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Attorney General
Sean D. Reyes
Utah Office of the Attorney General
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Child Protection

Child Protection Division Offices

Duty to Report Child Abuse or Neglect

TO REPORT CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT CALL: 855-323-3237

Duties

The Child Protection Division is a team of experienced child abuse prosecutors and their legal assistants, stationed all around the state, ready day or night, seven days a week, to seek judicial protection for a child who is in imminent danger of abuse or neglect.

The work of the Child Protection Division takes place out of the headlines in the privacy of the juvenile court system. The focus is on the immediate protection of the child and strengthening, whenever possible, failing families to eliminate abuse and neglect in the home.

Assistant Attorneys General in the Child Protection Division work in tandem with partners in the Utah Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS).  Assistant Attorneys General assure that the evidence is clear, the abuse or neglect serious, and that proper legal processes are followed whenever the state decides to intrude into the privacy of a family in order to protect a child.

Assistant Attorneys General from the Child Protection Division continue to represent DCFS from the beginning to the end of a case of a child who is under the protective jurisdiction of the juvenile court:

  • They present clear and convincing evidence of abuse and neglect to prove that a child is in need of the court’s protection.
  • They give DCFS legal advice on its duties and responsibilities and represent the agency in making its recommendations regarding a child and family to the court.
  • They assure that court orders entered for the protection of the child and for the rehabilitation of the family are enforced.
  • When abuse or neglect is egregious or when a family fails or refuses to remedy, within the time allowed by law, the behavior which makes the home unsafe for the child, they bring legal action to find an alternative permanent living arrangement for the child, through permanent custody with a relative, if possible, or by legally freeing the child for adoption.