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Gateway Children Services outlines community pilot to divert noninvestigative child-abuse calls
Summary
At the Montgomery County Fiscal Court meeting, a Gateway Children Services representative described a prevention-focused pilot that takes referrals for child-abuse-and-neglect calls that don’t meet investigation criteria, offers outreach, and will host a November 'café' for mandated reporters and people with lived experience; the program is funded in part by the Doris Duke Foundation.
Miss Denise, representing Gateway Children Services, told the Montgomery County Fiscal Court that the nonprofit is piloting a prevention-first approach for child abuse and neglect calls that do not meet criteria for state investigation. "When a child abuse and neglect call...did not meet criteria come directly to us, and we try to reach out to those families," she said, describing outreach to families to determine needs and provide supports rather than referral to state child protection.
The program, Denise said, has operated for three years in Montgomery and nearby counties (Clark, Powell, Bath and Rowan) and was selected for national support through the Doris Duke Foundation and partners including Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago and a Harvard-linked initiative. She said the effort aims to reduce the number of calls that escalate to state custody by addressing two risk indicators: the number of hotline calls prior to an opened case and caregiver incarceration.
Denise described a range of activities the nonprofit provides, from concrete resources to family services, and said staff also conduct outreach inside jails—asking inmates whether they have children and connecting caregivers with help. "We are not coming in to take anyone's children," she said. "We are simply calling as a nonprofit...How can we help? What do you need?" She added that referrals coming from incarcerated parents often produce a high response rate and help identify needed supports.
She announced a community "café," scheduled for November at noon, that will invite mandated reporters and people with lived experience to discuss what community supports would prevent calls from escalating to state involvement. Denise asked the court to help distribute information and said printed materials would be shared with county staff.
Why this matters: the program reframes some hotline calls as opportunities for community intervention rather than immediate investigation, and it brings external philanthropic support and data collection to local work. Court members listened and the presentation concluded without a request for county funding at this meeting.
What’s next: Gateway said it will distribute informational cards and additional details about the November event to county contacts and the public.
