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Local detectives and captains urge stronger MDTs and better DCFS coordination after frontline gaps
Summary
Law-enforcement witnesses described practical gap areas: DCFS intakes that lack usable investigative detail, delayed or misrouted notifications, difficulties responding to children who are wards of other states and the value of monthly multidisciplinary teams and child advocacy centers to prevent cases falling through the cracks.
Multiple frontline law-enforcement witnesses told the task force that multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) and local child advocacy centers are the most consistent ways to prevent children from "falling through the cracks," and they raised recurring operational gaps in intake quality and interagency handoffs.
Detective Kenneth Barnes of the Thibodaux Police Department said DCFS referral messages sometimes go to his personal phone instead of dispatch and recounted a trafficking case where a 13-year-old from another state required hospital shelter because DCFS initially declined to intervene for a child who was a ward of another state. He asked for clearer procedures for interstate cases and greater two-way contact with DCFS.
Capt. Calvin Bowden of the Livingston Parish Sheriffs Office described mandatory monthly MDT meetings, regular multiagency reviews and parent-facing pamphlets used by his uniform patrol that provide reporting steps and resources; he said those practices improve accountability and reduce duplicate interviews for victims.
Capt. Don Dortez of the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriffs Office reported the parish received 679 DCFS intakes this year, but the sheriffs office actively investigated only 115 of them and opened 28 child-sexual-abuse probes, which he attributed in part to many intakes lacking sufficient identifying information. Several witnesses recommended more intake training and that district attorney offices participate in MDT reviews and provide case review even where probable cause is not yet established.
Why it matters: Law enforcement testimony highlights that technology changes and agency reorganization must be paired with standard intake questions, routing and local MOUs so that investigators receive usable intelligence and children get timely protection.
Whats next: The task force said staff will compile the frontline observations for legislation and follow-up, stressing expansion of advocacy centers and stronger MOUs to ensure regular MDT attendance statewide.
