Brainstorming iconPilot Explores Access Response Time Process

After a report of child maltreatment is screened in at Access, Child Protective Services (CPS) agencies must determine how quickly to respond. Local agencies use the information in a screened-in report to assign a response time based on whether present danger or likely impending danger threats can be identified. Data shows that response time assignment varies widely across the state, and local CPS agency staff and supervisors have indicated that the process is often ambiguous and more complicated than it needs to be.

The Division of Safety and Permanence, the Division of Milwaukee Child Protective Services (DMCPS) and ten local CPS agencies are working together on a new pilot project to explore ways of making the process clearer and more consistent. Over the next year and a half, the agencies will be trying out:

  • Using a list of factors to determine the response time for screened-in CPS reports, instead of present or impending danger threat criteria.
  • Responding within 24 hours or within five business days, instead of the three response times that are currently used (i.e., same day, 24–48 hours, five business days).

The first cohort will begin using the new pilot methods in November 2024.