Under certain conditions, child welfare service cases may be transferred to other counties.  The California Rules of Court and the California Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) authorize and provide guidance for Inter County Transfers (ICTs). The Inter County Transfer (ICT) Protocol for county child welfare agencies is intended as a guide to facilitate the transfer of case records for dependents between counties, following existing laws, regulations, and Rules of Court. The below ICT Protocol was most recently approved by the CWDA Children’s Committee, effective January 16, 2025, for use by all counties.

The ICT Protocol provides guidelines regarding:

• The transferring of cases.

• CWS/CMS assignment protocol.

• Required CWS/CMS entries prior to transferring a case and Casework practices/considerations.

All counties are encouraged to ensure their ICT county points-of-contact is kept up-to-date on the following website: https://cwds.ca.gov/county   

If you have any questions, please contact CWDA staff. Thank you.