Alternate child abuse hotline number established

Special to the Beauregard News

A temporary alternate child abuse hotline number has been set up for Louisiana callers who are unsuccessful in their attempt to report abuse and/or neglect, until technical issues preventing AT&T phones from being able to reach the regular toll-free number are resolved.

The alternate hotline number for reporting child abuse or neglect is 206-792-7510. Anyone who cannot reach the regular toll-free number (1-855-452-5437) should call the alternate number instead. Life-threatening emergencies should also still be reported to local law enforcement. Mandated reporters should continue to enter non-urgent reports of abuse and/or neglect through the mandatory reporter portal at www.dcfs.la.gov/mandatedreporterportal.

The technical issues appear to stem from a Hurricane Beryl-related power outage affecting Lumen Technologies’ local provider network, which helps route calls to Louisiana’s child abuse hotline. The alternate hotline number is a direct dial number to Seattle, Washington, which then forwards callers to the child abuse hotline. The setup was designed to avoid routing calls through Texas while that state recovers from the storm.

The problem was identified Tuesday morning, and DCFS and its call center vendors have been working around the clock to determine the root cause and restore full service to the hotline’s regular toll-free number.

The disruption also affects the DCFS LAHelpU Customer Service Center. Residents who need assistance with their SNAP or child support cases and cannot reach the LAHelpU call center are encouraged to send their case worker an email through the CAFE Self-Service Portal or email the LAHelpU staff at LAHelpU.DCFS@la.gov. Emails should include the client’s contact information and case ID.