The District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency’s Child Protection Services (CPS) administration is responsible for investigating alleged abuse and neglect reported to the agency, determining the legitimacy of the alleged maltreatment, and deciding if children need to be removed from home due to safety concerns or whether a family requires in-home services in order to remain intact. Allegations of maltreatment receive one of three dispositions (or Assessment Findings) as defined below:

A. Substantiated: A report which is supported by credible evidence that a child (ren) was/were abused or neglected and this credible evidence is not against the weight of the evidence.

B. Inconclusive: A report which cannot be proven to be either substantiated or unfounded.

C. Unfounded: A report which is made maliciously or in bad faith or which has no basis in fact.

FTSD