Who is mandated to report?

Are all health clinicians mandated to report?

  • Yes.

Who else is a mandated reporter?

  • Mandatory reporters include:
    • All persons
    • Commercial film and photographic print processors or computer technicians

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

When is the reporting duty triggered?

What is the standard?

  • A report is required when:
    • Any person has reason to believe that a child under age 18 is a victim of abuse or neglect.
    • A physician, surgeon, or other health-care professional, including doctors of medicine, licensed osteopathic physicians, residents, and interns, attends the birth of a child who tests positive for alcohol or a controlled dangerous substance.
    • A commercial film and photographic print processor or computer technician has knowledge of or observes any film, photograph, videotape, negative, or slide depicting a child engaged in an act of sexual conduct.

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 Oklahoma statute 10-7102 and legal guidance interpreting the statute.
    • "Abuse" means harm or threatened harm to a child's health or safety by a person responsible for the child's health or safety including sexual abuse and sexual exploitation
      • "Harm or threatened harm to a child's health or safety" includes, but is not limited to:
        • nonaccidental physical or mental injury,
        • sexual abuse,
        • sexual exploitation,
        • neglect, or
        • failure or omission to provide protection from harm or threatened harm.
      • "Sexual abuse" includes but is not limited to rape, incest and lewd or indecent acts or proposals, as defined by law, by a person responsible for the child's health or safety;
      • "Sexual exploitation" includes, but is not limited to, allowing, permitting, or encouraging a child to engage in prostitution, as defined by law, by a person responsible for the child's health or safety or allowing, permitting, encouraging, or engaging in the lewd, obscene, or pornographic photographing, filming, or depicting of a child in those acts as defined by the state law, by a person responsible for the child's health or safety;
    • "Neglect" means failure or omission to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and supervision, or special care made necessary by the physical or mental condition of the child.

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 these terms, refer to the Oklahoma Statutes at the Oklahoma Public Legal Research System website.

How to report:

What is the method of reporting?

  • Reports shall be made to the hotline. Any allegation of abuse or neglect reported in any manner to a county office shall immediately be referred to the hotline by the department.

For more details, 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?

  • Every person having reason to believe that a child younger than age 18 is a victim of abuse or neglect shall report the matter promptly to the Department of Human Services.

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?

  • The department shall establish a statewide centralized hotline for the reporting of child abuse or neglect to the department. Any allegation of abuse or neglect reported in any manner to a county office shall immediately be referred to the hotline by the department.

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

State/County Hotline?

  • Oklahoma Department of Human Services
  • Abuse and Neglect Hotline (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
  • 1-800-522-3511

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.