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How to Report

Tennessee (TN)

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Who is required to report?

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 37-1-403; 37-1-605

Persons required to report include the following:

  • Physicians, osteopaths, medical examiners, chiropractors, nurses, hospital personnel, or other health or mental health professionals
  • Teachers, other school officials or personnel, or daycare center workers
  • Other professional child care, foster care, residential, or institutional workers
  • Social workers
  • Practitioners who rely solely on spiritual means for healing
  • Judges or law enforcement officers
  • Neighbors, relatives, or friends
  • Authority figures at community facilities, including any facility used for recreation or social assemblies or for educational, religious, social, health, or welfare purposes, including, but not limited to, facilities operated by schools, the Boy or Girl Scouts, the YMCA or YWCA, the Boys and Girls Club, or church or religious organizations
  • Other persons

When is a report required?

Citation: Ann. Code § 37-1-403

Any person who has knowledge of or is called upon to render aid to any child who is suffering from or has sustained any wound, injury, disability, or physical or mental condition shall report such harm immediately if the harm is of such a nature as to reasonably indicate that it has been caused by brutality, abuse, or neglect, or that, on the basis of available information, reasonably appears to have been caused by brutality, abuse, or neglect.

Any person who knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been sexually abused shall report such knowledge or suspicion to the Department of Children's Services.

What information should the report include?

Citation: Ann. Code § 37-1-403

To the extent known by the reporter:

  • The name, address, telephone number, and age of the child;
  • The name, address, and telephone number of the person responsible for the care of the child;
  • Facts requiring the report; and
  • Any other pertinent information

Failure to report

Citation: Ann. Code § 37-1-412

Any person who knowingly fails to make a report required by § 37-1-403 commits a class A misdemeanor.

A person believed to have violated this section shall be brought before the court. If the defendant pleads not guilty, the juvenile court judge shall bind the defendant over to the grand jury. If the defendant pleads guilty, the juvenile court judge shall sentence the defendant under this section with a fine not to exceed $2,500.