DCFS Fatality Categories

The graph below provides information regarding the DCFS fatality categories* for child fatalities that were reported to the Los Angeles County Child Protection Hotline**, from January 1, 2015 to June 30, 2024, that met WIC §10850.4 (a) and (b) criteria, meaning that they were determined to be the result of parental/caregiver abuse and/or neglect,*** and had DCFS history****.

*DCFS Fatality Categories is an unofficial internal category, sometimes independent of a Coroner’s determination, intended to capture the circumstances leading to a child fatality, which helps DCFS in identifying trends, based on information available at the time of review.

**The data does not include the fatalities reported to the CPH when the deceased child had an open case or referral in another County at the time of death.

***A fatality is confirmed to be the result of abuse and or neglect when any one of three agencies (DCFS, Law Enforcement, or Coroner) makes that determination. All fatalities that are confirmed to be the result of abuse and or neglect also meet the criteria for reasonable suspicion.

****A child is defined as having DCFS history if they or their siblings or half siblings, were previously referred to DCFS as a potential victim of abuse or neglect, even if that referral was closed prior to their death and even if the facts of the previous referral are completely unrelated to the circumstances that led to their death. In addition, if the family only had a referral that was evaluated out, that is still considered history.

You may hover over any color section of the horizontal bar graph to view the number of fatalities that pertain to a specific year.