LCCS investigated 3,760 allegations of abuse and neglect in 2023, down 9.3 percent from 2022. Part of that decline can be attributed to efforts to defer low risk referrals and instead connect these individuals to community service providers. The total reports involved 4,959 children, down eight percent from the previous year. 1,433 of them were substantiated victims of abuse or neglect, down ten percent from prior year. 

LCCS served 12,056 children and 4,651 families in 2023. Seventy-two percent of children receiving services did so while living in their own home or in a kinship home. Sixty-seven percent of cases were investigated using a “traditional” pathway, which resulted in a finding of substantiated, indicated, or unsubstantiated abuse or neglect. 15 percent fewer referrals were opened as “Family in Need of Services” to provide supportive services to families whose issues did not meet the criteria to screen in as abuse or neglect. Eighty-three percent of CA/N referrals originated in the City of Toledo. 

The highest percentage of referrals originated from the 43605, 43609, 43612, 43612 and 43615 zip codes. The overall rate of children on CA/N referrals was 51 per 1,000 children for Lucas County, down nine percent from 2022. Physical abuse was the most alleged type of abuse on screened-in referrals. More than half of cases opened came from six ZIP codes (43605, 43609, 43612, 43615, 43608, and 43613); fourteen percent of all cases opened came from 43605 (East Toledo). 

The number one reason for case opening was substance abuse by parents (45 percent), followed by domestic violence (28 percent), parenting/neglect (22 percent), and mental health (19 percent),. Of cases opened for substance abuse, 50 percent involved parents using marijuana, followed closely by cocaine/crack (42 percent), heroin/opioids (41 percent), alcohol (22 percent), and other substances (15 percent). 

In 2023, we had a monthly average of 922 children in custody. Nearly all (94 percent) of these children were living in a family environment: 

• 45 percent were living with a relative or other kinship caregiver 
• 29 percent were in foster care or a similar placement 
• 13 percent were placed in other agency foster homes. 

Only eight percent of children were in non-family settings such as group homes or private institutions. One percent were living in other circumstances. 

In 2023, 78 children were adopted into new families, a nine percent decrease from 2022. 129 children were reunified with a parent, an eight percent increase from 2022. Another 57 children were reunified with the non-removal parent, an eight percent increase from the prior year.