Who is mandated to report?

Are all health clinicians mandated to report?

  • Yes.

Who else is a mandated reporter?

  • A teacher
  • An instructional aide
  • A teacher’s aide or teacher’s assistant employed by a public or private school
  • SA classified employee of a public school
  • A public assistance worker
  • An employee of a child care institution, including, but not limited to, foster parents, group home personnel, and personnel of residential care facilities
  • A social worker, probation officer, or parole officer
  • A firefighter, except for volunteer firefighters
  • An emergency medical technician I or II, paramedic, or other person
  • A psychological assistant
  • A marriage and family therapist trainee
  • A clinical counselor trainee

For more information, refer to the California Legislature for the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act.

When is the reporting duty triggered?

What is the standard?

  • A report is required when:
    • A mandated reporter, in his or her professional capacity or within the scope of his or her employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the reporter knows or reasonably suspects is the victim of abuse or neglect.
    • Commercial film and photographic print processors have knowledge of or observe any film, photograph, videotape, negative, or slide depicting a child under age 16 engaged in an act of sexual conduct.
    • Commercial computer technicians have knowledge of or observe, within the scope of their professional capacity or employment, any representation of information, data, or an image, including, but not limited to, any computer hardware, software, file, floppy disk, data storage medium, CD-ROM, computer-generated equipment, or computer-generated image, that is retrievable in perceivable form and that is intentionally saved, transmitted, or organized on an electronic medium, depicting a child under age 16 engaged in an act of sexual conduct.
  • “Reasonable suspicion” means that it is objectively reasonable for a person to entertain a suspicion based upon facts that could cause a reasonable person in a like position, drawing, when appropriate, on his or her training and experience, to suspect child abuse or neglect. “Reasonable suspicion” does not require certainty that child abuse or neglect has occurred nor does it require a specific medical indication of child abuse or neglect; any ‘reasonable suspicion’ is sufficient.
  • The pregnancy of a minor does not, in and of itself, constitute a basis for a reasonable suspicion of sexual abuse.

For more information, refer to Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

What must be reported?

How does state law define child abuse and neglect for reporting purposes?

  • Mandated reporters must report abuse or neglect as defined by California Penal statute 11165.6 and legal guidance interpreting the statute.
  • The term “child abuse or neglect” includes:
    • Physical injury or death inflicted by other than accidental means upon a child by another person;
    • Sexual abuse as defined in Section 11165.1;
    • Neglect as defined in Section 11165.2;
    • The willful harming or injuring of a child or the endangerment of the person or health of a child, as defined in Section 11165.3; and
    • Unlawful corporal punishment or injury as defined in Section 11165.4.
  • “Child abuse or neglect” does not include a mutual affray between minors. “Child abuse or neglect” does not include an injury caused by reasonable and necessary force used by a peace officer acting within the course and scope of his or her employment as a peace officer.
  • “Sexual abuse” means sexual assault or sexual exploitation as defined by the following:
    • “Sexual assault” means conduct in violation of one or more of the following sections: Section 261 (rape), subdivision (d) of Section 261.5 (statutory rape), Section 264.1 (rape in concert), Section 285 (incest), Section 286 (sodomy), Section 287 or former Section 288a (oral copulation), subdivision (a) or (b), or paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 288 (lewd or lascivious acts upon a child), Section 289 (sexual penetration), or Section 647.6 (child molestation).
    • “Sexual exploitation” refers to any of the following:
      • Conduct involving matter depicting a minor engaged in obscene acts in violation of Section 311.2 (preparing, selling, or distributing obscene matter) or subdivision (a) of Section 311.4 (employment of minor to perform obscene acts).
      • A person who knowingly promotes, aids, or assists, employs, uses, persuades, induces, or coerces a child, or a person responsible for a child’s welfare, who knowingly permits or encourages a child to engage in, or assist others to engage in, prostitution or a live performance involving obscene sexual conduct, or to either pose or model alone or with others for purposes of preparing a film, photograph, negative, slide, drawing, painting, or other pictorial depiction, involving obscene sexual conduct. For the purpose of this section, “person responsible for a child’s welfare” means a parent, guardian, foster parent, or a licensed administrator or employee of a public or private residential home, residential school, or other residential institution.
      • A person who depicts a child in, or who knowingly develops, duplicates, prints, downloads, streams, accesses through any electronic or digital media, or exchanges, a film, photograph, videotape, video recording, negative, or slide in which a child is engaged in an act of obscene sexual conduct, except for those activities by law enforcement and prosecution agencies and other persons described in subdivisions (c) and (e) of Section 311.3.
      • “Commercial sexual exploitation” refers to either of the following:
        • The sexual trafficking of a child, as described in subdivision (c) of Section 236.1.
        • The provision of food, shelter, or payment to a child in exchange for the performance of any sexual act described in this section or subdivision (c) of Section 236.1.

Are child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, statutory rape, incest, intimate partner violence, sexual exploitation and/or trafficking of a minor reportable as child abuse or neglect and if so, how are they defined and what is reportable?

For the most current definitions of abuse and neglect, refer to the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act at the California Legislature.

How to report:

What is the method of reporting?

  • A mandated reporter who knows or reasonably suspects that a child has been a victim of abuse or neglect shall make an initial report immediately by telephone and prepare and send, fax, or electronically transmit a follow-up written report within 36 hours.

For more information, refer to Making and Screening Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

What is the timeline in which to report?

  • A mandated reporter who knows or reasonably suspects that a child has been a victim of abuse or neglect shall make an initial report immediately by telephone and prepare and send, fax, or electronically transmit a follow-up written report within 36 hours.

For more information, refer to Making and Screening Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

To whom are reports made?

  • Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect shall be made by mandated reporters, or in the case of reports of a child suffering from severe emotional damage (pursuant to § 11166.05), may be made, to any police department or sheriff's department, not including a school district police or security department; county probation department, if designated by the county to receive mandated reports; or the county welfare department. Any of those agencies shall accept a report of suspected child abuse or neglect whether offered by a mandated reporter or another person or referred by another agency, even if the agency to whom the report is being made lacks subject matter or geographical jurisdiction to investigate the reported case, unless the agency can immediately electronically transfer the call to an agency with proper jurisdiction.
  • When an agency takes a report about a case of suspected child abuse or neglect in which that agency lacks jurisdiction, the agency shall immediately refer the case by telephone, fax, or electronic transmission to an agency with proper jurisdiction. Agencies that are required to receive reports of suspected child abuse or neglect may not refuse to accept a report of suspected child abuse or neglect from a mandated reporter or another person unless otherwise authorized pursuant to this section and shall maintain a record of all reports received.

For more information, refer to Making and Screening Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

State/County Hotline?

  • If you suspect that a child's health or safety is jeopardized due to abuse or neglect by parents or other caretaker who has custody of the child, contact the child protective services agency in your county. These 24-hour Hotlines are staffed by trained social workers.

For more information, refer to the California Department of Social Services to find county hotlines.

Confidentiality:

What federal confidentiality laws apply to health information collected during a Title X visit?

  • Title X regulations 42 CFR 59.11
  • HIPAA 45 CFR 164.502

Is there an exception in federal confidentiality law that allows a clinician to comply with mandatory child abuse reporting laws?

  • Yes.