Reporting Abuse/Neglect

Reporting abuse or neglect is not the same as making a referral to a school counselor or social worker.

Report abuse or neglect to Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (TDPRS) at 1-800-252-5400 or if it is not an emergency you may report to the website http://www.txabusehotline.org

Please do not make a referral to your school social worker if you have already made a report to TDPRS. TDPRS will conduct an investigation of their own if needed and they do not want the school social worker to make a home visit prior to their visit as it may alert the parents. However, if TDPRS does not open a case, feel free to make a referral to your school social worker.

The Texas Family Code 261.101 requires professionals to make a report within 48 hours of first suspecting abuse, neglect or exploitation (for licensing only) of children. The Human Resources code Chapter 48 (48.051) requires a person having cause to believe that an elderly or disabled person is in the state of abuse, neglect, or exploitation to report the information required immediately.

Statewide Intake will send e-mail confirmation of the receipt of this information to you with an identification number. The e-mail address you enter is the location we will send the confirmation. If the email address you provide is not accurate, we will be unable to send you the identification number associated with the information you reported. If you have additional questions check out the FAQs page.

This reporting system is provided for your convenience to report instances of abuse or neglect that do not require an emergency response. An emergency is a situation where a child or elderly/disabled person appears to face an immediate risk of abuse or neglect that could result in death or serious harm.

Call your local law enforcement agency or 911 if the situation is an emergency.

It may take up to 24 hours to process reports of abuse and neglect made through the Internet. If you believe your situation requires action in less than 24 hours, call Statewide Intake at 1-800-252-5400.

DFPS Field staff reporting via the Internet must enter the date and time they need the intake to commence. Example-"investigation actions began at 9:00 am, 1-2-07".

Call Statewide Intake at 1-800-252-5400 if

• the situation you are reporting is an emergency;

• you prefer to remain anonymous;

• you have insufficient data to complete the required information on the report; or

• you do not want e-mail confirmation of your report.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing

If this is an emergency and you are deaf and equipped with TTY, you may call Relay Texas by dialing 711 or 1-800-735-2989. The caller uses a TTY to type conversations to a relay agent who then reads the typed conversation to a hearing person. The relay agent transmits the hearing person's spoken words by typing them back to the TTY user. Statewide Intake's phone number is 1-800-252-5400.

Duty to Report

Who is required to report suspected child abuse or neglect in Texas?

Any person having cause to believe that a child may have been abuse or neglected is mandated to report this information to the appropriate agency. Additionally if a "professional" has cause to believe that a child has been or may be abused or neglected, the professional shall make a report no later than the 48th hour after the hour the professional first suspects that the child has or may be abused or neglected. Tex. Fam. Code 261.101 (a)-(b) (Vernon's 2002)

Child abuse-reporting duties cannot be delegated to anyone else-not even an immediate supervisor. Professionals must use their own individual professional judgment and discretion when making the decision to report.