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How to Report

Virginia (VA)

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Who is required to report?

Citation: Ann. Code § 63.2-1509

The following professionals are required to report:

  • Persons licensed to practice medicine or any of the healing arts
  • Hospital residents or interns and nurses
  • Social workers, family-services specialists, or probation officers
  • Teachers or other employees at public or private schools, kindergartens, or child day programs as that term is defined in § 22.1-289.02
  • Persons providing full-time or part-time child care for pay on a regular basis
  • Mental health professionals
  • Law enforcement officers, animal control officers, or mediators
  • Professional staff employed by private or State-operated hospitals, institutions, or facilities to which children have been placed for care and treatment
  • Persons aged 18 or older associated with or employed by any public or private organization responsible for the care, custody, or control of children
  • Court-appointed special advocates
  • Persons aged 18 or older who have received training approved by the Department of Social Services for the purposes of recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect
  • Persons employed by a local department who determine eligibility for public assistance
  • Emergency medical services providers, unless such providers immediately report the matter directly to the attending physician at the hospital to which the child is transported
  • Persons employed by public or private institutions of higher education, other than an attorney who is employed by a public or private institution of higher education as it relates to information gained in the course of providing legal representation to a client
  • Athletic coaches, directors, or other persons aged 18 or older employed by or volunteering with public or private sports organizations or teams
  • Administrators or employees aged 18 or older of public or private day camps, youth centers, and youth recreation programs
  • Ministers, priests, rabbis, imams, or duly accredited practitioners of any religious organization or denomination usually referred to as a church
  • Any person who engages in the practice of behavior analysis, as defined in § 54.1-2900

When is a report required?

Citation: Ann. Code § 63.2-1509

A mandated reporter who has reason to suspect that a child is an abused or neglected child shall report the matter immediately to the local department of the county or city wherein the child resides or wherein the abuse or neglect is believed to have occurred or to the toll-free child abuse and neglect hotline of the Department of Social Services.

The initial report may be an oral report, but such report shall be reduced to writing by the child abuse coordinator of the local department on a form prescribed by the State Board of Social Services.

What information should the report include?

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 63.2-1509; 63.2-1503(D)

All information that is the basis for the suspicion of abuse or
neglect of the child and, upon request, any information, records
or reports that document the basis for the report.

Failure to report

Citation: Ann. Code § 63.2-1509(D)-(E)

Any person required to file a report pursuant to this section who fails to do so as soon as possible, but no longer than 24 hours after having reason to suspect a reportable offense of child abuse or neglect, shall be fined no more than $500 for the first failure and, for any subsequent failures, no less than $1,000. In cases evidencing acts of rape, sodomy, or object sexual penetration, as defined in § 18.2-61, et seq., a person who knowingly and intentionally fails to make the report required pursuant to this section shall be guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.

No person shall be required to make a report pursuant to this section if the person has actual knowledge that the same matter has already been reported to the local department or the toll-free child abuse and neglect hotline of the Department of Social Services.