You are about to say the thing, and a second thought stops you: if I say this, does it leave the room? Most of the time the answer is no. The cases where it is yes are written down, and they are narrower than the fear.
The short answer: California requires a therapist who "knows or reasonably suspects" that a child "has been the victim of child abuse or neglect" to report it — by telephone "immediately or as soon as is practicably possible," with a written report within 36 hours.¹ The same duty exists for suspected abuse of an elder or dependent adult, with one exception written for psychotherapists.² It applies to every licensed therapist and, by name, to their associates and trainees in marriage and family therapy and clinical counselling, and to registered psychological assistants.³ It is the main structured exception to confidentiality, and it is triggered by a specific standard about a specific class of victim — not by anything difficult, illegal or painful that you say about your own life.
Who has the duty
The statute lists them individually. Among the professions you will meet in therapy: psychologists, marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers and professional clinical counselors, and "any other person who is currently licensed under Division 2" of the Business and Professions Code; registered psychological assistants; marriage and family therapist trainees and registered associates; clinical counselor trainees and registered associates; and, under the general heading, social workers.³ Associate clinical social workers are not named as a separate line, but a social worker is, and the duty follows the work.
The standard, in the statute's words
The duty attaches when the reporter "has knowledge of or observes a child ... whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect."¹
"Reasonable suspicion" has its own definition: an objectively reasonable suspicion, based on facts that could cause a reasonable person in a like position — drawing on their training and experience — to suspect abuse or neglect. The statute adds that it "does not require certainty that child abuse or neglect has occurred nor does it require a specific medical indication of child abuse or neglect; any 'reasonable suspicion' is sufficient."¹
Two consequences follow. A therapist does not investigate before reporting, and is not supposed to; certainty is not the bar. And the standard is about a child — a person under 18 — who is or has been a victim. That word is where most fears about mandated reporting come apart.
The deadlines
For a child: a telephone report "immediately or as soon as is practicably possible," and a written follow-up "within 36 hours of receiving the information concerning the incident."¹
For an elder or dependent adult: a report "immediately or as soon as practicably possible," and if made by telephone, a written report "within two working days."² Abuse in a long-term care facility carries a two-hour telephone deadline to law enforcement and a 24-hour written one in nearly every case; the one exception, where the abuse was by another resident with dementia and caused no serious bodily injury, is a 24-hour written report.²
Who learns the reporter's name
The reporter's identity "shall be confidential" and may be disclosed only among the agencies receiving or investigating the report, to a prosecutor or county counsel in the proceedings the statute lists, to the child's appointed dependency counsel, to a licensing agency where out-of-home care is involved, by waiver, or by court order.⁴ It may not be disclosed to the reporter's employer without consent or a court order.⁴ This is why a therapist will not tell you "don't worry, I'll keep you out of it" — the statute keeps the reporter out of it, not the subject.
What does not trigger a report
The duty is about a child, elder or dependent adult who is a victim now or was one. It is not about you as the person in the chair, and it is not a catalogue of things people are ashamed of. None of the following is, by itself, a mandated report:
- Your own history of being abused as a child, told as an adult, where no child is currently at risk. The statute's duty runs to a child victim; an adult survivor is not one. A therapist who reasonably suspects a child is currently being abused by the same person — a younger sibling still in the home, for instance — has a duty about that child.¹
- Substance use, including illegal substance use.
- An affair, a crime you committed against property, a debt.
- Intrusive thoughts, including violent or sexual ones you have not acted on.
- Suicidal feelings, honestly disclosed. Those get clinical care, and possibly a hold if the danger is acute — but a hold is not a report under this statute. What a 5150 hold is, and is not →
The separate exception — a serious threat of physical violence against a reasonably identifiable person — has its own statute and its own page. When a therapist must act on a threat →
Worked examples
"My father hit me growing up." From a 35-year-old whose father has no contact with children: no report. It is your history and your therapy.
"My partner hits our eight-year-old." A report is required, by telephone at once and in writing within 36 hours.¹
"I think my grandmother's caregiver is taking her money." Elders are within the statute, and so is financial abuse; a report is required.² The elder statute has one exception written for psychotherapists: where the elder is the one who told them, there is no corroborating evidence, the elder has a diagnosed mental illness or dementia or is under a conservatorship, and the clinician, "in the exercise of clinical judgment," reasonably believes the abuse did not occur, the report is not required.²
"When I was fourteen my coach touched me. He still coaches." The disclosure is about you, but it gives the therapist reasonable suspicion about children currently in that coach's care. Expect a conversation about a report — and expect your therapist to tell you that before making it.
Ask before you say it
Therapists would rather you ask than stay silent. The sentence is: "Is this something you would have to report?" A good clinician answers directly, tells you what the report would and would not contain, and tells you what they would say to you before making it.
Q&A
Q: Is my therapist a mandated reporter even if they are still an associate or trainee? A: Yes. Registered associates and trainees in marriage and family therapy and clinical counselling, and registered psychological assistants, are named in the statute individually.³
Q: If I tell my therapist I was abused as a child, will they report it? A: Not on that alone. The duty runs to a child who is or has been a victim; an adult disclosing their own past is not one. If what you say gives reasonable suspicion that a child is currently at risk, that child is the subject of the duty.¹
Q: How fast does a report have to be made? A: For a child, by telephone immediately or as soon as practicably possible, with a written report within 36 hours. For an elder or dependent adult, immediately or as soon as practicably possible, with a written report within two working days if first made by phone.¹ ²
Q: Will the person I named find out my therapist reported? A: The reporter's identity is confidential by statute and is disclosed only to the agencies and parties the law lists, by waiver, or by court order.⁴
Our therapist directory: See its current status →
Threats against others — a different statute: Will my therapist warn someone if I threaten them? →
The adult counterpart: Will my therapist report elder abuse? →
Sources
- Cal. Penal Code §11166 — the duty where a mandated reporter "has knowledge of or observes a child ... whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect"; the telephone report "immediately or as soon as is practicably possible" and the written report "within 36 hours"; and the definition of reasonable suspicion, which "does not require certainty that child abuse or neglect has occurred nor does it require a specific medical indication" — california.public.law.
- Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §15630 — mandated reporting of elder and dependent adult abuse by health practitioners including psychotherapists, "immediately or as soon as practicably possible," with a written report "within two working days" when first made by telephone; the two-hour telephone and 24-hour written rules in a long-term care facility, and the dementia-resident exception; and the psychotherapist exception in subdivision (b)(3)(A) — california.public.law.
- Cal. Penal Code §11165.7(a) — the list of mandated reporters, including psychologists, marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers and professional clinical counselors at paragraph (21), registered psychological assistants at (23), marriage and family therapist trainees and associates at (24) and (25), and clinical counselor trainees and associates at (39) and (40) — california.public.law.
- Cal. Penal Code §11167(d) — the identity of all persons who report "shall be confidential," the limited recipients including the child's dependency counsel, and the bar on disclosure to the reporter's employer without consent or a court order — california.public.law.
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