Reporting Child Abuse - Tennessee

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Tennessee

 Under Tennessee law, any person who has knowledge or suspects child abuse is required to report that information to a judge having juvenile jurisdiction of the child, the department of children’s services, the sheriff of the county where the child resides, or the chief law enforcement officer where the child resides immediately.

The statutes define abuse to include physical or mental injury and sexual abuse.

Links to the specific sections of the official Tennessee Code are not available. The mandatory reporting statute is found in Title 37 (Juveniles), Chapter 1 (Juvenile Courts and Proceedings), Part 4- Mandatory Child Abuse Reports and Part 6- Child Sexual Abuse, Section 37-1-401 through 37-1-414 and 37-1-605. To access the entire Tennessee Code, follow:

http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/tncode/

Links to the specific sections summarized above, including definitions, in an unofficial[1] version of the Code online are available as follows:

http://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-37/chapter-1/part-4/

http://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-37/chapter-1/part-4/37-1-401/

http://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-37/chapter-1/part-4/37-1-401/

http://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-37/chapter-1/part-6/37-1-605/

Use the following links to find more information on Tennessee’s reporting guidelines and statutes:

https://reportabuse.state.tn.us/ https://www.sworps.tennessee.edu/child_abuse_reporting/start.html

To report abuse or neglect call:

1.877.237.0004 or

click here