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Suspicion of child abuse and maltreatment/neglect must be
immediately reported by telephone, at any time of the day,
seven days per week.
A written report must be filed within 48 hours of the oral
report. Oral telephone reports should be made to the New York
State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR)
by calling the statewide, toll-free telephone number for mandated
reporters:
MANDATED REPORTER EXPRESS LINE
General Public: 1-800-342-3720
Outside NY State: 1-518-474-8740
Outside of New York State or Nationally
If you suspect that a child is being abused
or maltreated/neglected, you should call your local Child
Protective Services (CPS) agency or the CPS agency in the
State in which the abuse occurred. As you identify the appropriate
agency for making a report, remember the following:
- Not every State has a toll free hotline, or the hotline
may not operate on a 24 hour basis.
- If a toll free (800 or 888) number is available, it may
be accessible only from within that State.
Federal agencies have no authority to intervene in individual
child abuse and neglect cases.
Each state has its own procedure for reporting child abuse.
A listing of phone numbers for the states that have them is
available at http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/reslist/rl_dsp.cfm?rs_id=5&rate_chno=11-11172
If a number is not listed, or if you need to report suspected
abuse in a State other than your own, please call:
Childhelp® USA National Child Abuse Hotline
1-800-4-A-CHILD® (1-800-422-4453)
TDD: 1-800-2-A-CHILD
Childhelp® USA is a non-profit agency which can provide reporting
numbers, and has Hotline counselors who can provide referrals.
New York State-Telephone Reporting
Mandated reporters can prepare themselves to make the report
by compiling information needed for the report. While having
all of the information needed would be ideal, the mandated
reporter should not wait to report just because some of the
information is missing. To the extent possible, when calling
to report child abuse or maltreatment/neglect, attempt to
provide the following information:
Information that must be included in the telephone report:
- The names and addresses of the child and his/her parents
or other person responsible for his/her care;
- The child's age, gender and race;
- The nature and extent of the child's injuries, abuse
or maltreatment/neglect, including any evidence of prior
injuries, abuse or maltreatment of the child or his/her
siblings;
- Is the child at risk for harm? How?
- The name of the person or persons responsible for causing
the injury, abuse, or maltreatment/neglect;
- Where is the child now? Where are siblings now?
- The source of the report:
- The person making the report and where s/he can be
reached;
- The actions taken by the reporting source, including
the taking of photographs or X-rays, removal or keeping
of the child, or notifying the medical examiner or coroner;
and
- Any additional information that might be helpful; for
example, are there special needs or medications? What are
they? Are there concerns for local CPS such as weapons or
drugs in the home?
Written Report
The written report is made on form LDSS-2221A. Download the
written report by clicking here.
The written report, signed by the reporter, must be filed
with the local child protective service (CPS) within 48 hours
of the oral report. You may request the address of the investigative
district from the child protective specialist at the time
you make the oral report to the State Central Register of
Child Abuse and Maltreatment.
A written report that involves a child who is in foster care
or in residential care, should be submitted to the New York
State Child Abuse and Maltreatment Register, 40 North Pearl
Street, Albany, NY 12243. Mandated reporters may wish to maintain
additional careful notes for their own personal records, noting
important information such as dates, times, places, names
of individuals involved in any aspect of the case.
Mandated reporters may wish to maintain additional careful
notes for their own personal records, noting important information
such as dates, times, places, names of individuals involved
in any aspect of the case. For the purpose of reported suspected
cases of child abuse and maltreatment/neglect to the SCR and
CPS, it is important to understand the definition of who can
be the "subject of the report".
The Subject of the report means any
- Parent
- Guardian
- Custodian, or
- Other person 18 years of age or older who is legally
responsible for a child reported to the SCR and who is allegedly
responsible for causing - or allowing the infliction of
- injury, abuse, or maltreatment/neglect of such child.
- The operator of, employee of, or volunteer in
- Residential care staff, such as a home operated or supervised by an authorized agency, the Division for Youth, or an office of the Department of Mental Hygiene; or
- A family day-care home, day-care center, group family day-care home, or a day services program and who is allegedly responsible for causing - or allowing the infliction of - injury, abuse or maltreatment/neglect to a child who is reported to the SCR.
Abuse and maltreatment/neglect can certainly be caused by
persons other than parents or the person who is legally responsible
for the child's care, such as neighbors or strangers. Such
individuals might not fit the legal definition of the "subject
of the report". In these cases, it is the law enforcement
authorities that should be contacted directly. If a mandated
reporter calls the SCR in a situation in which the person
allegedly responsible for the abuse or maltreatment/neglect
cannot be the subject of a report, and if the SCR believes
that the alleged acts or circumstances described by the mandated
reporter may constitute a crime or an immediate threat to
the child's health or safety, the SCR is required by law to
transmit the information contained in the call to the appropriate
law enforcement agency, district attorney or other public
official empowered to provide necessary aid or assistance.
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