Mary Lee’s House partnered with the Department of Children and Families to host an annual training on mandatory child abuse reporting. In June, over 325 attendees gathered at Stetson University College of Law’s Tampa Law Center for an education presented by the Florida Abuse Hotline. Below you can find some information on mandatory reporting. If you would like to learn more about mandatory reporting, click here.
Who qualifies as a mandated reporter?
Everyone is mandated to report suspicions of abuse, abandonment or neglect upon a minor. Reporters are generally not required to provide their name unless they are in certain occupations set forth in Section 39.201, Florida Statutes, which includes the individuals in the list below. However, the names of the reporters cannot be released to parties outside of DCF’s child protection team, hotline, law enforcement or the state attorney’s office without the reporter’s written consent.
- Physicians
- Teachers
- Social Workers
- Mental Health professionals
What offenses or activities trigger the mandatory reporting obligation?
As a mandated reporter, you are required to report all allegations of child abuse, abandonment or neglect, not just allegations of sexual abuse.
- Child abuse
- Abandonment
- Neglect
- Juvenile sexual behavior
What information do I need to report?
In making a report to DCF, it is important to have the following information:
- Name, ages, race and gender of all parties (alleged victim and alleged perpetrator) involved
- Addresses of all parties, including current location
- Relationship between alleged victim and alleged perpetrator
- Any other information that may assist DCF in making their investigation, such as injuries reported or observed, directions to location of parties and potential safety concerns for investigators.