation is given an overall disposition of RTB. If there are no allegations with an RTB disposition but there is at least one allegation with a disposition of UTD, the investigation is given an overall disposition of UTD.
Visit dfps.texas.gov for information on CPI Abuse/Neglect Investigations and all DFPS programs.