The Child Welfare division of the San Diego Health and Human Services Agency is charged with caring for children who have been abused, neglected and abandoned. After receiving a phone call on the child abuse hotline, where an estimated 80,000 calls are received per year, a social worker investigates reports of abuse and determines whether the children can safely remain in their homes.  If not, the children enter the foster care system - a legal and social services system that takes over as the official "parent" of those children.

Parents who have abused their children are offered a wide array of services to assist them in regaining custody of their children. If their children are under the age of 3, the parents must show progress with their "case plan" within 6 months of the children's removal. If the children are over the age of 3, the parents have 12 months in which to show progress.  At the end of 18 months, the parents must be ready to have the children returned to their care or the children may be freed for adoption.

Hearings are held at least every six months for every child in foster care. At these hearings, the juvenile court judge makes decisions about whether the children can be returned home, whether the children should be adopted instead, what kinds of services the children need, and what kinds of visits should take place with the family.