Report Child Abuse 24/7 anywhere in Louisiana

PRESS RELEASE

Southern University and A&M College
Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center

Contact: Bridget Udoh
(225) 771-5714
Bridget_udoh@suagcenter.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Report Child Abuse 24/7 Anywhere in Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, LA, 7/21/2011 - On Monday, July 11, the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services launched a toll-free number - 855-4LA-KIDS (855-452-5437) - for anyone in the state to call and report child abuse or neglect.

Louisiana Children's Code Title VI, Article 603 states that any teaching and child care provider "who provides training and supervision of a child, including any public or private teacher, teacher's aide, instructional aide, school principal, school staff member, social worker, probation officer, foster home parent, group home or other child care institutional staff member, personnel of residential home facilities, a licensed or unlicensed day care provider, or any individual who provides such services to a child" are mandated reporters for child abuse and neglect in the state of Louisiana.

Mandated reporters and the public will be able to call one number, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and speak to a trained child welfare worker to report possible abuse and neglect.

This new number will replace all previous local DCFS numbers used in the past to report child abuse to the Department. To ensure that no reports are missed, these numbers will be automatically forwarded to the new toll free number while people transition to our new toll free number.

1-855-4LA-KIDS is part of the state's new centralized intake system to report child abuse. The new system has been developed to help ensure the highest quality child protection intakes, investigations, and assessments as we strive to fulfill our mission to protect children at risk of abuse and neglect.

Please make note of the new toll-free number from anywhere in the state - 1-855-4LA-KIDS (855-452-5437). To learn more, visit the Department of Children and Family Services at: http://dss.louisiana.gov/index.cfm?md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&pid=109