Child Protective Services Child Abduction/Recovery/Intervention Program
The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Service's Child Abduction/ Recovery Program offers diverse services to both to their own agency and Dependent Children, as well as children recovered in L.A. County but originally abducted from another county/state or even internationally. The Program is part of an Inter-agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect (ICAN) Multi-Disciplinary Team begun in May, 1991 and funded by the OJJDP in Washington D.C. The team meets 10 times per year to discuss all cases and pool the member's expertise to assist in recovery and successful reunification. The team members consist of local private agencies, such as the non-profit agency of Find the Children (the lead agency), mental health agencies such as DiDi Hirsch Community Mental Health, as well as local, state and federal agencies, such as the Department of Children and Family Services, Legal Aid Services of L.A. and Long Beach, the Office of the County Counsel, L.A. County District Attorney Child Abduction Unit, LAPD, LASD and the FBI.
The DCFS Program accepts referrals on all children who have been abducted from DCFS jurisdiction. This includes Voluntary Family Maintenance Contract agreements and Voluntary Placement agreements, attempts to take children into protective custody and dependent children of the Juvenile Court. Assistance is offered to the regional staff in obtaining the appropriate law enforcement reports and requests are forwarded to the Office of the County Counsel for preparation of 3130 orders and Hague Treaty applications, as appropriate. Photographs are obtained and forwarded to Find the Children (FTC) for preparation of flyers to be distributed to the areas where the child is believed to have been taken. FTC has a website and also contracts with vending machine companies and trucking companies to name a few, to distribute the flyers for maximum benefit. When the children are recovered, referrals are made to one of the above mentioned mental health therapeutic agencies for specialized therapy surrounding the issues of abduction, possible abuse during the abduction and the recovery itself.
The DCFS Program also offers services to all children who have been abducted from other jurisdictions and recovered in L.A. County. Background checks are performed on the abductors and the custodial (left-behind) parents, and Interventions arranged with appropriate professions and familial parties. Follow up services are also provided to the family when the child(ren) returns to their home jurisdictions.
Content written by Linda Quintana-Mansouri, CPS Consultant to Los Angeles County.
For Information and Resources:
Please contact Xiomara Flores-Holguin, Children Services Administrator, Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, email: florex@dcfs.lacounty.gov or call (213) 700-9921.
