Expert Social Work Consultation for CPS: Safety and Medical Consultation Findings

As a report to Child Protective Services (CPS) only requires a suspicion of maltreatment, CPS may not clearly understand the concerns. For injury reports made by healthcare providers, expert medical consultation can assist CPS. However, these consults are often not immediate. In North Carolina, the Regional Abuse and Medical Specialist (RAMS) team was created to assist with: (a) improving CPS – healthcare communication and (b) adhering to child welfare policy. We completed a secondary data analysis of RAMS consults for children 3 years of age and younger with injuries reported to CPS by healthcare providers. Of the 551 consultations, 13.8% did not have a concern for a poorly explained/unexplained injury after RAMS consult and ongoing CPS-healthcare communication. For 19.4% of cases, RAMS provided educational support regarding the policy supported safety plan. Expert medical consultation policy was followed in 79.3% of eligible cases. RAMS is a promising model to assist CPS investigations.