19.21 Unable to Locate

Georgia State Seal

Georgia Division of Family and Children Services
Child Welfare Policy Manual

Chapter:

(19) Case Management

Policy Title:

Unable to Locate

Policy Number:

19.21

Previous Policy Number(s):

2104.40, 2104.41, 5.10, 13.12, 17.9

Effective Date:

September 2018

Manual Transmittal:

2018-09

Codes/References

O.C.G.A. § 15-11-10 Juvenile Court Exclusive Original Jurisdiction
O.C.G.A. § 19-7-5 Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect
O.C.G.A. § 19-11-9 Location of Absent Parents; Putative Father Registry
O.C.G.A. § 49-5-8 Powers and Duties of Department of Human Services
O.C.G.A. § 49-5-41 Persons and Agencies Permitted to Access Records
Public Law 105-89 Adoptions and Safe Families Act of 1997

Requirements

The Division of Children and Families Services (DFCS) will:

  1. Conduct efforts to locate:

    1. A parent, or family when they cannot be located or has moved to an unknown location during an Initial Safety Assessment (ISA), Family Support Services (FSS), Investigations, Family Preservation Services (FPS), Foster Care, and Adoption.

    2. A youth (18-21 years of age) who is unable to be located receiving Independent Living Programs Services and/or Extended Youth Support Services and DFCS has been designated by the court to conduct a status review.

      For youth 18 years of age and over, a valid Authorization for Release of Information (ROI) must be in place in order to obtain information on the youth from providers, educational institutions, etc.

    3. A child and/or custodian when they are unable to be located and DFCS has been designated by the court to conduct the review of a permanent custody order (see policy 17.9 Legal: Court Review of Custodial Orders).

    4. A biological parent(s) when a biological parent(s) cannot be located and DFCS has been appointed by the court to conduct an investigation to verify a petition for an independent adoption by a stepparent, relative or third party (see policy 11.23 Adoption: Independent Adoption Investigations - Appointed by the Court)

  2. Document all efforts and information obtained to locate a parent, youth or family in Georgia SHINES within 72 hours.

For children who are missing during an open foster care or Child Protective Services case, continue to refer to policy 19.22 Case Management: Missing Children.

Procedures

Social Services Case Manager

  1. Make unannounced visits to the last known address to verify whether the parent, family or youth has vacated this location.

  2. Interview neighbors to determine if they are aware of the parent’s, family’s or youth’s new address.

  3. Contact the landlord or rental office to determine if the parent, family or youth has provided a change of address.

  4. Speak with the child (if available) to determine if the family:

    1. Has other residences;

    2. Has a new residence; or

    3. Has lived with other individuals in the past.

  5. Activate a Protective Services Alert in Georgia SHINES:

    Emails should not be used to activate Protective Service Alert.

  6. Contact schools and child care centers to determine if the parent:

    1. Has withdrawn the child from school/child care center;

    2. Has informed them of the new address; and/or

    3. Has requested the transfer of school records (if applicable).

  7. Send a United States Postal Service Address Information Request to the United States Postal Service (USPS) to determine if the parent, family or youth has submitted a change of address.

  8. Conduct a search of SUCCESS/Gateway to determine if the address or contact information for the parents, family or youth has been updated.

  9. Review the case record in Georgia SHINES to identify relatives, family supports or any information that may be used to locate the parent, family, or youth. This review includes but is not limited to the following:

    1. Person List Pages

    2. Genograms

    3. Assessments (Comprehensive Child and Family Assessment, Wraparound, psychological evaluations, etc.)

    4. Family Team Meeting documentation and interview notes

  10. Contact all known relatives and others identified from the review to determine if they have knowledge of a new address and/or contact information for the parent, family or youth.

  11. Contact the child’s medical provider or area health departments to determine if the parent, family or youth has provided a new address.

  12. Contact all known providers to determine if the parent, family or youth has provided an updated address and/or contact information.

  13. Advise individuals to notify DFCS at any time they become aware of the parent’s, family’s or youth’s location.

  14. Conduct an internet (i.e. Google®) and social media (Facebook®, Twitter®, Instagram®, etc.) search for updated contact information.

    SSCMs shall not use their personal social media network to conduct social media searches. Never post messages on the parent’s or youth’s social media network page.

  15. Conduct a CLEAR® search and review for an updated address, contact information and relatives.

  16. Contact law enforcement to request assistance with locating the parent, family, or youth.

    Law enforcement may be able to provide assistance when there is a commission of a crime, safety concerns, an open warrant, interference with DFCS custody, etc. They may also be able to provide assistance if information becomes known to them about a parent, family or youth.

  17. Contact the Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) to determine whether the family has provided notification of a new address.

  18. Document all efforts to locate a parent, family or youth including any information obtained in Georgia SHINES within 72 hours.

  19. When DFCS has located the parent, family or youth who was previously unable to be located:

    1. Notify the appropriate county or state child welfare office of their location, if applicable (see policy 19.4 Case Management: Case Transfer).

    2. Deactivate the Protective Services Alert in Georgia SHINES;

      Emails should not be used to deactivate Protective Service Alerts.

    3. Screen-in and assign Intake Reports to ISA with an immediate or 24-hour response time when a new intake is received on a family with a protective service alert as outlined in policy 3.2 Intake: Making an Intake Decision.

    4. Assess both the current and previous allegations of maltreatment when a new Intake report is received on a family with an active Protective Service Alert and the previous case was an ISA, FSS, INV and the allegations were not assessed (see policy 5.1 Investigation: Conducting an Investigation).

Social Services Supervisor

  1. Conduct supervisory staffing to provide guidance to the SSCM when a parent, family or youth is unable to be located:

    1. Discuss efforts required to locate a parent, family or youth;

    2. Determine the need for additional search options;

    3. Discuss both the current and previous allegations of maltreatment when the SSCM has been assigned an assessment on a family with an active Protective Service Alert and the previous allegations were not assessed.

    4. Discuss actions needed when a parent, family or youth has been located.

  2. Review the documentation to verify efforts to locate a parent, family or youth have been conducted and documented prior to closing a case or concluding a court review.

  3. Ensure protective services alerts have been initiated when a parent, family or youth cannot be located.

Practice Guidance

Protective Service Alerts

A Protective Services Alert is a tool that DFCS uses to notify other staff when a parent, family or youth with an open case cannot be located. The goal of a Protective Services Alert is to immediately notify staff who may come in contact with a person/family with an active alert of the need to address unresolved safety concerns. A Protective Service Alert is activated via the Protective Service Alert page in Georgia SHINES. The Protective Service Alert Page is used to document and track any person that may have moved to an unknown location, cannot be located, absconded or runaway during the course of an ISA, FSS, INV, FPS, Foster Care, and Adoption. The Protective Service Alert will display in read-only format on the Person Detail page when there is an active alert on a person. Only users with the appropriate security profile are permitted to disable or modify an existing Protective Service Alert for a person. Reasonable efforts must be exhausted prior to the closure of a case involving a family that DFCS is unable to locate during any stage of involvement.

USPS Address Information Request

As soon as it is suspected that a parent, family or youth cannot be located or has moved to an unknown location, send the United States Postal Service Address Information Request form to the USPS to determine if a change of address was submitted. This information should be requested early in the process of conducting efforts to locate a parent, family or youth to prevent a delay in case disposition or a lapse in case management activities. For the quickest response from the USPS adhere to the following guidelines:

  1. Complete and submit a United States Postal Service Address Information Request form for each adult you are attempting to locate.

  2. Address the envelope to the POSTMASTER with the city, state and zip code of the last known address of the parent, family or youth.

  3. Include a prepaid DFCS self-addressed envelope with the United States Postal Service Address Information Request form. Add to the DFCS self-addressed envelope the SSCM’s name, title and any other information needed to ensure proper routing of the returned letter to the SSCM. These envelopes should be available in the Office of Family Independence (OFI).

Upload to Georgia SHINES External Documentation a copy of the United States Postal Service Address Information Request form sent to the USPS and received from the USPS.

CLEAR®

CLEAR® offers fast, efficient search technology that allows one to locate people and authenticate their identities. The CLEAR® search includes information from all three credit reporting agencies, Equifax®, Experian®, and Transunion® so the record is updated with a current address every time there is an application for credit. The CLEAR® search may provide the following:

  1. Current or previous addresses and a timeframe for each address

  2. Social Security Numbers

  3. Telephone Numbers

  4. Identity of Spouse

  5. Criminal History

  6. Marriages and/or divorces

  7. Licenses held

  8. E-mail addresses

  9. Social Media accounts/pictures

  10. Public wish lists (such as Amazon)

  11. Vehicle Registrations

  12. Description of Vehicles owned

  13. Relatives

  14. Associates (for all prior addresses)

  15. Neighbors

CLEAR® reports contain personal identifiable information and should be kept confidential. CLEAR® reports cannot be uploaded in Georgia SHINES External Documentation as they may contain other persons' information, who are not associated with the case.

Additional Search Options

Based on case circumstances additional focused searches may be warranted. For example, if a parent or youth has a history of mental illness and hospitalizations, the search will include area mental health hospitals and facilities. If a parent or youth has a history of criminal behavior and repeated incarcerations, the search should include local city and county jails.

Forms and Tools

Authorization for Release of Information
Authorization for Release of Information - Spanish
United States Postal Service Address Information Request