Welfare Check (What It Is And How It Works: Explained)

What is a Welfare Check?

How do you legally define it?

What’s important to know?

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Let me explain to you what welfare check means and why it’s important!

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What is A Welfare Check

A welfare check refers to when the police authorities check up on someone to ensure that the person is doing well.

In other words, a welfare check is to make sure that someone is alive, safe, and generally ok.

For example, it’s common to see that friends, neighbors, or families will call the police for a welfare check on an elderly or senior person to ensure they are ok.

How Does Welfare Check Work

Welfare checks are situations when a person calls the police to send them over to check up on another person and make sure the person is safe and sound.

Let’s look at how the welfare check works when trying to ensure the wellness of an elderly person.

Imagine that a person’s grandfather or grandmother is nowhere to be found.

Family and friends have tried to reach the elderly person and they are not able to get any response.

Neighbors indicate that it’s been a while they have not seen the elderly person in question.

As a final resort, the family can call the police to go to the elderly person’s house to “check” if everything is ok.

After getting a call, the law enforcement officers will go to the elderly person’s house to make sure all is fine.

If they find the person is well, they’ll report that all is fine.

However, if they find that the person is injured or needs medical attention, they’ll deal with that immediately.

In the worst scenarios, if they find that the person has passed away, they will initiate an investigation to very the cause of the death.

Welfare Check Definition

How do you define a welfare check?

Here is our definition of welfare check:

In carrying out their duties, the police authorities are mainly concerned with law enforcement activities but also to ensure that people are safe.

If someone calls the police to ask for a welfare check, the police will actually take measures to look for the person in question to ensure that they are safe and unharmed.

Welfare Check Police

In some situations, it may be justified to consider doing a police welfare check to make sure that someone you know is safe.

Imagine you have a friend that you have not heard about for a while.

You have called for many days, sent text messages, asked others if they had contact with your friend, and you still have no news.

As a last resort, when there’s an emergency, you can call the police and have them go to your friend’s place to verify that he or she is ok.

The laws in every jurisdiction can differ and the police will have different protocols and procedures to follow to do their welfare checks.

What’s important to note is that a police welfare check can be useful in cases when family, neighbors, friends have not heard of an elderly person.

Welfare Check FAQ

Let’s look at some of the most commonly asked questions regarding welfare checks.

How to do a welfare check on someone

You’ll need to reach out to your local police authorities to do a welfare check.

The best way to call the police is to dial 911 and explain to them the circumstances of why you’re looking to make a welfare check.

Local police authorities also have non-emergency phone numbers that you can use as well.

What is a welfare check on a child

A welfare check on a child refers to situations where the police authority is called to ensure that a child is well and safe.

The most common situation is to have the police check on an adolescent child who may be struggling with substance abuse or may have exhibited suicidal tendencies and where the parents cannot be reached.

What is an anonymous welfare check

An anonymous welfare check is when a person calls the police to send them over to verify the health and safety of another without allowing the police to disclose who had made the welfare check request.

In other words, the person who receives the visit of the police will not know who had called to send the police over.

When do request a welfare check on someone

Generally, welfare checks are done to check up on the elderly. 

You can also call the police to help you when:

• You are dealing with a young adult particularly if they may suffer from mental health issues
• A person exhibits suicidal behaviors and has not been responsive to any calls or messages lately
• If you notice that someone’s property has been compromised somehow by intruders but you are unsure 

Can the police enter your home for a welfare check

Even though the laws in different jurisdictions are different, the police can potentially enter your home or the premises to ensure that someone is safe.

Imagine that someone lives alone and has suffered a heart attack or is unconscious, in that case, it would be important for the police to be able to enter the premises to ensure that the person is safe and call the ambulance.

If the police discover that someone is injured or needs medical help, they’ll take the necessary steps.

Similarly, if the police discover that there may have been a crime committed, then a proper criminal investigation will get launched.

Welfare Check Meaning Takeaways 

So there you have it folks!

What’s a welfare check?

How does the welfare check work?

Essentially, a welfare check takes place when law enforcement responds to someone’s request to ensure the safety and well-being of another person.

The most common situation when welfare checks are made is to verify the well-being and safety of an elderly person who has not been seen lately by close friends and family.

You call for a welfare check by calling 911 or the police’s non-emergency number and explain why you believe the police should check on a person.

Now that you know what is a welfare check, how it works, and why it’s important, good luck with your research and investigation!

Let’s look at a summary of our findings.

Understanding Welfare Check

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