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How to Report

Iowa (IA)

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Who is required to report?

Citation: Ann. Stat. §§ 232.69; 728.14

The following persons are required to report:

  • Health practitioners
  • Social workers or psychologists
  • School employees, including:
    • Certified paraeducators
    • Coaches
    • Instructors employed by community colleges
  • Employees or operators of the following types of facilities or programs:
    • Health-care facilities
    • Child care centers
    • Head Start programs
    • Family development and self-sufficiency grant programs
    • Substance use disorder programs or facilities
    • Juvenile detention or juvenile shelter care facilities
    • Foster care facilities
    • Mental health centers
  • Employees of department institutions listed in § 218.1
  • An employee or operator of a juvenile detention or juvenile shelter care facility
  • Peace officers, counselors, or mental health professionals
  • An employee or operator of a provider of services to children funded under a federally approved medical assistance home and community-based services waiver
  • Employees, operators, owners, or other persons who perform duties for certified children's residential facilities
  • A licensed massage therapist
  • Commercial film and photographic print processors

When is a report required?

Iowa Code section 232.69

Mandatory reporters are required to make an oral report of suspected abuse within 24 hours when they reasonably believe a child or dependent adult has suffered abuse.

What information should the report include?

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.70

Reports shall contain as much of the following information as possible:

  • The names and home address of the child, the child’s parents, or other people believed to be responsible for the child’s care
  • The child’s present whereabouts if not the same as the parents’ or other person’s home address
  • The child’s age
  • The nature and extent of the child’s injuries, including any evidence of previous injuries
  • The name, age, and condition of other children in the same home
  • If the person making the report is a licensed school employee who reasonably believes the person responsible for the injury is also a licensed school employee, the identity of the person believed responsible for the injury
  • Any other information which the person making the report believes might be helpful in:
    • Establishing the cause of the injury to the child
    • Identifying the person or persons responsible for the injury
    • Providing assistance to the child
  • The name and address of the person making the report

Failure to report

Citation: Ann. Stat. § 232.75(1)-(2)

Any person, official, agency, or institution required to report a suspected case of child abuse who knowingly and willfully fails to do so is guilty of a simple misdemeanor.

Any person, official, agency, or institution required by § 232.69 to report a suspected case of child abuse who knowingly fails to do so, or who knowingly interferes with the making of such a report in violation of § 232.70, is civilly liable for the damages proximately caused by such failure or interference.