social services report a child in danger

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How to Make an Anonymous CPS Report Online & Over the Phone

Last Updated: January 6, 2024 Fact Checked

How to Anonymously Report to CPS

• State Phone Numbers & Websites

Other Important Hotlines

• Who Can Report

How to Recognize Child Abuse

This article was co-authored by Clinton M. Sandvick, JD, PhD and by wikiHow staff writer, Janice Tieperman . Clinton M. Sandvick worked as a civil litigator in California for over 7 years. He received his JD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998 and his PhD in American History from the University of Oregon in 2013. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 385,183 times.

Any suspected child abuse or neglect is a serious issue, and it’s important to report it to Child Protective Services (CPS) as soon as possible. In the United States, CPS is managed on a state level, so it’s essential to contact your state’s CPS branch online or over the phone to make an anonymous report. We’ll walk you through everything you need to know about the reporting process, including useful phone numbers, websites, and hotlines. We’ll also cover the different types of child abuse and how to recognize them so you can be as informed as possible when making your report.

Things You Should Know

• Make an anonymous report online or over the phone using your state’s designated website and phone number.
• Provide as much detail as you can in your report, including the events or observations that caused you to suspect abuse.
• Call the Childhelp National Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 for additional advice on how to report child abuse.

• Check the State Phone Numbers & Websites for Reporting section below to find the best ways to report child abuse in your state.

• “Whenever I see Jake, an 8-year-old kid in my neighborhood, he’s always covered in bruises. I’m worried that his parents might be abusing him at home.”
• “Casey Perkins, a 12-year-old in my child’s class, frequently comes to school in dirty clothes, and she has an obvious body odor. My child also notices that she asks other students for part of their lunches—I’m concerned that she might be neglected at home.”
• “I volunteer at a summer camp, and I’m seriously concerned that Randall Ramirez, a 9-year-old kid there, might be getting sexually abused at home. They always seem to be in pain when they’re sitting down, and they tested positive for an STI at the infirmary.”

• Call the Childhelp Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 to learn if/how you can follow up on your case.

State Phone Numbers & Websites for Reporting

• * means that the website is meant for mandated reporters only
• ** means that the website may be unavailable

• Childhelp also offers text support at the same number and live chat support on their website.

• Keep in mind that CyberTipline is meant to report online child abuse, not adult abuse. If someone has posted inappropriate content of an adult online, visit the Stop Non-Consensual Image Abuse website or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center .

Who can make an anonymous CPS report?

• Visit the Child Welfare Information Gateway's website for more information about mandatory reporters.

• The child is absent often.
• The child doesn’t dress appropriately for the weather.
• The child seems filthy and smells bad.
• The child requests food and/or steals money from others. [7] X Trustworthy Source Child Welfare Information Gateway Online portal managed by the U.S. Children's Bureau providing resources related to childcare and abuse prevention Go to source

• A child with visible injuries (e.g., bruises, burns, bites, etc.).
• A child who’s visibly afraid of their parent or guardian.
• A child who’s fearful of adults.
• A child with disappearing injuries after being away from school. [9] X Trustworthy Source Child Welfare Information Gateway Online portal managed by the U.S. Children's Bureau providing resources related to childcare and abuse prevention Go to source

• A child with polarizing types of behavior (e.g., being incredibly submissive then being incredibly aggressive).
• A child who’s behind their peers when it comes to emotional development and maturity.
• A child who acts extremely mature or extremely juvenile.
• A child who has tried to take their own life in the past. [11] X Trustworthy Source Child Welfare Information Gateway Online portal managed by the U.S. Children's Bureau providing resources related to childcare and abuse prevention Go to source

• The child has trouble sitting down or walking around.
• The child mentions wetting the bed or having bad dreams.
• The child is uncomfortable switching clothes for gym class or doing physical things.
• The child gets pregnant or tests positive for an STI/STD. [13] X Trustworthy Source Child Welfare Information Gateway Online portal managed by the U.S. Children's Bureau providing resources related to childcare and abuse prevention Go to source

Expert Q&A

• Check out resources like ChildWelfare , HHS , MayoClinic , and KidsHealth to learn more about child abuse. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0
• If you’re ever confused about any part of the child abuse reporting process, call or text the Childhelp Hotline at 1-800-422-4453, or visit their website to chat with a professional. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0

• If you suspect that a child’s life is in danger because of their abuse, call 911 rather than your state’s abuse hotline. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/responding/reporting/how/
• ↑ https://www.childhelphotline.org/how-it-works/
• ↑ https://mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/child-abuse/symptoms-causes/syc-20370864
• ↑ https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/signs.pdf
• ↑ https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/child-abuse/symptoms-causes/syc-20370864
• ↑ https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/can/identifying/emotional-abuse/
• ↑ https://hside.org/child-abuse-signs-symptoms/#types

About This Article

To make an anonymous report to child protective services, start by collecting as much information as you can about the situation, such as the child’s name, their parent’s names, address, age, and a description of their abuse or neglect. Since there are many child protective services across the country, call ChildHelp on 1-800-422-4453, who will direct you to the relevant authority. Alternatively, search online for your state or region, followed by “Child abuse hotline” to find the right organization for your area. However, if you suspect that a child is in immediate danger, don’t hesitate to call 911. For more tips from our Legal co-author, including how to report child abuse or neglect in writing, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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• Crime, justice and the law
• Reporting crimes

Report child abuse

If you’re worried that a child or young person is at risk or is being abused contact the children’s social care team at their local council .

You’ll be asked for your details, but you can choose not to share them.

Call 999 if the child is at immediate risk.

If it’s not an emergency, you can report the crime online or call 101.

Calls to 999 or 101 are free.

What to report

Child abuse includes physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and neglect. You can read more about the signs of child abuse .

You don’t need to be sure that a child or young person has been abused - it’s OK to report a suspicion.

What happens when you report it

The person who answers your call will decide what to do. For example, they might:

• gather more information
• ask a social worker to look into it
• contact the police, if they think the child is at immediate risk or a crime has been committed

The children’s social care team will tell you what happens next, but they will not be able to give you any confidential information.

Contact the NSPCC if you want to discuss your concerns and get advice.

NSPCC (for adults) Telephone: 0808 800 5000 Find out about call charges

ChildLine (for children and young people) Telephone: 0800 1111 (free)

The ChildLine number will not show up on your phone bill if you call from a landline or from most mobile networks.

Report child abuse in education

NSPCC (for children, young people and adults) Telephone: 0800 136 663 (free)

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What Might Happen After a Report Is Filed?

Usually the identity of the person who filed the report remains confidential. Typically CPS and/or police do not share information with anybody about the progress of an investigation – even with a protective parent. This can feel frustrating, especially if the process is moving slowly.

Reports are reviewed for investigation

Once a report of child abuse has been made, the protective authorities (either child protective services or the police), decide whether or not to follow up the report. When a report is “screened in,” it means that protective authorities will follow up with an investigation. When it is “screened out,” it means that the report will not be investigated.

Reports can be “screened out”

When a report is “screened out," no action is taken, or the report is transferred to a more appropriate agency. Usually, a report is “screened out” when:

• There’s not enough information on which to base an investigation
• CPS or police judge the information to be inaccurate or false
• The information in the report doesn’t meet definitions for child abuse or neglect used by the protective authorities

When reports are “screened in”

When the protective authorities decide that the report may indicate child abuse, they must investigate the suspected abuse within a time period specified by state law, typically within 24 or 48 hours or up to 5 days, depending on the state. Sometimes there is a “preliminary” investigation to gather more information to determine whether or not they will proceed with a full investigation. However, when it is judged that there is no immediate danger to a child, CPS is allowed more time before they begin an investigation.

Who participates in the investigation?

Investigations may be managed by child protective services, by the police, or by both. Where criminal acts may have taken place, only the police can make arrests. The team of professionals involved in investigations can include a protective services worker, a doctor, therapist, social worker and law enforcement officials. Interviews may be held with the child, a non-offending parent, and the person suspected of sexually abusing. Sometime interviews are also held with the child’s brothers and sisters, and anyone else who may have knowledge about possible danger to the child such as neighbors, teachers, child care providers, doctors and therapists. As part of the investigation, the child is sometimes given a physical exam for the purpose of collecting evidence or attending to medical needs. Legally admissible confessions or disclosures often must be made directly to an investigator or professional.

The child interview

Interviews of the child should be held in locations where children feel safe. Generally, a child is not interviewed in their home; however, they may be interviewed at their school or therapist’s office. If there is a Child Advocacy Center (CAC) in your community, you may be referred there for interviews and/or medical exams. CAC’s are centers especially designed to provide a child-friendly environment where the professionals who see the children have been trained in child interviewing and assessment.

When the investigation substantiates that abuse has taken place

If the investigation indicates that a child has been sexually abused, interventions are taken to protect the child from immediate harm. Police are also involved when criminal acts have taken place. Once the child is out of immediate danger, CPS decides what kind of follow-up actions are needed to keep the child safe. Follow-up actions might include ongoing supervision by the Department of Social Services, services for the whole family, as well as for the abused child, including counseling and support programs.

Often parents are frightened that children will be removed from the home. Remember that removing a child is always the very last resort that is considered. This is only done when it is confirmed that a child is not safe in their home due to the protective adult’s inability to prevent harm or adequately care for the child.

When abuse is not substantiated

After an investigation has been conducted, a case is considered unsubstantiated if the protective authorities determine that no abuse has taken place, or if there was not enough evidence to prove the suspected abuse took place. It can be extremely upsetting and disappointing when a parent believes their child is being abused but can’t get protection for the child from the system because of a lack of evidence.

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Safeguarding children: reporting suspected abuse, neglect or harm

Are you worried that a child or young person is at risk? 

There are some common signs that a young person may be at risk of harm, abuse or neglect. These could include:

• unexplained changes in behaviour or personality
• becoming withdrawn
• seeming anxious
• becoming uncharacteristically aggressive
• lacks social skills and has few friends, if any
• poor bond or relationship with a parent
• knowledge of adult issues inappropriate for their age
• running away or going missing
• always choosing to wear clothes which cover their body 

For more information about types of abuse and more signs of abuse visit the NSPCC webpages .

Sometimes these signs may not be obvious but if you feel there is something wrong make the call - don’t think 'what if I’m wrong', think 'what if I’m right'.

Your call can make the difference in keeping a child safe and you can share your concerns anonymously.  

If they are in immediate danger call 999. If it’s not an emergency, call your local social services. Alternatively, you can call 101.

The contact information for social services is available via your local safeguarding boards.

Contact your local safeguarding board

Blaenau gwent county borough council.

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council contact Gwent Safeguarding Children Board

Bridgend County Borough Council

Bridgend County Borough Council contact Cwm Taf Morgannwg Safeguarding Children Board  

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Caerphilly County Borough Council contact Gwent Safeguarding Children Board

Cardiff Council

Cardiff Council contact Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Regional Safeguarding Board

Carmarthenshire County Council

Carmarthenshire County Council contact Mid and West Wales Safeguarding Children Board

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Ceredigion County Council contact Mid and West Wales Safeguarding Children Board

City and County of Swansea

City and County of Swansea contact West Glamorgan Safeguarding Board

Conwy County Borough Council

Conwy County Borough Council contact North Wales Safeguarding Children Board

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Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council contact Cwm Taf Morgannwg Safeguarding Children Board  

Monmouthshire County Council 

Monmouthshire County Council contact Gwent Safeguarding Children Board

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Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council contact West Glamorgan Safeguarding Board

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Newport City Council contact Gwent Safeguarding Children Board

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Powys County Council contact Mid and West Wales Safeguarding Children Board

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Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council contact Cwm Taf Morgannwg Safeguarding Children Board  

Torfaen County Borough Council

Torfaen County Borough Council contact Gwent Safeguarding Children Board

Vale of Glamorgan County Borough Council

Vale of Glamorgan County Borough Council contact Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Regional Safeguarding Board

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Wrexham County Borough Council contact North Wales Safeguarding Children Board

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Resources & Information

Recognizing and reporting suspected child abuse: a clinician’s guide.

The following article has been shared with you:

 Comments on this article:

Understanding the importance of reporting child abuse, I am disappointed that this article did not give more practical advice about how to recognize child abuse when it exists.  Do we report every child that comes in with a long bone fracture and facial bruises?  What about every child with a head contusion or laceration?  I would appreciate an article that gives us practical information on how to spot potential abuse. By Jane Reinoso, PA-C on Jul 13, 2010 at 11:30am

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Report suspected child abuse or neglect to the Department of Social Services (DSS) county office or the local law enforcement agency

Report suspected abuse and neglect.

If you suspect a child is being harmed, reporting those suspicions to the S.C. Department of Social Services may protect him or her and get help for the family. Any concerned person can report suspicions of child abuse or neglect. Reporting your concerns is not making an accusation, rather, it is a request for an investigation and assessment to determine if help is needed.

Law enforcement officers can also file reports of potential abuse or neglect and ask DSS to investigate.

IF YOU BELIEVE A CHILD TO BE IN IMMEDIATE PHYSICAL DANGER, PLEASE CALL 911.

Life-threatening emergency: Call 911

If a child is in a life-threatening emergency, please call 911

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Make a non-emergency referral 24-hours a day: 1-888-227-3487

Make non-emergency referrals online

Mandated reporters.

Because of their profession, mandated reporters are required by South Carolina law to report any suspected abuse to the appropriate authorities. The Children’s Law Center at the University of South Carolina offers mandated reporter training.

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Safe haven law

If a new parent is in crisis, a special prevention law is in place to help ensure that the infant is safety surrendered into the hands of caring professionals and not abandoned to what could be a dangerous situation.

A person who leaves a newborn up to 60 days old cannot be prosecuted for abandonment if he or she takes the unharmed baby to staff or an employee of a safe haven.

Safe havens are defined as a hospital or hospital outpatient facility, law enforcement agencies, fire stations, emergency medial services (EMS) stations or a house of worship during the time the church or synagogue is staffed.

This law is also known as Daniel's Law, named for a child abandoned and found alive in a landfill.

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Home » How Do I Call In a Report? » What Criteria Must Be Met?

What Criteria Must Be Met?

Five criteria cps needs to register a report:.

You do not need to be certain that child abuse or neglect has occurred before you call the Child Abuse Hotline . However, you do need to have a reasonable suspicion . When you call, Child Abuse Hotline staff member will ask you to explain the information and circumstances that caused your suspicion.

Child Abuse Hotline staff members must use the five criteria based on state law to assess each call. Hotline staff will ask you about the child, the child’s family or persons legally responsible for the child and the circumstances in which you believe abuse or neglect took place. CPS needs this information in order to register a report . “Registering” a report means that CPS has enough information to follow up with the family and begin an investigation .

If you have a reasonable suspicion that abuse or neglect has occurred, you should always call the Hotline. If all of the necessary information is not available when you call the Hotline, CPS cannot register the report and may make other recommendations.

Below are the five criteria CPS uses to assess each call to the Hotline.

For Parenting Help: Call 1-800-CHILDREN   |   Report Suspected Child Abuse: Call 1-800-552-7096

Report Child Abuse & Neglect in Virginia 

The Virginia Child Abuse & Neglect

1-800-552-7096

(Voice/TTY)

Call 911   if a Child is in Immediate Danger

If you are concerned about the abuse or neglect of a child or if a child tells you that they are the victim of neglect or abuse, please report it by calling 1-800-552-7096. While it helps, you do not have to give your name and you do not have to provide evidence when providing a report in Virginia. If a child is in immediate danger in Virginia, call 911.

Although deciding to report suspected child abuse can be difficult, it is the vital first step toward protecting a child who might be in danger.  The Department of Social Services' Child Protective Service workers can follow up. They have the legal responsibility to ensure the safety of children and to provide support to their families whenever possible. Last year, there were more than 50,000 reports of child abuse or neglect to Virginia’s city and county departments of social services.

Click here for detailed descriptions of the general physical and behavioral indicators of all types of child abuse.  

If I See Abuse, Should I Report It?

Witnesses to abuse or neglect may experience anger, dread or anxiety, and they will certainly experience a lot of confusion. Although deciding to report suspected child abuse can be a difficult process, it is an important first step toward protecting a child who might be in danger.

How Do I Report Abuse or Neglect?

To report suspected abuse, call the local Department of Social Services where the child lives or where the abuse occurred during the day when the office is open.  Check the phone number in your area under government listings.  Ask for Child Protective Services and give them the name, approximate age of the child(ren) and a description of what is happening. You can also call the Virginia Child Abuse Hotline 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-800-552-7096.  If a child is in immediate danger, call 911.  You are not required to give your name, but it helps.

Did you know you can no longer report child abuse anonymously to Child Protective Services?

D id you know that everyone is required to report child abuse, even if you don't work with children? It's a Class A misdemeanor if you don't. 

“Everybody in Texas is a mandatory reporter. Everybody, whether you work professionally with children or you pour concrete for a living,” said Carrie Wilcoxson, Owner of Child and Family Case Consultant/Advocate.  

Wilcoxson is a former state child abuse investigator, and also helps draft child abuse laws.

April is National Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month.  Wilcoxson says it's an opportunity to remind the community that child abuse exist, and the importance of reporting. It's also a crime if you don't.

“It's a class A misdemeanor if you are required to report and you have information, and you knowingly, knowingly failed to report,” said Wilcoxson.

The new standard of reporting is now reasonable cause to believe, if you suspect a child is being abused, neglected, or in imminent danger.

“Calibrating the system and the triage process, so that we are helping our state front liners, our investigators, to focus on the right cases,” said Wilcoxson.

As of September 2023, your now required to report anonymous child abuse reports to law enforcement, not Child Protective Services.

“When somebody attempts to do so, the department is required by law to inform that person that they're not authorized, and that they should be contacting law enforcement,” said Wilcoxson.

As an investigator Wilcoxson investigated child abuse deaths, and says statistics show people who usually know the most about the abuse, family and friends don't report it. In most cases, Wilcoxson says when a child dies of abuse, if the person had reported it within 24 to 48 hours, a child's life could have been saved.

“If somebody has a reasonable cause to believe, that a child is in imminent or immediate life threatening danger, do not report that to CPS, that type of case requires a 9-1-1 call immediately,” said Wilcoxson.

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Unsupervised: Military Child Care Centers Slow to Report Abuse with Little Oversight

Kate and her husband Jeremy thought their youngest daughter Bella was just having a mild case of separation anxiety when they picked her up from her first day at the Ford Island Child Development Center near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam , Hawaii.

Bella's face was red and patchy, and her tiny voice was raspy from crying through the day. Their usually bubbly 15-month-old, with cheeks and limbs so adorably "chunky," went on to spend the next two days either hysterically crying or noticeably quiet and withdrawn. She wet herself at night for the first time in a while, her parents said, and she lost her appetite.

On the third day of going to the center in August 2022, she clutched at Kate as she was walked into the facility, crying out, 'Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, no."

Read Next: Military Pharmacies Return to Full Operation Following Breach by Transnational Hacking Group

In her gut, Kate felt something was wrong, but she'd been told separation anxiety was common. She had decided to go back to work, and she knew it was going to be a tough transition for Bella. Besides, Kate thought to herself, if something had happened at the day care, she or her husband, an intelligence officer in the Army , would have been told.

But the next day, Kate found bruises on Bella's thigh. Later, she would find out that her daughter's cheeks weren't just red and swollen from crying -- a day care worker had shoved a photo of Bella's parents into her face so hard that her little head had turned away a full 90 degrees as a second worker held her.

CCTV from the day care center that was checked only after Kate and Jeremy Kuykendall requested a review later revealed that Bella had been physically abused by at least two of the workers. She was pinched, shoved, smothered and pushed up against a wall, the Kuykendalls told Military.com.

"I just started crying and didn't know what to do," Kate said of the moment she found out about the abuse. "I felt like I failed her so much. She gave me all the signs, and I didn't listen, you know?"

No official police or command reports were filed on the day law enforcement responded to the first report of potential abuse. The day care failed to properly document the injuries or to tell the parents the full scope of what happened, aside from the story that Bella had been crying. It was only after more than a year that two of the three workers allegedly responsible for abuse were charged in a civilian court. Two of the workers involved were allowed to keep working for five months before one was fired and the other quit.

The Kuykendalls -- like most of the other nearly dozen military families interviewed during Military.com's investigation, most of whom requested that their names were withheld -- had run into a common dilemma: Getting even basic information from the military's day care system about what happened to their children requires jumping through enormous hoops over the course of months and years. Even when they are told their children were harmed, getting accountability seems impossible.

If their kids had been at civilian day care centers, local law in most states would have required immediate notification and documentation of incidents so that parents could take action. Military day care facilities aren't required to abide by those state laws and, in many cases, existing service policy would run afoul of those requirements.

The Military.com investigation into military day care centers revealed that service branch rules generally prioritize protecting the institution, keep parents in the dark while officials formulate a public relations response, and have minimal safeguards to guarantee accountability. Base commanders and military police units often don't know who is responsible for reporting and investigating allegations of abuse, allowing cases to slow to a crawl while offices shirk responsibility.

The publication interviewed a dozen families and their lawyers, all with similar stories of not being told when their child was injured and, in many cases, parents assuming hefty legal bills to force the military branches to tell them what happened.

The publication also reviewed hundreds of pages of military regulations and more than 1,000 pages of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, much of which was provided by the families. FOIAs are typically a process reserved for journalists and legal advocacy groups, and are a mechanism that can force the government to relinquish information. But in many cases, families had to go that route for basic information on how their child was injured or traumatized while at military day care.

"It's more about protecting the institution and the commander," Korvin Kraics, an attorney for one family said.

The lack of accountability comes as the Pentagon has struggled to staff its day cares. The Army, which makes up the lion's share of facilities, has its day cares staffed at only about 70%. Hiring quality staff has been a challenge, partly due to relatively low wages. In most cases, day care workers do not need any qualifications other than a high school diploma and most of the training is on the job -- although officials stressed that employees undergo comprehensive background checks.

And with child care costs rising meteorically across the country, Congress and senior military planners are eyeing a major expansion of day care services over the next decade to make sure troops can go to work. The Navy is currently building four more child care centers, with plans for an additional dozen in the next several years. For many military families, the subsidized care provided by bases may be their only option.

The Army's regulation on managing day cares details how best to protect the institution, including tight coordination with numerous echelons before parents can be told anything. This set of instructions includes coordination with public affairs if the incident risks garnering media attention. Public affairs is also instructed to provide guidance to day care management and commanders before talking to parents.

Eight families interviewed by Military.com whose children were injured or otherwise had some incident were never given copies of the incident report form -- something commonly provided at civilian day cares in the private sector.

Families who have dealt with harm to their children at facilities managed by the Navy criticized the speed at which they were told about incidents with their children while Navy officials have said their policies don't mandate speedy notification.

Throughout the monthslong effort to hold Bella's abusers accountable, the Kuykendalls ran into instance after instance of command components either denying their ability to act or shifting the responsibility to a different office.

In a Jan. 24, 2023, meeting with Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam garrison leaders and the Judge Advocate General office, base leadership acknowledged the overall failures of the reporting system but ultimately placed the blame not on the policy, but on individuals and on the Honolulu Police Department.

"How did HPD not take the case? Why did they not take the case? Why did it sit on CID's [the base Criminal Investigation Division] desk and not communicate with HPD that next day to pick it up?" Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam garrison deputy, Lt. Col. Jenell Macias, told the Kuykendalls in a conversation, according to the couple. Military.com reviewed documentation that verified their account. The base's public affairs office directed a request for comment about the conversation Macias had with the Kuykendalls to Navy Public Affairs, who did not respond ahead of publication. "A lot of that stuff that happened was wrong," Macias told them. "A lot of it is written like it's supposed to be, but people just didn't do it."

Later, during a March 2023 meeting with officials, including JAG officers, regarding getting access to footage and details on what happened to the offending employees, the Kuykendalls were told that the day care was not responsible for making decisions on consequences. That choice allegedly lies with garrison personnel or higher, they said.

"There's too much shit that happened to our child here," Jeremy Kuykendall said. "[The people that were supposed to help] all failed. The cops failed … and the Navy sure as fuck failed."

When Military.com reached out to the Pentagon about the issues that families highlighted and the apparent gaps in policies the reviewed cases and documents demonstrated, leaders said that abuse by employees is not tolerated.

"Gaining and maintaining the trust of our service members and their families is sacred; we remain relentless in our pursuit to dedicate resources, services, policies and programs to support them, especially during difficult times," Patricia Montes Barron, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community & family policy, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Vice Adm. Scott Gray, the head of Navy Installations Command and the man who oversees the service's child care centers, said that "incidents are rare" and said that the Navy "takes swift action to report and thoroughly review each incident against our own policies, practices and staffing to prevent future occurrences; hold violators accountable; and provide the safest care environment possible."

The Army did not provide a statement from its leadership and declined to provide interviews ahead of publication.

Weaponized ignorance

Questions about who is responsible for incidents at military child care centers were prevalent in nearly every case described by families to Military.com and appeared to be driven in large part by the fact that the services' policies create a complex web of reporting requirements that involved agencies whose jurisdictions either included or excluded military installations as part of their mandate.

Military officials overseeing the actual operation of the centers have repeatedly said that their responsibility is simply to spot abuse and make reports to the appropriate agencies. However, the policies covering that mandate are weak.

At Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California, emails between officials show that it took months before leadership realized that the videos at their center weren't being reviewed, meaning potential incidents could have been occurring and supervisors wouldn't have noticed.

Navy policy does not compel officials to review those recordings with any regularity, and centers have to keep footage for only 30 days -- potential problems that parents at China Lake would later raise with the base commander in a public forum.

The discovery that conditions weren't being monitored at that base happened after a new interim head for the center was installed in October 2022, who "observed conditions and actions by staff that were 'concerning,'" China Lake's commander, Capt. Jeremy Vaughan , told his boss in an email on Oct. 20, 2022.

Vaughan directed a three-day closure of the center for a "safety stand-down" as well as staff training. He also ordered a full review of the footage they had.

Four days later, the interim director who had raised the alarm, Mary Graves, would write an email informing Vaughan and others that seven employees were being placed on administrative leave.

One employee of the center turned herself in that day to local law enforcement to face charges of felony child abuse, emails show. Officials also were aware of another staff member who resigned in August after being accused of child abuse.

But the Navy didn't tell parents or the public about any of these suspensions or arrests at the time; it wouldn't be until early in November 2022 -- when staff were finally able to review 30 days of video -- that officials would start to notify parents of the mistreatment violations that they were discovering in the footage.

A base spokeswoman then told Military.com on Nov. 9 that three employees violated its “touch” policy, the rules that dictate physical interactions with kids.

A police document reviewed by Military.com said that Graves called base police on Nov. 1 to see the footage. According to the document, in one instance a caretaker grabbed a child's toe hard enough for him to start crying and then placed him on a changing table and appeared to hold their hands over his nose and mouth for about 20 seconds.

In another incident, a caretaker grabbed a child by the arm; minutes later, she made him stand away from the other children who were singing a song. The boy was crying and still trying to participate, making hand motions that go along with the song from afar.

According to the Navy Child and Youth Programs Guidance and Touch Policy , "rejecting ... ignoring [and] isolating" children is prohibited.

When Military.com began reporting about the "touch violations" at China Lake in 2022, a Navy spokesperson stressed that, according to their policy, commonly known by the acronym CAPER , "Once touch policy violations are discovered, they must be substantiated." Substantiated violations are then reported internally to the Family Advocacy Program, or FAP, and, in the case of China Lake, outside the military to California's Child Protective Services, or CPS.

However, Jana Slagle, an official with Kern County, the municipality where China Lake is located, told Military.com that CPS doesn't handle those cases.

"CPS has jurisdiction over any kind of abuse that might happen from a parent in a home setting," she said, before adding that "if something criminal happened in a day care, like sexual abuse or physical abuse -- which those are considered criminal -- then law enforcement would also be involved in the day care."

Jason Montiel, a spokesman for California's Department of Social Services -- the agency that licenses day care facilities in the state -- also told Military.com in an email that "child day care facilities located on military facilities are subject to regulatory oversight by the Department of Defense" and not his agency.

Even Vaughan, China Lake's commander, seemed unsure of how the relationship with state officials is set up.

In a November email, more than a week after his child care center officials told some parents their children were victims of abuse at the hands of employees, Vaughan sent an email to a person whose name was redacted and asked:

"Question about DoD/Navy CDC relationship w/ the host state: What is the relationship w/ the

State of California? What State inspection cycle is typical for a civilian-run entity? What is our DoD/Navy equivalent?"

When asked about this discrepancy in mandates, Navy officials said that all their child care professionals "are mandated reporters for incidents of suspected child maltreatment" and as such "are required by law to report known or suspected child abuse to Child Protective Services (CPS)." However, CPS doesn’t have clear jurisdiction with day cares on federal property.

Even once a "touch violation" is substantiated and reported, a Navy spokesperson said that the service's policy "does not dictate a timeline to inform parents," and the policy itself says that only a handful of officials are authorized to actually talk. Determining who will investigate can also become an issue.

Kate Kuykendall, Bella's mom, was told that, because the incidents with her daughter in Hawaii were "civilian on civilian," military investigators with the Criminal Investigation Division would wait until the Honolulu Police Department decided whether it wanted to take the case before they would move forward with an investigation.

In the initial report by base police, however, the responding officer indicated that the base's criminal investigation division -- not to be confused with the Army's similarly named entity -- had taken over the case from base law enforcement, supposedly in conjunction with civilian police.

Emails from base leadership to the Kuykendalls in September and onward would also later show that CID was ordered to start an investigation in the immediate aftermath of the alert, regardless of the Honolulu Police Department's own involvement.

In the January 2023 meeting with Macias, the family was told that, "Everyone was waiting for someone to be the investigator."

Navy officials said that the policy is that "within 24 hours of receiving a report of suspected abuse, FAP must notify NCIS [the Naval Criminal Investigative Service], who will review the reported incident and decide if a criminal investigation is warranted."

NCIS did not fully get involved until February, seven months after the abuse took place and after the Kuykendalls filed an inspector general report with the service's headquarters component in Washington, D.C., over the lack of NCIS presence.

Even when teachers or caretakers aren't directly accused of malfeasance, parents aren't being told quickly when troubling things happen to their kids.

Across the country from Hawaii in December 2023, a child at the day care for the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania was touched inappropriately, likely by another child. Military.com is withholding the names of the children involved.

The 4-year-old child was touched by another child numerous times on Dec. 5 and 6, 2023, according to a redacted copy of the CID investigation; the director of that day care was notified immediately but the parents weren't told until Dec. 7. The child exhibited some behavioral changes months earlier, and one of the parents believes it was related. Investigators did not review footage before the incidents in December. It's unclear whether a day care worker was in the room observing the children, as required, during the incidents.

Sexual behavior between children is not one of the incidents clearly prescribed in Army policy that day cares have to document and report to parents, as is mandated by law in most states. In the bulk of civilian jurisdictions, day cares are mandated to document and report all incidents to parents immediately, or by the end of the day.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth in 2021 directed the service to bolster its regulations on day cares reporting incidents of sexual behavior to parents. Military.com asked the Army in January whether those policies were written and codified.

The service responded in April, only after being made aware of this story's publication, saying that policy had been finalized but was marked as Controlled Unclassified Information, or CUI.

While technically not a classification, CUI is meant to protect documents from being publicized easily -- including to parents, preventing them from knowing whether day cares their children attend adhere to service rules. Government transparency critics and lawmakers have argued that CUI is being stamped on many documents that do not contain material that is sensitive for national security purposes, but rather as a catchall to keep documents from being examined.

It's unclear why a policy on day care reporting standards would be concealed. The Army did not share the policy with Military.com.

Want to know what happened to your kids? That costs $15,000

In both the China Lake and Pearl Harbor cases, the parents of the injured children were initially told they would need to pay to have the videos of their incidents provided to them.

These videos are not only critical in giving parents evidence to pursue legal action but could offer important information about how to treat the children's injuries or trauma.

One Navy official warned a parent of a China Lake victim via email that "for every minute of video recording, it takes 4 hours of redaction work to blur the images" and noted that this could mean "40 hours of possible billable charges to you." Editing efforts would include removing footage that doesn't show the victims while also blurring faces external to those directly involved in each case.

Meanwhile, the Kuykendalls at Ford Island were told that, in order for them to get a copy of the footage, they would have to pay approximately $200 per editing hour. The total coverage between all of the cameras covering where Bella was abused would have accounted for about 75 hours -- meaning the Kuykendalls would have been on the hook for around $15,000.

For Bella, the delay in learning what happened could have lingering health consequences. Doctors have told the Kuykendalls that she may have suffered a concussion and she continues to have prolonged brain injury symptoms almost two years later, including sleep problems and headaches.

Neither the Kuykendalls nor the parent who spoke to Military.com from China Lake ultimately paid for the video from their respective incidents, although both waited months to receive the footage, even after FOIA requests were finally approved.

The Kuykendalls alleged that, while reviewing their daughter's footage, they noticed similar behavior toward another girl. But by the time the day care announced the abuse allegations in a letter sent home to parents, a little more than three months after the fact, it would have been too late for any other families to request footage from the same time, given the policy of keeping footage for only one month.

Meanwhile, the comprehensive review conducted at China Lake of 30 days of video turned up a staggering "132 unique policy violations relating to sanitation policy, food safety, accountability and supervision," according to the base spokeswoman in 2022.

In emails between the base commander and other base officials, whose names are redacted in the FOIA release, Vaughan is told that the "most common issues observed" were 42 instances of "teachers not appropriately supervising children," "24 instances of a "lack of handwashing," and 15 examples of "rough handling of children" that the email's author defines as "pulling, pushing, grabbing."

The justice and accountability sought by the family from China Lake that spoke to Military.com has been elusive.

According to documents provided by the family, despite initially being told by Graves -- the child care center director -- that their child was the victim of mishandling, an incident determination committee decided that was not the case.

They appealed that decision, but the Navy's Fleet and Family Readiness director at the Navy's Installation Command upheld that decision and, in a June 2023 letter to the family, noted that "my office will not take additional action on this case."

"The only thing we've ever wanted from the Navy is for them to admit, by the Navy's own definitions mandated by their policy, is that our son was abused," the parent said. "Then, I go through the whole process and then I'm told 'No, that's not abuse.'"

It's also not clear whether any employees of the China Lake child care center faced legal consequences or if the leaders running the centers are aware of those outcomes.

When Military.com asked Navy officials at the command that runs child care centers if they were aware of any criminal repercussions for any of the China Lake instructors accused of policy violations or arrested on child abuse charges, they directed the questions to NCIS or Kern County.

Military.com asked NCIS and the Kern County district attorney but did not receive a response before publication.

Since the Navy has not released any of the names of the accused instructors, it was impossible to conduct an independent court record search.

For the Kuykendalls, the damage to their family can't be summarized simply by what happened to Bella or whether the workers were ever held accountable. It includes the mental health issues that the couple have seen pop up after having to first witness and then continuously re-live the ordeal during their ongoing fight for accountability. It's seen in the way their eldest daughter, Sophia, has coped with the chaos in her own quiet, independent way, her parents said.

Kuykendall said he no longer fully trusts the military to have his or his family's backs.

"When institutions have already started narratives, it seems very apparent, at least in this case, that no one will even bother to check whether or not there's a failure," he said. "Even if someone's screaming, like 'the ship is sinking' and you're yelling, and putting the alarms on...people will just continue on."

Editor’s note: Hours after the publication of this story, Major Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, told Military.com in an email that the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness had asked the Defense Department’s Inspector General to review the issues raised by this investigation. Ryder promised that the office will “also work together with the Military Departments to ensure CDC facilities and staff meet the highest standards of care for our children and to promote appropriate accountability.” Read more on the fallout from this investigation here .

-- Rachel Nostrant is a Marine Corps veteran and freelance journalist, with work published in Reuters, New York Magazine, Military Times and more.

Related: Army Investigating War College Child Care Center After Repeated Incidents of Inappropriate Touching

Steve Beynon

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