California Child Abuse Database Lacks Half Of County Reports, Audit Finds

CBS San Francisco

More than half of substantiated California child abuse reports in recent years were not in the state's database, which could result in child abusers being allowed to care for children, state auditors said Tuesday.

The unreliability of the database "puts children at risk," auditors said.

The database is used by state and county social services and welfare departments, adoption agencies, medical workers treating possible victims of child abuse, agencies conducting background investigations of applicants for law enforcement jobs, and agencies conducting background investigations on those who want to work or volunteer in positions that would give them access to children, like day care centers or group homes.

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