I asked whether the children could simply be returned to Caleb once their identity was confirmed.

“Identity tells us who the parents are.

It doesn’t finish the safety assessment.”

That was the distinction I needed.

The appropriate emergency process was already being initiated.

A judge would review the request and the evidence supporting continued temporary care.

Neither the hospital nor the police could settle the parents’ competing claims by preference.

The worker explained that the proposed arrangement included a review date twenty-one days away.