Developmental Screenings and Referrals for Children Under 3 Years Old at Time of Allegation Substantiation

Calendar Year 2025 Information from California Department of Social Services' Research and Data Insights Branch/Data Analytics Bureau

Table 1. Population

Children With Substantiated Allegations Before Age 3

Notes:

1. Includes children under the age of 3 years with a substantiated allegation during the calendar year.
2. If a child had multiple substantiated allegations during the year, the first was counted.
3. A child is counted under Case if they were already in a case at the time of client disposition, if a case resulted from the referral, or if the client disposition indicated an existing or new case.

Table 2. Screenings

Of All Children in the Population, Those With a Screening for Developmental Services

Notes:

1. CWS/CMS includes the following developmental screening options:  Initial Developmental 0-3 Years Old, Initial Developmental 3+ Years Old, Updated Developmental 0-3 Years Old, Updated Developmental 3+ Years Old, N/A - Receiving Developmental Services, and N/C - Referred to Developmental Services.  N/A - Receiving Services and N/C - Referred to Developmental Services are counted under Not Screened but Already Receiving Services or Already Referred in Table 2.
2. If a child had multiple screenings, they were prioritized to keep any that had an outcome of "Referral for Services," then to keep any received before age 3.  Some screenings counted in Table 2 may have occurred prior to the child's substantiated allegation.
3. Percentages are calculated using the number of children Not Screened but Already Receiving Services or Already Referred plus the number of Children Screened (the Total in Table 2) as the numerator and the number of children with a substantiated allegation before age 3 (from Table 1) as the denominator.

Table 3. Screening Outcomes

Of Children With a Screening, Those With a Screening Outcome of Referral for Services ("Screened Positive")

Notes:

1. Percentages are calculated using the number of children Screened (from Table 2) as the denominator.

Table 4. Referrals

Of Children Who Screened Positive, Those Who Received Referral for Developmental Services

Notes:

1. Referrals were counted if they occurred after the positive screening counted in Table 3.                       
2. Percentages are calculated using the number of children who Screened Positive (from Table 3) as the denominator.