What does the abbreviation CDA mean in Pixar’s Monsters, Inc.?

In Pixar’s Monsters, Inc., CDA means Child Detection Agency.

The agency is the heavily equipped organization that responds whenever a human object or suspected contamination appears in Monstropolis. Its workers wear protective suits and use quarantine procedures because monsters believe that contact with children is dangerously toxic.

The CDA’s dramatic arrival turns ordinary scenes into comic emergencies. When Boo is discovered, the agency’s response helps show how deeply monster society fears the human world, even though the supposed danger is based on misunderstanding.

The abbreviation is easy to misread because the film does not build its central plot around explaining every letter in the name. The agency is commonly called the CDA in dialogue and reference material, while “Child Detection Agency” is the expanded form used for the organization.