Mandatory Reporting Requirements: Children
Louisiana

Last Updated: April 2023
Question Answer

Who is required to report?

  • Any of the following individuals:
    • Health practitioner, which is any individual who provides health care services, including a physician, surgeon, physical therapist, dentist, resident, intern, hospital staff member, outpatient abortion facility staff member, podiatrist, chiropractor, licensed nurse, nursing aide, dental hygienist, any emergency medical technician, a paramedic, optometrist, medical examiner, or coroner, who diagnoses, examines, or treats a child or his family;
    • Mental health/social service practitioner, which is any individual who provides mental health care or social service diagnosis, assessment, counseling, or treatment, including a psychiatrist, psychologist, marriage or family counselor, social worker, member of the clergy, aide, or other individual who provides counseling services to a child or his family (note that in the following limited circumstances, a mental health/social service practitioner shall not be considered a mandatory reporter: (1) when the practitioner is engaged by an attorney to assist in the rendition of professional legal services to that child; (2) when the information that would serve as the basis for reporting arises in furtherance of facilitating the rendition of those professional legal services to that child; and (3) when the information that would serve as the basis for reporting is documented by the mental health/social service practitioner (which documentation must be retained by the practitioner until one year after the child has reached the age of majority));
    • Member of the clergy, which is any priest, rabbi, duly ordained clerical deacon or minister, Christian Science practitioner, or other similarly situated functionary of a religious organization, except that a member of the clergy is not required to report a confidential communication from a person to a member of the clergy who, in the course of the discipline or practice of that church, denomination, or organization, is authorized or accustomed to hearing confidential communications, and under the discipline or tenets of the church, denomination, or organization has a duty to keep such communications confidential. In that instance, he shall encourage that person to report the allegations to the appropriate authorities;
    • Teaching or child care provider, which is any person who provides or assists in the teaching, training and supervision of a child, including any public or private teacher, teacher’s aide, instructional aide, school principal, school staff member, school resource officer, bus driver, coach, professor, technical or vocational instructor, technical or vocational school staff member, college or university administrator, college or university staff member, social worker, probation officer, foster home parent, group home or other child care institutional staff member, personnel of residential home facilities, a licensed or unlicensed day care provider, or any individual who provides such services to a child in a voluntary or professional capacity;
    • Police officers or law enforcement officials (note: any police officer or law enforcement official who works as a school resource officer shall be considered a mandatory reporter; a school resource officer shall not receive information from another mandatory reporter or commence or oversee any investigation into the report);
    • Commercial film and photographic print processor, which is any person who develops exposed photographic film into negatives, slides, or prints, or who makes prints from negatives or slides for compensation;
    • Appointed mediators;
    • Appointed parenting coordinators;
    • Court-appointed special advocates (CASA) volunteers under the supervision of a CASA program;
    • School coaches, including, but not limited to, public technical or vocational school, community college, college, or university coaches and coaches of intramural or interscholastic athletics; and
    • Organizational or youth activity provider, which is any person who provides organized activities for children, including administrators, employees, or volunteers of any day camp, summer camp, youth center, or youth recreation programs or any other organization that provides organized activities for children.

When is a report required and where does it go?

When is a report required?

  • Cause to believe that a child’s physical or mental health or welfare is endangered as a result of abuse or neglect or that abuse or neglect was a contributing factor in a child’s death.  The pregnancy of a child under the age of thirteen years shall constitute cause to consider whether the child has been abused.
  • Any commercial film or photographic print processor who has knowledge of or observes, within the scope of this professional capacity or employment, any film, photograph, video tape, negative, or slide depicting a child who he knows or should know is under the age of seventeen years, which constitutes child pornography, shall immediately report to the local law enforcement agency. The reporter shall provide a copy of the film, photograph, videotape, negative, or slide to the agency receiving the report.
  • Physician specific matters:
    • Any physician believing a newborn was exposed in utero to an unlawfully used controlled substance shall order a toxicology test upon the newborn, and if the test results are positive, report.
    • A physician shall report if there are symptoms of withdrawal in a newborn or other harmful effects in the newborn’s physical appearance or functioning and physician has cause to believe are due to chronic or severe alcohol use by mother.
    • If a newborn exhibits symptoms of withdrawal or other observable and harmful effects in his physical appearance or functioning that a physician believes are due to the use of a controlled dangerous substance in a lawfully prescribed manner by the mother during pregnancy, the physician shall make a notification to the Department of Children and Family Services on a form developed by the department. However, the notification shall not constitute a report of child abuse or prenatal neglect, nor shall it require prosecution for any illegal action.

Where does it go?

  • Reports must be made:
    • If the reporter has reason to believe that the perpetrator is a parent or caretaker, a person who maintains an interpersonal dating or engagement relationship with the parent or caretaker, or a person living in the same residence with the parent or caretaker as a spouse whether married or not, to the Department of Children and Family Services via:
      • the designated state child protection reporting hotline telephone number (1-855-4LA-KIDS (1-855-452-5437)) if requiring immediate assistance (including if the report involves alleged sex trafficking);
      • the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services Mandated Reporter Portal online, if nonemergency in nature; or
      • in person at any child welfare office.
    • If the reporter has reason to believe that the abuse or neglect is being perpetrated by someone other than the individuals described in the preceding paragraph, to a local or state law enforcement agency. Abuse or neglect perpetrated on a student by a teaching or child care provider shall be immediately reported to local or state law enforcement.
  • Dual reporting to both the Department of Children and Family Services and the local or state law enforcement agency is permitted.
  • If a report involves alleged sex trafficking, all mandatory reporters shall report to the Department of Children and Family Services regardless of whether there is alleged parental or caretaker culpability

What definitions are important to know?

  • “Abuse” means any one of the following acts that seriously endanger the physical, mental, or emotional health, welfare, and safety of the child:
    • The infliction, attempted infliction, or, as a result of inadequate supervision, the allowance of the infliction or attempted infliction of physical or mental injury upon the child by a parent or any other person.
    • The exploitation or overwork of a child by a parent or any other person, including, but not limited to, commercial sexual exploitation of the child.
    • The involvement of the child in any sexual act with a parent or any other person, or the aiding or toleration by the parent, caretaker, or any other person of the child’s involvement in any of the following:
      • Any sexual act with any other person.
      • Pornographic displays.
      • Any sexual activity constituting a crime under the laws of Louisiana.
    • A coerced abortion conducted upon a child.Coerced abortion” means the use of force, intimidation, threat of force, threat of deprivation of food and shelter, or the deprivation of food and shelter by a parent or any other person in order to compel a female child to undergo an abortion against her will, whether or not the abortion procedure has been attempted or completed
    • Female genital mutilation as defined by R.S. 14:43.4 of the child or of a sister of the child.
  • Caretaker” means (1) any person legally obligated to provide or secure adequate care for a child, including a parent, tutor, guardian, legal custodian, foster home parent, an employee or an operator of an early learning center, an operator or employee of a registered family child day care home, an operator or employee of a restrictive care facility (i.e., a public or private licensed or unlicensed child care facility, group home, emergency shelter facility, maternity home, psychiatric hospital, or a psychiatric unit located in a state-owned or state-contracted general hospital), or other person providing a residence for the child or (2) an adult who occupies the residence of a child and has a consistent and continuing responsibility for the care of the child.
  • “Child” means any person under the age of 18 years, unless emancipated by reason of marriage or by a judge prior to juvenile proceedings.
  • “Neglect” means the refusal or unreasonable failure of a parent or caretaker to supply the child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, care, treatment, or counseling for any injury, illness, or condition of the child, as a result of which the child’s physical, mental, or emotional health, welfare, and safety is substantially threatened or impaired. Neglect includes prenatal neglect. Consistent with Article 606(B), the inability of a parent or caretaker to provide for a child due to inadequate financial resources shall not, for that reason alone, be considered neglect. Whenever, in lieu of medical care, a child is being provided treatment in accordance with the tenets of a well-recognized religious method of healing that has a reasonable, proven record of success, the child shall not, for that reason alone, be considered to be neglected or maltreated. However, nothing in this subparagraph shall prohibit the court from ordering medical services for the child when there is substantial risk of harm to the child’s health or welfare, or safety.
  • Prenatal neglect” means exposure to chronic or severe use of alcohol or the unlawful use of any controlled dangerous substance, as defined by R.S. 40:961 et seq., or in a manner not lawfully prescribed, which results in symptoms of withdrawal in the newborn or the presence of a controlled substance or a metabolic thereof in his body, blood, urine, or meconium that is not the result of medical treatment, or observable and harmful effects in his physical appearance or functioning.
  • “Serious bodily injury” means bodily injury which involves unconsciousness; extreme physical pain; protracted and obvious disfigurement; protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty; or a substantial risk of death. For purposes of charges associated with failure to report under R.S. 14:403, “serious bodily injury” shall also include injury resulting from starvation or malnutrition.

What timing and procedural requirements apply to reports?

  • Must report immediately. If mandatory reporter made initial oral report, the reporter must follow with a written report within five days via:
    • the online Mandated Reporter Portal of the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services: https://mr.dcfs.la.gov/c/MR_PortalApp.app;
    • by mail to the centralized intake unit of the department at the address provided on the website of the department (see below);

DCFS Centralized Intake

P.O. Box 3318

Baton Rouge, LA 70821

 A downloadable form of the CPI-2 form for mandated reporters to mail to the address above can be found here: https://www.dcfs.louisiana.gov/assets/docs/searchable/

    • if necessary, to the local law enforcement agency.
  • Mandatory reporters may (but need not) use the following form for any report: https://mr.dcfs.la.gov/c/MR_PortalApp.app
  • The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services will:
    • promptly communicate abuse or neglect cases not involving a parent, caretaker, or occupant of the household to the appropriate law enforcement agency in accordance with a written working agreement developed between the department and law enforcement agency;
    • report all cases of child death which involve a suspicion of abuse or neglect as a contributing factor in the child’s death to the local and state law enforcement agencies, the office of the district attorney, and the coroner;
    • promptly communicate to the appropriate law enforcement authorities all reports involving a felony-grade crime against a child as part of the interagency protocols for multidisciplinary investigations of child abuse and neglect in each judicial district; and
    • communicate as soon as possible all reports involving alleged child victims of sex trafficking to the Louisiana State Police for referral to the appropriate local law enforcement agency for investigation or other action as appropriate.

What information must a report include?

  • The report shall contain the following information, if known:
    • Name, address, age, sex, and race of the child;
    • Nature, extent, and cause of the child’s injuries or endangered condition including any previous known or suspected abuse to the child or his/her siblings;
    • Name and address of the child’s parents or other caretaker;
    • Names and ages of all other members of the child’s household;
    • Name and address of the reporter;
    • Account of how child came to the reporter’s attention;
    • Any explanation of the cause of the child’s injury or condition offered by the child, the caretaker, or any other person;
    • Number of times the reporter has filed a report on the child or the child’s siblings;
    • Name of the person or persons who are believed to have caused or contributed to the child’s condition, if known; and
    • Any other information that the reporter believes might be important or relevant.

Anything else I should know?

  • Any other person having cause to believe that a child’s physical or mental health or welfare is endangered as a result of abuse or neglect, including a judge of any court of Louisiana is permitted to report.
  • If a physician has cause to believe that a newborn was exposed in utero to an unlawfully used controlled dangerous substance, the physician shall order a toxicology test upon the newborn, without the consent of the newborn’s parents or guardian, to determine whether there is evidence of prenatal neglect. If the test results are positive, the physician shall issue a report, as soon as possible, in accordance with this Article. If the test results are negative, all identifying information shall be obliterated if the record is retained, unless the parent approves the inclusion of identifying information. Positive test results shall not be admissible in a criminal prosecution.
  • If there are symptoms of withdrawal in the newborn or other observable and harmful effects in his physical appearance or functioning that a physician has cause to believe are due to the chronic or severe use of alcohol by the mother during pregnancy, the physician shall issue a report.
  • Any person who is required to report the abuse or neglect of a child who knowingly and willfully fails to report shall be subject to a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or both.
  • Any person who is required to report the sexual abuse of a child, or the abuse or neglect of a child which results in serious bodily injury, neurological impairment, or death of the child, and who knowingly and willfully fails to report shall be fined not more than $3,000, imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than 3 years, or both.
  • Any person who is 18 years of age or older who witnesses the sexual abuse of a child and knowingly and willfully fails to report shall be fined not more than $10,000, imprisoned with or without hard labor for no more than 5 years, or both.
  • Any person who makes a report knowing that such information is false shall be subject to a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or both.
  • Any person who in good faith makes a report shall have immunity from civil or criminal liability that otherwise might be incurred or imposed. Immunity shall not extend to any alleged principal, conspirator, or accessory to an offense involving the abuse or neglect of the child or any person who makes a report known to be false or with reckless disregard for the truth of the report.
  • Any person, any employee of a local child protection unit of the Department of Children and Family Services, any employee of any local law enforcement agency, any employee or agent of any state department, or any school employee who knowingly and willfully violates the provisions, or who knowingly and willfully obstructs the procedures for receiving reports of child abuse or neglect or sexual abuse, shall be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.
  • If a mandatory reporter is prohibited from immediately making the report to the department or local or state law enforcement because of an employer’s policies or employee manual, the mandatory reporter shall file a complaint with local or state law enforcement. Local or state law enforcement shall investigate the complaint.

Statutory citation(s):

La. Ch.C. Art. 603, 609, 610, 611; La. R.S. 14:403. LSA-R.S. 14:2(C)




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