In re S.R.

Opinion of the Court by Liu, J.

California’s Child Abuse Central Index (CACI) is a database comprised of substantiated reports of “child abuse or severe neglect.” (Pen. Code, § 11169, subd. (a); see id., § 11170; all undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.) Certain state agencies are required to forward qualifying reports to the California Department of Justice (DOJ) for inclusion in the CACI. (See §§ 11165.9, 11169, subd. (a).) “[I]nformation included in the CACI is available to a wide variety of state agencies, employers, and law enforcement,” and inclusion of a parent’s conduct in the CACI carries significant consequences for the parent. (In re D.P. (2023) 14 Cal.5th 266, 279.) Once listed in the CACI, an individual remains listed until the age of 100, at which point the listing is removed. (§ 11169, subd. (f).) The issue here is one we left open in In re D.P.: Whether a parent’s appeal from a juvenile court’s jurisdictional finding survives a mootness challenge where the parent shows that an agency must report the allegation underlying the court’s finding for inclusion in the CACI. The answer is yes. As the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family…